Tell us about the work you have done that is most similar to the Vice President of Operations role. What made it similar? What impact did you have in this role?

In my years as a regional operations director, I have overseen complex operations over multiple states and sites. In that oversight of these regions, I have handled budget creation, monitored and tracked staffing levels and ratios, approved all new hire wage comp and counter offers, made strategic staffing decisions, controlled third party contracts and vendor relations, business development, and reported out to executive teams on a monthly basis.

I have also been promoted to additional regions, and assisted companies turn around underperforming regions. I have built tools when they did not exist to better track and analyze performance, set goals, track results, and develop systems and processes. I have had the joy of hiring, coaching, and training hundreds of successful teammates throughout my career.

The impact of all of these actions has had profound results for the organizations I have worked for, allowing them to reduce turn over, communicate more efficiently within the organization, identify and reduce financial gaps, streamline systems and processes, develop tools that are implemented company wide, and develop future leaders for the organizations.

How do you lead and manage people in a way that focuses on continuous development and centers racial equity?

I believe senior leadership plays a critical role in building diversity and a culture of continuous development within an organization.  First, they support managers and teams in examining all four levels on which diversity operates in society—personal, interpersonal, institutional, and structural. Second, they foster the conditions that shift mindsets, policies, and practices toward diversity and development.

In my experience I start by examining my existing teams and understanding what the current skill sets, backgrounds, and personalities are as well as understanding what gaps exist and what is needed to balance out a team. This allows me to better understand what skills and perspectives are needed when hiring. This knowledge will also be applicable during a regularly scheduled one on one session with a teammate.

One on one sessions are vital to the growth and development of team members. During these sessions I listen to what employees want out of their career and help them identify the opportunities for growth based on their aspirations. We discuss real examples of positives and opportunities from the prior weeks, being sure to give applause where situations were handled well and talking through the moments of opportunity. I’m free with information and pass down knowledge that I’ve learned through the years. One of the most important pieces of information that I try to engrain in team members is that when hiring, that it’s important not to build teams of people who are just like us. Build a team that is diverse with opposing ideas and personalities. This builds a solid foundation for a team to constantly push to the limits and challenge the status quo.   

As a senior leader it’s my role to set the tone of respect, productive communication, being free with knowledge, transparency, and listening for all those on the team. Building a culture of diversity is not a linear path. To drive deep equity, it takes focused work, intent, resources (human and financial), and time.

Tell us about a time when you identified a vision and shaped a strategy for a project or an initiative implemented by a team. How did you determine the vision and strategy?

In my most recent role, our Chicago market was severely underperforming for the organization from financial, KPI’s, and clinical quality standpoints and I was asked to go into the market and “turn it around.” The first step before I ever entered the region was to look through existing data points to include financials, staffing levels, KPI’s, turnover to name a few to understand trends, bottle necks, and potential opportunities. The next step, is to visit the various locations within the region to see firsthand how systems and processes were being used, leadership capabilities, and getting a feel for what the vibe of the culture is.

Once we have data points and have seen firsthand what things look like, the next step is to meet with key stakeholders to learn from them what challenges and opportunities may be, and also to vet data points (things aren’t always what they seem just by viewing on paper some metrics). A “Workplan” is then created to start listing out all opportunities. This workplan tool tracks all open tasks, responsible parties, due dates, percent compete, and update notes. This information allows us to determine the strategy going forward for the region. It enables us to identify the tasks that will give us the most lift early on and then the tasks that are longer term. In this situation we identified billing charges and staffing levels to be most vital for getting quick lift. Fixing these would prevent us from putting caps on capacity due to staffing shortages, and it allowed us to maximize financial outcomes which had a profound impact on putting the region on a strong path going forward.

In the example from Question #3, how did you communicate the vision clearly and make sure the team was aligned to implement the strategy? How did you coach and manage team members throughout implementation?

A region turnaround is a huge task with hundreds of moving parts, concise and clear communication is the difference between success and failure. In the example above, we had weekly status reviews using a project workplan to guide us to ensuring all tasks were on track. In this meeting, I review updates from each project team member/lead and a summary of the action items and the next steps to complete the task and what task to take on next. I ask pointed questions to ensure we are all on the same page and ensure we verbalize action plans and don’t work in vague terms or assumptions, as these can create opportunities for tasks to be missed which often can lead setbacks of the project.  

Coaching and managing teams through a large-scale project like this can be challenging. It requires daily/weekly/monthly check ins on various items and team members with a continuous feedback loop to ensure that items don’t get lost in the shuffle, milestones are hit, and more importantly that when issues do arise (and they will!), that everyone involved is made aware of current situations/challenges/potential pivots. Often one of the biggest roles to play is that of cheerleader for the team. Projects like these are tough and can be full of challenging days, a positive attitude and a calm demeanor go a long way to keeping spirits up and teams pushing forward.

Share a work product you've already created that you used during the example you described above in Question #3 and Question #4.*

A work plan and issue log are great tools and can be used for a multitude of projects with varying degrees of timelines and project expanse. A workplan is highlighted on the “Projects” page.