Seven Lessons Learned from the Governor of Florida - Steve Parker-Levelwing

It was just a standard Wednesday Not unlike any other Wednesday before it The year 1996 and my third day of a new job at the Fortune 500 firm ColumbiaHCA Healthcare Corporation now HCA the largest healthcare provider in the world It would become a day that would alter my career path dramatically provide more experience insight and strategic vision than any MBA program could hope to offer and lead to the birth of a fast growth company Levelwing amp8211 INC 500 a marriage two kids phenomenal advice mentorship and friendshipI was barely 22 years old at the time I walked into the cafeteria at the corporate office for lunch by myself not knowing a soul It was my third day of work As I ordered my food I looked to my left and the man standing in line beside me was none other than the Chairman ampamp CEO of the companyClearly this was unexpected He looked at me and reached out his hand for a shake and said quotHi I39m Rickquot I responded quotHi Mr Scott I39m Steve Parker it39s really great to meet youquot He responded quotJust call me Rickquot and proceeded to ask me what I did for the company I told him that I worked in interactive services my job as well as the few that I worked with was to create manage and drive revenue from 350 hospital websites and it was my third day To my amusement he stated quotYou39re the guy Todd just hired then rightquot Sure enough I was the guy Todd just hiredAs we managed our way through the lunch line Rick asked me about my background and where I worked prior I happily obliged of course I happened to work for a large competitor HealthSouth prior Then as we paid for our lunch Rick even paid for his own he asked me with whom I was having lunch When I replied quotno onequot he asked if he could join me for lunchI don39t remember much of that lunch other thanamp8230A Rick asked a lot of really great and pointed questions amp8211 a lot of them which to this day he still does andamp8230B Being in a fair state of shock having been able to spend about 60 minutes with a man who would only a few months later be named one of the TwentyFive Most Influential Americans by Time Magazine So then and there it startedA handful of days later I ran into Rick in the hallway as he was getting off an elevator He said quotHello Steve hope everything is going okayquot as he passed Not bad for the CEO to know your name in an organization that employed over 285000 people and was the 7th largest employer in America at the timeAbout three months later my department all 5 of us at a 3000 person corporate headquarters would move to the same floor as the senior management of the company It was at this time Rick and I would talk periodically in the hallway as we passed one another or due partially to my naivetamp233 in my stopping by his office in the early morning hours to chat which I wouldn39t suggest but at 22 you can maybe get away with but would fully be creepy if I were 38 as I am nowNow because of my semifrequent conversations with Rick and because of the close proximity to all senior leadership at the company being on the same floor I was able to gain access to folks that most people never get access to in a company as large at ColumbiaHCA a company with 20 billion dollars in revenue and ranked 47th on the Fortune 500 list The projects I was able to work on and meetings I was able to be part of were farreaching beyond my experience and today invaluable I was literally involved in more at a company the size of ColumbiaHCA between the ages of 22 amp8211 24 than most people get in a career I was very lucky to get that and equally grateful I learned a lotLater Rick would leave the company amid a board coup due to federal government investigations regarding ColumbiaHCA billing practices The media labeled Rick a number of things but little was spoken of the fact that nearly all hospitals in the country were under investigation for the same practices It just so happened that ColumbiaHCA was the largest and publically traded amp8211 hence the first to bite the bulletWhen Rick left I was one of the first few people to go to work for him directly He bought a cable television network we built it up and sold it to News Corporation a couple years later Over the years Rick has been a trusted mentor and friend to meThe following are some great lessons I have learned from Rick Scott currently the Governor of Florida1 Measure Everything ampamp Be Accountable amp8211 Rick was truly influential in moving healthcare to measurement and accountability based practices In fact in just under 10 years Rick was able to significantly reduce healthcare cost inflation from 18 to nearly zero while also providing industry leading patient satisfaction and superior outcomes In fact although ColumbiaHCA owned less than 7 of hospitals in America 28 were rated in the Top 100 and 36 received Accreditation with Commendation while only 85 of the industry received the same Measurement and accountability create successful outcomes amp8211 in any business2 There is Always a Real Story amp8211 Clearly there was more to Rick39s leaving ColumbiaHCA than meets the eye or what one reads online It is clear at the time that the government not unlike now wanted control of the healthcare system The fraud allegations surrounding Medicare billing at ColumbiaHCA were and still are in my estimate as well as many experts in these affairs extremely unfounded Considering the Medicare rule book has more pages and chapters than the good book the Bible amp8211 I39ll put it this way the government has made it so confusing it is nearly impossible for any healthcare facility to do the right thing all the time More governmentmore rules does not equal more accountability3 Don39t Go into Business with Jerks amp8211 Now I39m not saying Rick told me