Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Are you ready to take your personal brand and business development to the next level? Then you won't want to miss the exciting new podcast dedicated to helping you tell your story in the most compelling way possible. Join me as I guide you through the process of building a magnetic personal brand, creating valuable relationships, and mastering the art of networking. With my expert tips and practical strategies, you'll be well on your way to 5-star success in both your professional and personal life. Don't wait - start building your 5-STAR BRAND TODAY!
Follow The Brand Podcast with Host Grant McGaugh
Code of Compassion: Ed Marx's Digital Revolution in Healthcare and Host Grant McGaugh CEO of 5 STAR BDM
Discover the incredible journey of Ed Marx, a trailblazer in healthcare IT, as he transforms adversity into innovation. From his pivotal roles at Cleveland Clinic and Texas Health Resources to his triumphant battle against cancer, Ed's story is nothing short of inspirational. Tune in to hear how his personal experience with the disease ignited a passion for telehealth solutions, AI-driven diagnostics, and an empathetic approach to technology in healthcare.
Uncover the secrets behind successful vendor relationships as Ed shares the importance of personalization and genuine connections. With a career spanning various sectors, Ed offers unique insights into how understanding a client's specific needs and mission can revolutionize digital healthcare. Learn his practical tips on building stronger collaborations and why knowing something personal about your clients can make all the difference.
Finally, explore the challenges of leadership in healthcare and the powerful role of well-being activities like triathlons in maintaining balance. Ed reveals how Ironman competitions provide time for reflection and stress relief, and why modern health-monitoring technologies are essential tools for healthcare leaders. We also highlight the transformative influence of HIMSS on Ed's career and offer strategies for vendors to connect meaningfully with the C-suite. Join us for an enriching conversation brimming with valuable lessons and forward-thinking perspectives from one of the industry's most respected figures.
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest marketing trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates from us, be sure to follow us at 5starbdm.com. See you next time on Follow The Brand!
Welcome to another episode of Follow the Brand. I am your host, grant McGaugh, ceo of 5 Star BDM, a 5 Star personal branding and business development company. I want to take you on a journey that takes another deep dive into the world of personal branding and business development using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips. Development using compelling personal story, business conversations and tips to improve your personal brand. By listening to the Follow the Brand podcast series, you will be able to differentiate yourself from the competition and allow you to build trust with prospective clients and employers. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. Make it one that will set you apart, build trust and reflect who you are. Developing your five-star personal brand is a great way to demonstrate your skills and knowledge. If you have any questions from me or my guests, please email me. At grantmcgaw, spelled M-C-G-A-U-G-H at 5starbdm B for brand, d for development, m for masterscom. Now let's begin with our next five-star episode on Follow the Brand. Welcome to the Follow the Brand podcast. I am your host, brent McGaugh, ceo of Five Star BDM, where we help you to build a five-star brand that people will follow, and today we are plugging into the pulse of healthcare's digital revolution. Imagine a world where AI diagnoses diseases faster than any human, where blockchain secures patient data with unbreakable encryption and where virtual reality transforms rehabilitation. This isn't science fiction. It's the healthcare landscape being shaped by visionaries like my next guest today.
Speaker 1:Meet Ed Marks, a titan in the healthcare IT industry and a man who's redefined what's possible in our field. As the former CIO of Cleveland Clinic and Texas Health Resources, ed didn't just implement systems, he orchestrated digital symphonies that revolutionized patient care. But here's where it gets real. At the peak of his career, ed faced his toughest challenge yet cancer. And now? For most of us, that would be game over, but for Ed, it was game on. He took that experience and used it as rocket fuel, propelling healthcare innovation to new heights. We're talking groundbreaking telehealth initiatives, ai-driven diagnostic tools and patient engagement platforms that feel less like hospital software and more like your favorite app. Today, ed's going to pull back the curtain. He's going to talk about transforming cancer diagnosis into a catalyst for healthcare innovation and the next big tech wave in healthcare. And it's not what you think and why he believes empathy is the missing link in healthcare IT. And for all of you code warriors and data wizards out there, ed's got some insider tips on climbing the healthcare IT ladder from the server room to the C-suite.
Speaker 1:So whether you are a seasoned health tech pro or a wide-eyed startup dreamer, buckle up. You're about to get a masterclass in turning obstacles into opportunities and pixels into patient care. It's time to upgrade our thinking. So join me in welcoming Ed Marks to the Follow Brand Podcast, where we are building a five-star brand that you can follow. Welcome everyone to the Follow Brand Podcast.
