Do You Haka?

Wedding Haka Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhhedH6wK6I

Recorded By: Bryan Stewart, Director

Bryan is a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who served nearly seven years as an infantry officer. He is a senior executive with decades of servant leadership experience. He has developed keen operational, financial, and governance skills, insights, and firsthand knowledge of the functions and processes that make teams and businesses work.

His diverse business career spans successful domestic and international roles, including Board Member, Founder and CEO across various organizations, including large, public companies like Medtronic, Abbott Laboratories, Zimmer Biomet, and Humana. He has also operated in privately held, private equity-owned, and venture capital-backed companies, including Ventana Medical Systems (acquired by Roche Diagnostics), AmeriPath (acquired by Quest Diagnostics), Healogics, Sage Growth Partners, PracticeWise, Golden Victory Medical, and most recently as the Founder and CEO of HDO Health.

Bryan’s career has been focused on commercial leadership with highlights in growth, strategy, communications, sales, marketing, technology, product and market development, international market entry, and commercial operations. He has learned and led in many environments with common themes around team and talent development, mentoring, employee and customer engagement, and always leaving things better than when he found them.

He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from The Ohio State University on an NROTC scholarship and an MBA from Webster University that he completed during his final tour of duty in the Marine Corps. He also completed several Medtronic-sponsored executive education programs from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.

Bryan is a member of the Private Directors Association (PDA), where he has achieved certification in Private Company Governance and serves as the founding President of the AL Chapter.

He currently serves on the Board of Directors at the Warrior Connection, Mission U, and Vow and on the Advisory Board of Simple Therapy. In addition, he is a mentor with The Honor Foundation, Veterati, MedTech Vets, American Corporate Partners, Meritorious, FedTech, and Groundswell Startups. Passionate about his faith, family, and serving others, Bryan strives to be a servant leader who pays it forward and is worthy of following. He works to lead by example with compassion, humility, strength, and a genuine sense of humor. He resides with his wife near their two adult children in Birmingham, AL.

It’s The Little Things That Count

In a season that encourages us to pause, reflect, and treasure the blessings of others in our lives, make a special point this year to extend that consideration to your professional relationships as well.  Through our interactions with others, we learn, grow, and excel in ways that we could never accomplish alone.  Yet do we fully appreciate those relationships?  Do we purposefully spend the necessary time and energy to nurture those relationships and give back?

Author Stephen Covey once observed “in relationships, the little things are the big things”.  Reflect on your experiences.  Don’t we know this to be true?  Yet often we don’t make the ‘little things’ a priority.  Sometimes we recognize the shortfall and attempt to make a grand gesture instead, to make up for the deficit.  However well intended, we soon realize we have completely missed the mark. 

In my journey, I’ve been most impressed with the leaders that recognized and committed to doing those little things exceptionally well.  Here are a few best practices I’ve gleaned from them over the years:

• Time is precious.  It is the only commodity in our lives we can’t create more of.  How we spend it is a direct reflection of who we are and what we stand for.  It is also recognized as a true gift by others.  To spend a few moments with others, shows you sincerely care and value your relationship with them.  In those moments, focus on being truly present, with no distractions from phones, clocks, and other distractions.

• Recognize efforts and reward results.  Both are important.  To recognize and respect diligence, commitment and sacrifice toward important objectives encourages us.  Doing so in front of the team is powerful recognition of an individual’s contributions and motivates all. 

A colleague of mine, widely recognized for her outstanding leadership, handed out gold star pins to recognize excellence.  A simple gesture that rekindles the feeling from our early elementary school days in a lighthearted but meaningful way.  ‘Corny’ you might think?  But I saw firsthand the pride in her team members in receiving these.  It wasn’t the value of the award; it was the recognition that mattered.

• Impromptu check-Ins with your team members.  Be aware of and ask about key interests in team members’ lives from previous conversations.  Showing sincere interest in the things that matter most to us is powerful.  It may be as simple as inquiring about a hobby or passion we enjoy in our lives.  US President Theodore Roosevelt once remarked “people don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”  Experience has shown me that truer words have never been spoken.

• Ask others, ‘what do you think’?  This simple phrase provides us important perspectives and details we may have lacked when facing decisions.  It also conveys a sense of trust and respect in their knowledge or viewpoint.  As a rather junior leader, I experienced the power of this firsthand.  I’m not sure how helpful my input was, but just being asked had a lasting and powerful impact on the kind of leader I wanted to become.

• Listen, period.  Too many times, we find ourselves listening to respond, not “seeking first to understand, then be understood”.  Intently listening, fully engaged and absent of distraction is too often in very short supply.  Looking at people when they speak, with appropriate eye contact and positive body language, conveys respect, appreciation, and sincere interest.  It shows we care and appreciate the person with whom we are interacting.  There is no greater compliment per unit time than being truly listened to.

• Say ‘thank you’ often and in meaningful ways.  While technology facilitates many ways to do this, such as emails and texts, I’ve found the time-honored practice of handwritten notes to be the best.  Yes, it takes more time.  But the recipients understand that the giving of one’s time is a gift as well, which adds to the depth of the recognition.  And, if you are like many of us, those handwritten notes are still with us many years later, serving as a proud remembrance.

None of these best practices is complex or difficult.  But, if you have personally experienced these from a leader in your professional journey, you immediately recognize the impact and profound effect they have.  It truly is all about the ‘little things!’

Authored by: Jeff Boyer, Managing Director