anyone was a jerk amp8211 he didn39t All I39m saying is that it was painfully clear that very few people were willing to support and be a team when the cards turned Especially in large businesses I39ll just say it amp8211 there is a lot of covering butts that goes on amp8211 especially when big dollars are on the table I still see this today with the companies I work with daily Very few people are vulnerable amp8211 let39s just call it honest and that is very unfortunate Being vulnerable allows you to gain trust and move critical issues forward I39ll gather that most companies don39t fail because their product or service is bad more likely it is because those making decisions can39t work together well It is ok to disagree but then you have to work together as a team and trust those around you4 Create Stretched Goals amp8211 Having goals is critical to measuring success and progress However it is always easy to achieve goals if they are low Frankly speaking it is far easier to establish goals that are easy to achieve so we feel great about our achievements In turn not only do low goals not truly challenge us they do not allow ourselves and our companies to achieve that which we are truly capable Goals can and should be measurable and also slightly out of easy reach5 Wild Success Does Not Create Great Happiness amp8211 This is such a true and undervalued fact I have come to learn more about this over the last 10 years though through both personal and third party experiences I once remember having a conversation with Rick and we were speaking of a mutual acquaintance that had just made a lot of money selling his company I believe the number before taxes was around 100 million Rick39s had great things to say about this person amp8211 that he was happy for the friend because he had worked hard but I39ll never forget what he said next quotWhat he does with it will be what mattersquot From there we spoke for quite awhile about the responsibility that comes with a success event such as our mutual friend had Moral of the storyamp8230 When you are given you have a responsibility to give back6 Starve Them a Little Bit amp8211 I39ll apologize to Rick39s daughters in advance for this one Once Rick and I were having a conversation about how to keep kids grounded when they frankly had access to a very nice life and many resources I39ll qualify this by saying Rick did not grow up with a silver spoon Neither did I My parents love my siblings and me dearly and were always honest with us However growing up we did not have a lot financially I remember vividly as a 4 and 5 year old living above a warehouse that one of my Dad39s relatives owned in the worst part of town and it would be kind to say we had a few roach and rodent issues in the little apartment in which we lived Later when I was a teenager my parents were able to do a bit better financially But as a young kid that wasn39t the case and my parents were always frugal That said it is safe to say my kids will never experience anything closely resembling my early years amp8211 so how do you keep them grounded Rick39s response amp8211 quotYou have to starve them a little bitquot That doesn39t mean don39t feed your children It means just because you can give them things they want doesn39t mean they should get them and make them work for it7 Don39t Fall Prey to Negativity amp8211 Now I39ve never had this conversation with Rick but as we all know observation is just as important as what people say Clearly Rick has had great success and failure as well As the Governor of Florida in a very challenging economic climate and perhaps one of the heated political environments that has ever existed he is either very popular or severely disliked to put it mildly I39ve seen Rick in a number of really positive and negative situations and the one thing I will take from it is that he always handles both with calm Personally I need to do more of that However the point here is that in an endeavor especially in business you will encounter times when you are disliked perhaps hated and those are the times to remain calm and as another former Governor told me recently quotdon39t blinkquotAs I mentioned early on my life path and career altered greatly upon meeting Rick Now I put myself in the position for some of these rewards but had I not gone to work for Rick directly I would have never met my wife39s sister Helen whom introduced me to my wife Deanna after I moved to NYC as part of the News Corporation acquisition and mother of my two amazing kids Isla and Cohen I would not have started Levelwing with my business partner Jeffrey AdelsonYan in New York City and it certainly would not have led to the mentorship and friendship that I enjoy with Rick and his family todayThe great return out of all of this is now I am in a place to return the favor and learning Over the last several years Rick has reached out to me on a number of occasions for advice and as I stated in 5 it always feels good to give back A lot can be learned from those around us that have more experience than ourselves My advice to you take the time to listen to watch and to learn Every experience breeds experience and great advice I for one am always learningSteve Parker Jr is a CoFounder and Managing Partner of Levelwing a digital advertising agency that provides datadriven marketing solutions Steve can be reached at sparkerlevelwingcomRead all Steve39s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at AskingSmarterQuestionscomCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an open thought leadership platform and readers may share their comments and opinions in response to all commentaries

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Seven Lessons Learned from the Governor of Florida - Steve Parker-Levelwing

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