Speaker 1:I am your host, grant McGaugh, and I'm so elated. I'm so elated you just don't understand how elated I am Because in my world, in my brand, I merge healthcare and technology. That's my convergence in the force. Right, my convergence in the force is healthcare and technology. And I get to talk to one of those convergent people, and we're talking about Edward Marks. Edward Marks is an icon in my book. When I come across him, when I see him, he's part of the HIMSS organization. He's written several different books that are very impactful and I really like his journey and how he puts all that into a story form that a lot of us can appreciate. So I'd like to welcome Edward Marks to Follow Brand Podcast. Would you like to introduce yourself? Yeah, well.
Speaker 2:Grant, thank you for having me. I feel super honored really. You're one of the great leaders out there yourself and very creative in your approach, which I love and admire, so I'm super stoked to be with you.
Speaker 1:Well, the last time we came across each other it was in Orlando. We were at the HEMS conference and you had just done a lot, several interviews. You were part of that conference and then you were boarding a plane going to Southeast Asia. So that's where we're going to start this conversation. Why do you feel that your story it is now is such in demand that you are a in-demand speaker and consultant?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean, I try to figure that out as well. You know, it's super humbling. I think one of the reasons is just being an authentic person, like being real, like I'm not perfect. I've made bad mistakes, um, I've had horrible things happen in my life, but, uh, I just share them, I'm transparent with it, and I think that connects with people, cause a lot of times they're like Whoa, look at that person, you know, they put them up on a pedestal and they were like afraid and then, and then that person tends to be, maybe be a little bit plastic and they, they really stick to a script and I'm like man, I'm just like everyone else. I had the same struggles and I just share them freely and I think that's one of the reasons. So there's a little bit of authenticity and because I've had some challenges in my life, you know health and otherwise, um, and I share them, I think people just can connect and and that's what creates that magic, I guess.
Speaker 2:And yeah, I've been fortunate to be asked to speak literally all over the world. I think this year in the first quarter, I'd already achieved, you know, that top status for American Airlines, you know, 250,000 miles. I think it's so much fun, though. I love sharing the stories because I think it helps spur everyone on Like if Ed can do it, anyone can do it. So let's get after it and make digital transformation really happen.
Speaker 1:Well, let's start with your story. You know I love the personal brand, I like that personal brand perspective and you shared some of that that I've seen, I've heard some of your story how you got into the healthcare realm, how you got into leadership Because you didn't start the traditional way. You know you're like, yeah, yeah, you know I got these great credentials, I got this great education and I just come out of the box, I'm just doing leadership and that's the end of the story. What didn't really happen like that? God, tell us about your, your journey to get into leadership yeah, I think some of it.
Speaker 2:You know, as I tried to break it down as well and think about how did I get to where I am and how? Maybe there's some principles I could share with other people. You know, I grew up in Germany and I came over United States when I was around 10 years old and people made fun of me because I dressed differently and I spoke a little bit differently. You know, we wore lederhosen, like if you know the sound of music story, you've seen how people dress. That's how we dress in the United States music store. You've seen the hell of people dress. That's how we dress in the United States.
Speaker 2:My parents didn't know any better, so kids made fun of us. And then I had acne and all that kind of stuff, you know, as a junior high and stuff, and people made fun of me and I was bullied and all that kind of stuff. But there was something inside of me. It was like I knew I was called to do something greater and I could overcome all that. But I always felt like I was kind of the underdog, so like whether it was sports where I had to prove myself and then make the team, all kind of stuff, and it was the same in the army. Then I'm in the army and it's the same thing that they almost kicked me out and then I but I make it, I resolve my head. Someday I'm gonna become an officer and you know, and so I did and like, when I was being bullied on these teams and stuff, I I became, you know, one of the the playmakers, and then in my career it's kind of went the same way early on. It's like people are like, oh, you can't do that, that's for you know, these other people, and I just kept at it, kept at it, tried to do stuff, tried to make a mark, and then I did, and then I was given these roles and positions, and so I think part of it is just like I was like almost like the underdog. It's like getting beat up I don't talk about that too much, but you know, kind of getting beat up in junior high and high school and then beat up figuratively in the workplace and it just gave us resolve inside of me. You know, being born of Holocaust surviving parents no-transcript I think in my health tech career although I'd only been in it for a couple of years this would have been in my very early 30s and there was this opening for a CIO role.
