HJAR Mar/Apr 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF ARKANSAS I  MAR / APR 2021 13 ones. Empathy in a leader sheds a light on our vulnerability and allows the people they lead to have a stronger bond and respect for the person at the helm of the ship. ATTITUDE Dictionary.com defines attitude as a “manner, disposition, feeling, position, etc., with regard to a person or thing; tendency or orientation, especially of the mind.”Some people may think of attitude in a negative way, like “that person has an attitude,” but I tend to think of attitude as more positive. Great leaders can possess several positive attitudes such as an attitude of gratitude, an attitude of empowering others or even an attitude of responsibility. During the early stages of COVID-19 leading to now, I have constantly thanked others for their tireless efforts. I have encouraged our team to explore creative ways to deliver care and have empowered them to make decisions. I also know there is a tremendous responsibility thrust upon the shoulders of those like myself and others in the healthcare sector during this hectic time in our community. I applaud my colleagues who have shown positive energy, tweeted or sent personal texts to their peers encouraging them to stay focused. Our urology specialty is a close- knit community, and our associations have hosted several virtual webinars on best practices, tools and tips to combat COVID- 19, many of those calls providing much needed encouragement. Locally, leaders at private clinics as well as hospital and health systems have all collaborated to fight this deadly enemy. Working together and putting aside our personal agendas will have the greatest impact to surviving this pandemic. RESILIENCY Great leaders persevere through adversity, and one of the greatest leaders of change in American history was Martin Luther King, Jr. King sought to bring racial equality in our country, and despite great civil unrest, marches that turned violent and the deaths of other civil rights leaders during the 1960s, he was unwavering in his commitment to make a peaceful change. One key component to resiliency is to have an unwavering vision. King’s “I Have A Dream” speech, given during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, was a pivotal point in defining that vision for all people, regardless of race. One of my favorite lines from that speech was his hope that his “four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” I grew up in Memphis and vividly remember the day King was assassinated there. It was a tragedy for our country and those who struggled then and now with racial injustice. Those early memories have shaped me and inspired me to lead with a vision — to be resilient in the face of great adversity. COVID- 19 has brought great anguish, fear and anxiety to our country, our state, our local communities. We all live in a microcosm and do our best to favorably impact the ones closest to us — our family, friends and in my case, the people we care for and the staff at our clinics. I wake up each day knowing that perhaps the worst is behind us, constantly keeping my head above water and encouraging those around me to stay positive and lead by example. TRANSPARENCY At our clinic, we have adopted 20 Gold Standards (our initials, “AU” also being the periodic symbol for gold). One of those Gold Standards is #19 – Practice Radical Transparency. One of our physicians suggested this standard while we were developing those enduring culture statements. As a leader, I try to share as much as I can with our physician partners, our management team and our staff. Since joining the clinic in 2013 as the CEO, I have held two all-employee meetings each year to share updates of what is happening in our clinics, the strategic direction of our company and to allow employees an “open microphone”to ask any questions they want. When COVID-19 began in Arkansas last March, the level of transparency increased dramatically. We started having weekly meetings with our management team and physicians, sharing all that we knew at any time about the pandemic spread, the regulations from the CDC and theADH and how we were implementing new polices and guidelines in our clinic. People feel much less anxious when they have been given information to process. Employees’ sense of connection to the leadership team is strengthened when they know they are trusted and are part of an organization that cares for them and their safety. I have used a simple philosophy throughout my management career and dubbed it MBS – Management by Scot. It is a simple, four-step process: 1. Hire Good People, 2. Tell ThemWhat YouWant, 3. Get Out of the Way, 4. Recognize Their Success. It is important to also remember that leaders must give their teams the resources and tools to accomplish their goals. Our highly dedicated team were incessant on finding supplies to support our efforts, thinking outside the box to deliver care during this arduous time, and recommended many new services that will continue beyond the pandemic. There are many facets to MBS underneath all of these four steps, but my success in management and leadership is wrapped around having HEART and by following MBS. Many of my colleagues in healthcare are uniquely gifted to manage the weighty challenge of dealing with COVID-19. We are considered experts in the delivery of care. We take this responsibility seriously and will always focus on what’s best for the patient. In the end, those who have a passion for providing care will find a way to ensure that patients will get the treatments they need. Hopefully soon, we will all look back and realize that we survived this pandemic mostly intact, yet grieving for those lost to this insidious virus and praying for a brighter future ahead. n