Q WHAT’S SOMETHING YOU ARE PROUD OF IN YOUR CAREER?
I’m proud of my journey to be in the position I’m in now. I’ve had a unique career trajectory to get to this point of being Regional Director of Operations for Cincinnati Eye Institute, which is one of the largest ophthalmology practices in the U.S. I started as an ophthalmic technician in the clinic over 19 years ago and climbed the ladder from there, so I’ve led many of our practice and business integrations. I’ve been on the process improvement team for business implementation. I’ve been a practice manager for a multi-brand practice. I’ve performed or been in almost every possible role in the eye care space, which gives me a unique perspective on eye care as a whole.
Q WHAT SETS CEI APART?
CEI is a group of internationally recognized team of doctors in a practice that has been around for over 75 years. It is amazing to collaborate with surgeons who are leading the technology and innovation across the country. We truly value clinical excellence and are patient focused. Doctors are driving the direction of the business.
Q HOW DO YOU DEFINE SUCCESS?
The definition of success is a personal feeling of accomplishment, so it depends on what makes you tick as a person or as a leader, and that’s different for everyone. For me, it’s the ability to work through challenging problems with other leaders and then find a clear path to move forward. I take the time to develop strong relationships with physicians, staff and other leaders. I find that often this step gets missed in the process, and when that happens results are slow or halted all together.
Q WHAT’S THE SECRET TO WORKING COLLABORATIVELY AND EFFECTIVELY WITH OTHERS?
The first thing you need to be an effective collaborator is to know yourself. How do you communicate? What do you need from the person? What are you expecting to gain? The second is to understand the person or team you’re working with. How do they receive communication? How do they want to communicate? Once you’ve been in a leadership role for some time, you learn how to work quickly through these things in initial conversations. I do my best to meet people where they are, take time to understand who they are, and figure out what I can do to serve them best in their roles. It’s about gaining trust quickly and being able to move whatever project it is to the next step. I’ve found that being true to who I am as a person and maintaining a high level of integrity have been the heartbeat of my success.