Speaker 2:But they were interviewing people that probably look like you and I today, right, a little bit older, distinguished people with a few years of experience. And here I was, this kid, you know, 31 years old. But I went to the CEO's office, knocked on the door and I just said you could stop your search because they were bringing in, you know, people like us and and like what. And I said I'm the person and he would later. He gave me the role and he would later say if anyone had the I can't use the words that he used but the resolve to ask, he had to give them a chance. So sometimes, yeah, it's all that preparation, it's all that you know, resilience, it's all that passion and desire and vision. But sometimes also, you got to make that bold move, and that was my bold move, man and being able to, to go for it like you got nothing to lose.
Speaker 1:Sometimes it's just focus and commitment and sheer will. I borrowed that, you know, from the uh uh, that's John Wick movies, I think it was. But that's where it went, because he's very determined, like, how can this guy do what he does? And here you are, 31 years old, haven't had a senior position. You had the moxie to go into that office and say, look, I can get this done. And he believed you. I mean, anybody can just walk in there like, well, obviously you had a track record. I want to give this guy an opportunity because he's shown me what he's going to be able to do and even if he doesn't have the experience today, he will go out and get the experience. He'll go out and get what's necessary to fill those gaps. And then you had a. You had a very story career. You had a very storied career right as a CIO for a very large organization. That kind of just, you know, set the tone for where you're at now. How has that helped Now?
Speaker 2:when you got the beginning job and then you were now that seasoned vet. As you look at that journey, what were some of the pivotal moments that you felt really helped you become a seasoned CIO? Yeah, so one is diversity of experience. So I I didn't try to just be one type like I sort of grew up as a physician relations person in strategy and I had some good experience. I had some clinical experience as well, right as anest, as an anesthesia tech this goes way back a combat medic, anesthesia tech.
Speaker 2:My first kind of jobs in healthcare, non-clinical, were strategy physician relations and then I saw the power of technology. So that was the first pivotal moment when and I won't go into the story Grant because it takes a little bit of time, but it was the birth of my first daughter and I was working with the IT department. I was in strategy and physician relations so I knew about their product and so when my daughter was born floppy, without life, and they were trying to resuscitate her and then she had all sorts of complications, I knew the only hope for her was technology and so working with IT and again, a long story. Her life was not only saved but she overcame four major life challenges, health challenges. And then she graduated at age 18, went from college, so she's perfectly normal and serves in health care today. But it was at that moment I realized, oh wait, ok, all this preparation, all this diversity of experiences is leading me to bring together the convergence your word of tech and healthcare to save people's lives. So that was like the first big thing.
Speaker 2:And certainly along the way there's been other markers, you know, going into the CEO's office just asking for the role, I mean that took a lot for me to do it, but then that took me to another level in terms of my own confidence and leadership ability. And then I, you know, I'll save these stories for later in case we get there but then I myself, you know, ran into two life-threatening diseases and those after each one of those, those also propelled me in another direction. And then the last thing I'd say, grant, when I talk about the diversity of experiences, I was also very intentional to have some academic, you know. So I get the research and the education. I wanted some for-profit, I wanted some not-for-profit, I wanted some what do we call them like, faith-based. So if you look at my tenure as a CIO in four different organizations. They're all different and I think that just made me a better leader, because I had all these different experiences.
Speaker 1:Think that just made me a better leader because I had all these different experiences. Let's unpack that just a little bit, because, as now you are a consultant, you have Mark's advisory consultancy agency, right, yeah, you bring a depth of experience so that another CIO somewhere out in the healthcare world says you know what we need to bring Ed Marks in, because here's our challenge. It's always nice to have someone who's kind of been to the top of the hill, kind of come where you are and give you a roadmap or some advice or take a look at what you're planning. Talk to us just a little bit about your particular outcome, how it's different. You've worked for several different consulting agencies, but now you're doing your own thing. Talk just a little bit about that yeah, I.
Speaker 2:I learned a lot. So after I was a cio for I think it's 20 years if I had all the four organizations together I learned so much. I thought you know one thing that's missing is really good vendor partnerships with the provider side. So I went to the vendor side to learn. I had a great experience serving at Technohindra and Divergent and then after that I became a board member of a couple of health systems.
Speaker 2:So I had this perspective of a board, of a CXO for a vendor definitely a CIO and provider side, a little bit of clinician stuff. I also did some clinical things at Cleveland Clinic and I'm married to a clinician, so I had a little bit of the clinical side and I was like I think I just got to go independent, create my own thing and try to better connect that CIO experience or CDO with vendors and partners and try to make it for a better marketplace, and so that's sort of how it happened and I've been doing it for, thankfully. And so that's sort of how it happened and I've been doing it for, thankfully, I've been successful for the last 13, 14 months since I started. It's been super. So, yeah, I'm working with select leaders of health care systems, as well as a select number of vendors to help them. You know better integrate in the marketplace and you know create this digital transformation that we all long for.
