High Hopes
Good morning!
It’s Friday, the 13th, which is often times seen as a bad omen. But, today, I want to go in an opposite direction: Optimism.
I was glad to turn the page on 2022 and feel that it signaled closure of some difficult times. Almost immediately when this new year began, I started to feel very optimistic about what’s to come. And earlier this week while watching the college football national championship our “All for Your Health” UMMC brand campaign commercial aired and it got me really pumped. My optimism is increasing.
I have a feeling that 2023 will be a banner year for UMMC.
Ok, you may remember that this is not the first time that I said that line above. I’ve shared previously in VC Notes about how optimistic I am about the new year. The last time, January 2020. I can fully admit that my optimistic feeling soon left me that year – a vicious pandemic can have that impact – and it’s taken me a while to regain it.
But here I am, again stating that I think we are going to have a great year and make forward leaps in each of our missions. The past is past and I don’t think it should turn us away from leaning into a positive way of thinking about today and the next 352 days of this year. Lots of good Medical Center-led projects and initiatives are in the works or on the horizon that will have significant impact on the lives of Mississippians. I’m excited about what lies ahead.
There are many solid foundations on which I could build my house of optimism. Today, I want to focus on the group that I tend to engage with the most – my leadership team.
Our institution is blessed to have a dedicated, hard-working team of faculty and clinical and non-clinical staff, and it’s essential to have equally dynamic top-level leadership to help steer this ship along, through smooth and rough waters. (Certainly, it’s the rough waters where this group is really relied upon.)
Strong, experienced leaders can be found across the entire Medical Center. Each of them is dedicated to ensuring we are meeting – and exceeding – our mission to care for Mississippians, train the next generation of health professionals and discover new treatments. And they are not only focusing on today, but working to ensure we will be able to effectively serve Mississippi for many years to come.
Take for example my current Executive Cabinet. The 18 members, including myself, represent 279 years of service to UMMC – an average of 15½ per person. And just this week I was able to give service anniversary pins to Dr. Jonathan Wilson, chief administrative officer, who has been at UMMC for 25 years and Dr. Juanyce Taylor, chief diversity and inclusion officer, who received a 15-year pin.
Effective leadership is essential to the operation of our academic medical center and I appreciate the expertise and counsel of the many people across our organization who are engaged in discussions and/or decisions that can have broad and significant impact. These leaders can be found at every level, across every school, and represent every profession and job role. Trust in our leadership provides me good reason for optimism. (And because I’ve already seen us do it, I could even be optimistic if ever again facing a major crisis like a quickly spreading infectious disease.)
I want to again share with you the three “attitudes of mind” that I think are essential, and can always instill in me a positive, optimistic feeling: Proceed with Courage. Be Persistent. Demonstrate Grace.
With these tenets at front of mind, we are able to be at our best and make the most headway on our journey toward A Healthier Mississippi.