From Extraordinary Diagnostician to Extraordinary Leader

What were some of your aha moments in coaching and by that I mean you’re going along, you’re successful you’re doing fine and your coach asks you a question that sort of makes you wait a minute and think about that.

One of the aha moments happened with Rick (Auman). There was a realization that I was executive material. You know that there’s no rule book for them on what executive material is. I looked at all the other executives around the system. They’re all very different people. Some are older, some are younger. I was the youngest one by a lot in the system. And so I wasn’t around to see the development of the people who are more established. I was looking toward becoming CEO and was wondering if I were doing the right thing. In the conversation with Rick we’re talking about what the future would be. We talked about whether I could be in this role as a hospital president. never in a million years I had that thought I would be CEO. Rick said “Well I think you’d be great at that job.” Rick knows CEOs and has worked with a lot of people. Rick went through the qualities needed and told me what he’d seen me do well.

A lot of you think I have those qualities and he said, Yeah, I do. And here’s why. And he kind of went through. Here’s what I see, here’s what I see you do well and so you remember that conversation. So I’m going to ask Rick to tell me what those things were.

Rick Auman:

Tt was a combination of Stu is able. As he described his role, he was the bridge between two strong personalities who have their own ways of seeing and doing the world and he was the guy that was kind of making all of that happen in between. Stu understood the business rationale and could translate into the clinical side. So the physician that he was talking with could understand and I think he pointed out that he added to that the emotional intelligence to be able to manage his own emotions and also manage the emotions of the people he was dealing with because a lot of times they were not able to manage their emotions. Stu was a natural to move into leadership, if that was what he wanted to do.

He has a foot in both worlds and is equally adept at managing both sides. Stu was the natural bridge between them as well. I think that’s what I saw and Stu that led me to say, Yeah, I definitely think you could go that direction. If you want it.

Back to Stu:

The other thing that we explored in that conversation was that I became a doctor for a reason. I wanted to be for all the reasons that most people want to be physicians. I love people, I want to help people. I want to make people better. I am scientifically curious. I thought the subject matter was interesting.

I had to give up being that guy. Remember I said you know what my pride and joy when I was the guy who saw the complicated patients. I had that reputation. You (Rick) said you know you can’t necessarily be that guy, that clinical person if you take this path and how are you going to feel about that? Are you ready at this stage in life and career to give some of that up and to acknowledge some of that life was wonderful? And that’s not going to be.

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