Speaker 1:Well, I know my vendor community because I come from that side of the ball information technology 20 to 25 years. They don't want me to ask this question because it's so important and I want you to put on your CIO hat. If you had to talk to the vendor community and their approach to the provider community and how they structure things and how they do things, whether right or wrong, what kind of advice would you give to them?
Speaker 2:So I think one. There's a couple of things. One is personalization is really key. So don't treat me like you treat everyone else. Don't think of me as a commodity, as another number, as another email to send, but think of me, my organization, as something unique, and know something about me. So know something about me personally, but also my organization. So often vendors might come in and say what's the vision and mission of the organization? Well, if you were good in your role, you should know that already, because you've been on the website, you've seen the commercials, you've looked on YouTube or wherever, and you've gotten all that information. So you can demonstrate that you show, demonstrate that you know all that and jump into the more immediate question. So that's what I mean by personalization. And then also know something about me.
Speaker 2:A lot of people right, when they rise up, there's some ego involved. I don't care what people say, uh, everyone has an ego and so and I'm not talking about manipulation here it's got to come from the heart. But if you know something about that person, that shows something Like if you come in and say oh Ed, I noticed that you really like to do these adventure races and I've been doing a couple. What's your favorite, what would you recommend? Then at least I know that you've listened, you've done some research and then of course it feels good. Right, people want to be able to talk about themselves, so I think that's really important.
Speaker 2:The second thing, and again it kind of goes back to personalization, but in the structure of the deal, put some skin in the game, and I know that's heretic to some, but I think it's really important. I think it shows a lot. It's a differentiator. So when you put some skin in the game, meaning hey, because vendors will say things like I'm going to make up this example We'll increase your revenue by 10 X. Okay, what's the skin in the game? So the skin in the game would be look, we're each here's, our roles and responsibilities, and we achieve 10 X, everyone's happy. If we achieve 11 X, then we should get an additional percent bonus or whatever. But if we get less than what we told you, then we're going to have a skin in the game and we're going to not charge you as much. That shows a whole nother level of commitment and it can be done. I've structured deals like that myself and that's how I got as a CIO, that's how I got the CFO and others on my side to approve a deal, because this firm again I won't mention names came in. I said, hey, let's put some skin in the game. And the CFO said, yeah, that's worth the risk that they're willing to do that. So that's a technique that's not used very often.
Speaker 2:Here's the third one and again it comes to a little bit of personalization is show that you really again it's got to come from the heart that you really care, that what's your intent. And there's different ways of showing that, and what I mean by that is that you don't have to be a doctor or a nurse although that's always nice if that's a member of your particular team, but it doesn't have to be that way. But you need to be able to show some level of empathy, that you understand this is patient care, that there's individuals that, depending on what you're selling or the service, that their life may depend on that, and so show some sort of understanding that you're not just selling like. I'm going to give you an example. Let's just take cybersecurity. So one of my companies, one of my companies I work with cybersecurity firm and so so what I've taught with them is like, yeah, you sell cyber into multiple industries and for a lot of them it's it's pretty black and white, but this is healthcare.
Speaker 2:And you've got. We've made implicit promise to our patients, from a CIO perspective, that we're going to not only give them the best quality care, but we're going to treat their data with ultimate confidentiality. So you, as a vendor coming in for cybersecurity, you better understand that and be able to articulate that same statement. It's like yeah, of course got these bells and whistles and we know that at the end of this is patient information, the most sensitive information that people have, and we're going to do everything in our power. That's what drives us. That that sort of thinking, grant and, and there's ways. I'm sorry if I go along, but I want to be proud of keep going there. There's ways to get this and and I'm telling you the response again, it cannot be manipulation, so that sometimes I hesitate to share these things. So I don't want anyone to do it out of like because I was trying to manipulate a situation, but I want it to come from the heart, uh, but. But this way, what I'm going to suggest also can help develop that heart, and that is volunteer Volunteer.
Speaker 2:I say this for CIOs and people who work as providers, but as a vendor volunteer. Go to your local hospital and say, look, I've got one hour a week, I'll bring my kid with me. So don't tell me you can't do it because of family. I took my kids with me and it was a great experience for our kids. So, volunteer one hour a week and just see patients. And then when you talk now to the prospect, you're talking to the CIO. You can say I get it, I understand it, you know it's not much, but I do spend an hour a week, you know, and I and I stand with, I walk around on the on the floor where they do outpatient chemo and I talk to the patients and I talk to the clinicians and I get it and it's changed me and I'm passionate about this and that's a game changer, grant. So those are three like broad areas. I get one really specific into the last one because I think it kind of covers the first two as well.
