How has your finance background informed the way you make strategic decisions as a CEO and board member?
To understand any business, it’s important to make a connection between financials and operations. Financials tell a story. When you work through the numbers, ask what they’re telling you about the organization. It helps you think critically about what you’re doing.
On a broader level, understanding people’s roles across an organization helps you recognize how your decisions impact them. Leaders who are visible and who listen will help people feel heard and allow them to understand the “why” behind a strategic decision — even if they don’t agree with it. Earning their respect is incredibly important.
As a Bentley alumnus, how did your experience at the university prepare you for your career, and what advice would you give current students interested in following a similar path?
I’ve always been curious about how things fit together and how they work, and Bentley courses helped me understand how to use financials as a baseline to understand a business and how to ask the right questions.
Depending on where you are in your career, there are a lot of different things that you can do, but a big one is finding mentors. Connect with people inside or outside of your organization who want to develop the next generation of leaders. Mentors can provide perspective and opportunities that you may not otherwise see. And it’s not necessarily going to be the same person throughout your career.
Another approach that had a strong impact on my career was being open to learning and developing. What you’re doing today isn’t necessarily what you’re going to be doing 10 years from now.
As you begin your service on Bentley’s Board of Trustees, what opportunities do you see for the university to continue preparing graduates for leadership in rapidly evolving industries such as healthcare?
The university and the leadership have done a great job looking at where things are going and the changes they need to make. The Technology, Innovation and Entrepreneurship initiative and renovations to the Adamian Academic Center are leading the way in providing students with the tools to adapt throughout their careers.
The world is changing, and we have to continue teaching students how to think critically. There’s not one way that’s necessarily the right way. Considering different perspectives is always better when it comes to informed decision-making.