Quotes from Ron Williams

A positive, high-performance culture can quickly turn negative if the CEO is not rigorous in constantly articulating values and holding people accountable for both results and values.

Much of a leader's responsibility in creating a positive, high-performance culture is setting the right tone and acting on it consistently. That day-to-day execution - the tenor and tone - really makes the difference. One deviation - one exasperating meeting - and the CEO legitimizes bad behavior.

In my experience, it is the leader - the CEO - who plays the crucial role in creating and 'owning' an organization's culture, setting the tone, and executing on that consistently.

The basic premise of insurance is the pooling of funds from many to cover the costs of some. There are complicated methods for how to do this, but one fact remains consistent: For insurance to work well, people need to be in and stay in the insurance pool.

Championing quality improvement and value in the health care system is a passion of mine, and I'm able to bring about change through private equity activities.

I think if we're going to have a requirement that everyone have equal access to insurance, you really have to have a way to make certain that everyone is expected to participate.

As a CEO, I had significant exposure to private equity, enough that I had in no way bought into the media's caricature: rapacious privateers who destroy companies.

Having no choice doesn't result in innovation and performance improvement.

I remain deeply interested in the transformation of the American healthcare system to improve quality and contain costs.

What we need are different types of insurance, some of which have copays, some that have coinsurance, but they need to offer a better first layer of coverage.

The ACA - popularly known as 'Obamacare' - has been an important step forward toward an admirable goal: providing access to health insurance for all Americans. But like many reforms generated by the political process, the ACA is problematic.

There is no question in my mind that the health care system has to work.

We have a moral obligation to get healthcare to people who need it.

Many who know me or have worked for me are aware of my penchant for strategic planning. I consider it a critical component of the success of any organization and believe in the value of planning for a company's needs over multiple time horizons, as well as reviews against that plan at regular intervals.

As consumers are being asked to pay more of the cost of healthcare services, they will increasingly demand more value and will also ask for more transparency and tools to determine the value they are receiving.

I think about culture and values as curbs on a highway. When the curbs are high enough, a vehicle can veer to the left or right, but the curbs keep the car on the road. It is the CEO's job to build those curbs as high as possible.

The ACA's reliance on mandatory participation in exchanges as the only way to obtain a health insurance subsidy is fundamentally flawed.

As CEO of Aetna, I was a buyer of portfolio companies rather than a participant in the value creation process. From the end of the assembly line, what happened in manufacturing wasn't visible to me.