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Speaker 1:No, those are safe advice for anyone, especially if you're working in the healthcare field. You know that's your back In that vertical. I work with healthcare, so you need to understand what's happening in health, especially in the hospital. This is an acute care hospital. It's life and death. Yeah, so you're not just talking about money widgets. You know it's life and death.
Speaker 1:If you can be a game changer in those outcomes, that's big. Being able to show that is even huge. I love how you said skin in the game. We're in this together because at some point in time, every one of us probably over 90% of us have been born in the hospital and maybe 90% of us will actually find our last days in the hospital. This is% of us will actually find our last days. This is very, very important. I want to ask you this this is important. It's a little personal, but it's important At the time that you got diagnosed with cancer and you were operating, I think, as a CIO at the time and you got this news I want you to talk to, because there's someone else out there in our world right now who just got this type of news and they might have been a high-functioning individual in their particular endeavor and then they just got this show-stopping news. What would you say to that person news?
Speaker 2:what would you say to that person? Well, first I would say, man, that's tough and I'm sorry that that's happened to you. And here are some things that were helpful to me, that may be helpful to you, and I'm happy to walk in this journey with you.
Speaker 2:That's what I would say and that's what I say when I do find out for people and my particular cancer, which was prostate cancer, like as a guy, that's like like even more, like you know, cause like that that hits you or hurts you know, literally, quite literally. In a sense, it's like you know people don't want to talk about it, men don't want to talk about it, and so, as a result, it gets under reported and under diagnosed and is is one of the leading causes of cancer that could be definitely stopped. So so I did go pretty public with it. But that's what I would say is I'm sorry that it's happened to you. Thankfully there's people out there that can help you and walk through this with you, and here are some things that you can do. We actually wrote a book about this to be super, super precise, like exactly what your next steps might be. But but that's the first thing I would say is I'm sorry, and and and hug the person and love on the person.
Speaker 1:Uh, first and foremost, and that's so, so important empathy. As you said earlier, you can't take the catch away, but you can begin to help someone. Uh, first of all, accept their experience they want to go through and then understand that you know the journey is not over and you can begin to move forward. You also do a lot talk about. You know you're like an ironman out there, right, you do, you do like you ride a great bike, you run. Does that help you to reduce stress? I mean, what's your motivation?
Speaker 2:yeah, it's physical, mental, spiritual. You know, I think all wrapped in one One is we have to, especially as executives. I think everyone for sure, the science is everyone, but I think, especially as executives, we have tough jobs, super stressful, and you've got to find a healthy outlet for you to deal with that. So it doesn't have to be. It could be walking, it could be yoga. For me it happened to be a triathlon and multi-sport. So, whatever it is, it's great. Physically.
Speaker 2:There's so much science behind this, you know it's it's really important to be as fit as you can, because it impacts the mental acuity as well, and so it gives you the time to think. When you're out there on a bike slugging away, you know uh, in Ironman it's 112 miles you get a lot of time to think. Or worse, worse, is the swimming pool right, it's a 2.4 mile swim. So when you're doing all your laps practicing in a swimming pool, man, it's mind boggling, and so you get a lot of time to think. And then I for me it was also a spiritual thing so get a lot of prayer time done, a lot of meditation and things like that. So, so that that's what it helps me do is like stay physically fit, mentally sharp and spiritually strong. So so that's why I sort of went down that track of multisport. There's more to that story, but that that's what I've been doing.
Speaker 1:Grant, I hope I answered that question. Uh, no, you answered it perfectly, because it's so important for all of us to understand we've got to release stress, yeah, and you've got to exercise, because then, the more you know your body, you'll know if, uh, your body starts to need help whether it's a prostate cancer or some other ailment that that is taking place and understanding again the health care realm and then understand how you can do to enable it to be done better. I love the fact that we've got all these new devices, though I talked to a nurse just the other day talking about you know, you jump in your car right, jump in your car, you start it and you get all these dials, all this monitor tell you the health of the vehicle before you you it. And you get all these dials, all this monitor, to tell you the health of the vehicle before you take off. And if anything happens, you know a red light's going to come on.
Speaker 1:Well, what are you doing in your body? Are you walking around with a Fitbit? Do you have any kind of devices? Are you kind of monitoring? Are you monitoring yourself on a daily, weekly, monthly basis, not waiting to where you've got to go to an acute care facility or something to that effect. But we have those capabilities now and we didn't before.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and Grant, I think again this sort of line of thinking sometimes gets me in a little trouble with some of my peers, but I think if you're a leader in tech, you need to be using these things because your patients are using them or will be. You need to be using these things because your patients are using them or will be, or need to, or your clinicians, so why not experiment yourself? And that's another thing. Doing all this stuff sort of forces me to do. It forces me to learn about what can my watch do? What capabilities, what sort of health capabilities are on the different apps on my phone, and how can I integrate that into?
Speaker 1:the electronic health record.
Speaker 2:It just gets you to think all these things. And one last thing you know you were asking sort of that, the reason, ironman stuff like that. What one of the things is so gratifying is I would do a lot of sporting events and, thankfully, the health systems that I served at and including, uh, where I'm on the board now on my team usa uniform, you're allowed to have one uh sort of sponsor logo and so I have a healthcare system.
Speaker 2:You know it'd be like Cleveland clinic in the past and and I've heard announcers say and we had some local races too in the Dallas Fort Worth area when it was a Texas health and we had a bunch of teams and we'd go out there and we do really well, and they'd say those people are walking the talk, and so that always made me proud. Like you know we're, we're Texas health and we're here in a big race in Dallas, fort Worth and you know we're, we're showing the community that we walk the talk you know that we believe in all this stuff, but anyways, yeah, there's so many good reasons to get out there and be active in any way.
Speaker 2:Again, it could be dancing or walking or whatever.
Speaker 1:I'm going to switch gears right quick. I'm going to want you to put on your consultant hat and I want you to talk to me as if I am a CIO of a major hospital system. I just got the position. Maybe I've been in position maybe six months. I've inherited a lot of technical debt, a lot of legacy systems, a lot of legacy systems. The last CIO, last administration, tried to implement some digital front door, some kind of initiatives, but it really wasn't the right rollout it didn't work as well as could be expected.
Speaker 1:We did not get the returns that were promised, and now I'm in a situation where I'm starting this endeavor and this new thing is out. We've got AI on board, so everyone's asking me how are we going to use AI now? Artificial intelligence and the delivery of care, and it's such a new technology. I don't even know how am I going to implement this into my stack that I have. I've got limited budget. I'm kind of like where do I go from here? And I want to talk to Ed Marks and just break.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's kind of exciting. Yeah, you paint that scenario, which, as you know, is everyday scenario, and it's like, oh man, I'd like to go back in. I do mentor a couple of CIOs and so they're going through this exact same thing that you talk about. Yeah, so, grant, my answer may surprise you a little bit. I would look at a few different things and you can do some of these at the same time. Some might have to come after one another, but you need to give yourself a decent runway of of uh you know, let's just say, six months, although in the first 30 days I would look for that quick marquee win.
Speaker 2:All right, so these are no particular order, but I have like seven or eight answers for you. That key marquee win that says that's the new person. Wow, I'm going to get behind them and support them. Look what they did after 30 years of this crap. They fixed it. There's always something you can find. So for me, I'll just give you real examples. I show up at the Cleveland Clinic and there's email size, mailbox limits right, I think they'll still exist today. They certainly did four years ago and it is like crazy and it bothered. You think of the academic medical center.
Speaker 2:People are sending slides around everywhere and so what happens? If they're told their mailbox is full? They get frustrated, they hate it, they can't do their job, all that kind of stuff. And worse, they will set up their own server somewhere or go to some website where they can drop their files, which is not secure. So it's a terrible policy. So I asked my team. I said what is it going to cost us to have unlimited mailbox? It's hardly anything right as storage these days. Hardly anything. Certainly not going to cost us the cybersecurity incident which the current state would, and all the calls to the service desk. My mailbox is stuck, my mailbox is stuck. So in one day. We released that and, oh my gosh, you would have thought that we had averted world hunger or something like that.
Speaker 2:So make that marquee statement. You'll find something, even if it bothered a few people inside IT but nobody else. So that's one thing. One thing is develop. The next thing is develop relationships. Again, these are no particular order, but you've got to develop relationships. So spend a lot of time. If the place is on fire, it's been on fire for a while, so another 30 days, it's OK. So spend your time developing relationships. So get out there. Don't make anyone come to you.
Speaker 2:That's another thing they noticed about me was like wow, this is the first person ever came to my office. I got a lot of that kind of statements because they usually expected to go up to the corporate, to the 11th floor or wherever. So go to where people are and spend time with them and just be like you and I, like just real people, just talking naturally. And then, of course, is governance. Make sure you have great governance that's streamlined.
Speaker 2:I've been all over the place in my career and it was right answer at the right time. You know where it was super formal and all these processes, but at the clinic, I finally got to the point that it was just the C-suite, it was just us at the C-suite, because ultimately they were going to say no to whatever came through that big process, or yes. So I was like cut all that stuff out. So whatever works in your culture, make sure it's good, and that's where you kind of handle all the AI things as well, as you have this governance structure to help you with that, and then and then, of course, you're buying a little bit of time to develop your strategy.
Speaker 2:It's amazing to me, Grant, how few organizations have a written strategy. So when I say how many of you have a digital strategy, everyone will raise their hand nine out of 10 people. But when I say, can you show me, all the hands come down because they don't have it. Or if they had it, they did it three years ago and never updated it. So you have to have a strategy in order to get to where you want to go, and then the final things are really operational. But I'm telling you, grant, my success is predicated on all these different things, and that is make sure that you're agile. So stop with the old style structure and become agile and make sure that you're operating with best practices. You know, sometimes it's one best practice around the globe is called ITSM. It's just the best way to operate. And then also there's a financial counterpart like how do you best operate IT? And then the final thing and if I had to stack the importance, you know this one would be right at the top is make sure you have the right team. So I've made so many my.
Speaker 2:My biggest, some of my biggest mistakes were just accepting the team Cause I wanted to make a statement oh, I'm coming in, but I'm just going to take whatever team was there. Well, there's probably a reason that they went to the outside to find you and that's because they didn't think anyone on the team was the right fit. It doesn't mean negative about everyone on the team, but I think it sends a signal. So for you to think that you can take that team that currently exists and not make a change and think that you're a great leader as a result, that's been a mistake I've made a couple of times and I should have made some changes, which I ended up making later, but they were very painful to do later. So be bold and make sure you got the right team around you, because your success is predicated upon your team man great, great advice, Great consultation.
Speaker 1:Appreciate that. I'm sure my audience appreciates that. You're going to be coming down here to South Florida and speaking to the South Florida Hymns chapter and I applaud you for that. I want you to just take a little bit of time here, Talk to us about the HEMS family, what HEMS is about for you and why that you would. Then you know what I believe in this. Like you said, walk the walk right, Not just talk the talk. We're going to come to South Florida and address our particular group and we're not going to take any thunder away, Cause I know you're going to bring some brand new content for us and we we're not going to get into that. But I would like you to talk about your Hems experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:South Florida Hems chapter, one of the best in the country.
Speaker 2:You guys always win all sorts of awards and I know a lot of the team down there and amazing people. I can't wait. Yeah, himss has been super important to me, grant, in my career, because I started out in healthcare tech and I was clueless. I ended up as a director Again. It's a long story, I won't go into it, but I suddenly showed up in healthcare IT as a director level and I was I mean, I was as clueless as they come.
Speaker 2:Thankfully, my boss, I reported to the CIO. He took me with him to a this was the Colorado chapter of HIMSS to the Colorado, up to Denver, from where we were, and I was like, wow, this is amazing. And it was just. I learned so much that day and I was like, how do I get involved with this? Because, like I said, I was clueless. So I learned that they had sort of a developmental track right To become a senior, a member of HIMSS and then a fellow, and in order to achieve each of these and now there's a lot more right, there's the digital certification, all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:But back then it was just really two levels. In order to achieve each of those levels, you had to do stuff like participate in your local chapter, you had to speak, you had to write, you had to like, get things done. It wasn't just like perfunctory. So that's what I did. I was like man on my goal sheet. I was like I want to become a senior. So a couple of years later I became a senior.
Speaker 2:I was really involved with the chapter. I think at that point I had moved to Nashville, got involved with the chapter there, became the chapter president, just loved it. From there I went to Ohio the Northeast Ohio chapter of hymns also a great chapter and became the president there and got my fellow. So I became a fellow and it just kept developing me. All that exposure, the annual conferences, the chapter conferences, all that exposure just helped my career skyrocket. And so I made it a requirement for all my direct reports to be involved. So they had to get their senior, they had to get their fellow in him. So it's just part of their natural growth and so I've been a big, huge believer for many, many years.
Speaker 1:Well, that is wonderful and I thank you for that. We're going to conclude here, but before I let you go, I always like to give my guest the mic. If there's anything that we have not covered that you feel is important, that you're like I need to let people know about this. Whether you got a book coming out, you got this going on or just some other thought or idea that you'd like to get out to us. What would you like to leave us with?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I do have a book coming out on all kinds of stuff, but people will find out from other sources. I think just get in touch with your heart and why you're in health care. So maybe you had a heart for health care but over time you know things get busy and it became rather, you know, just routine and so you've sort of lost that passion. Like dang, what I'm doing, whether I'm on the vendor side, whether I'm a clinician, whether I'm in IT, what I'm doing is helping at some point down that chain is helping a patient and just get retouched with that heart and, if it's already there, help others get retouched. And again, grant, there's multiple ways of doing this.
Speaker 2:I love volunteering. I've volunteered for many, many years, um, so I'd always see patients, I'd always see clinicians. I do other things, um, where I bring patients to all my meetings. Patients were part of our governance structure. There's all sorts of things to do that you can do to make sure your heart structure. There's all sorts of things to do that you can do to make sure your heart is always where it needs to be, because stuff happens right. We get we get beat up a little bit in the workplace. Sometimes we get beat up a little bit in life and our heart can become hardened and calloused. So we have to make sure and be intentional to like always make sure that we remove that stuff and try to keep it pure and our intent pure, and then that's when transformation happens. So that's what's on my mind.
Speaker 1:I love that man, the heart heals, the heart heals, and we definitely need that in our world. People understand I always say this all the time Technology doesn't solve all the problems. It's an enablement. But that human to human interaction is a blessing for a lot of people, as they're at their most vulnerable, usually in a healthcare setting. And before I let you go, let us know how to first get in touch with you, how we can take advantage of the services that you now offer. I think that'd be very important.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, if anyone's interested, LinkedIn is probably the best place. I've got some other. You know I'm on everything on TikTok nowok, now instagram, youtube channels, all sorts of stuff. But the probably easiest thing for the audience is just, if you are interested, linkedin.
Speaker 1:You can always connect with me there and then you'll have exposure to all my different channels and tell us your services exactly like a bullet point like this is what you get when you engage with you for a market advisory yeah, yeah, especially on the vendor side.
Speaker 2:It's really about making better connections in the marketplace and learning how to become a partner. So, grant, I don't want to bore the audience, but if there's three or four things that I've been helping uh vendors specifically with but I also help some cios is uh is how to approach, and we talked about CIOs, is how to approach, and we talked about that earlier in the conversation how to approach the C-suite. Another thing is looking at their strategy and looking at their sales material. A lot of it is so bad, like coming in with 30, 40 slides. I've got my clients to come in with one slide or no slides ideally one slide or no slides ideally and then you know that. So that's part of it.
Speaker 2:And then just helping them with with events where they would struggle in the past. You know, for a wide variety of reasons, no one wants to hear a sales pitch or anything like that. So I'm like, look, there's a better way of doing that, where it doesn't need to be like that, and it's something that people want to be part of. So I've created that sort of community as well. So those are some of the different things, but I just where every client's different and I try to personalize everything that I do and what I think. My tagline I tell a lot of it is like look, I'll make my service so personal that you'll think I'm part of your team.
Speaker 1:I'm so glad you said that. I mean really from the heart. I've been telling a lot of sales and marketing people like this for a long time like death by PowerPoint or you just come in and you just show up and throw up. I'm like that is so dead. You've got to have a conversation with people and understand where they're coming from, just like what a doctor does Before they give you a solution for your problem. They diagnose, they understand, like what are you going through and where are you at? And then everyone has a different way of consuming information or communication. What do you need from me for you to understand how to get to where you want to go? It's so, so important and, to your point, even earlier. A lot of information now is available on the internet. I can search and look you up and find out probably 90% of what your product does already. So your job at that point is to now demonstrate to me that you can actually do it in my circumstance, and I think we can make some adjustments there.
Speaker 1:From the sales and marketing community. This has been wonderful and I invite your entire community to continue to follow me on. Follow Brandon. 5 Star BDM. That is the number 5. That star is BDM B for Brand D for DevelopmentInformationcom, and I will take you up on that. I'll be on your show coming soon.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, we're going to definitely have Ed Talks with Grant, so I'm looking forward to that.
Speaker 1:Looking forward to that myself. Hey, enjoy yourself, take care. Alright, take care. Thank you. Thanks for joining us on the Follow Brand Podcast. Big thanks to Full Effect Productions for their incredible support on each and every episode. Now the journey continues on our YouTube channel Follow Brand TV Series. Dive into exclusive interviews, extended content and bonus insights that will fuel your success. Subscribe now and be a part of our growing community, sharing and learning together. Explore, engage and elevate at Follow Brand TV Series on YouTube. Stay connected, stay inspired. Till next time we will continue building a five-star brand that you can follow.