Direct Line from Max Buetow for 11/10/2023

Nov. 10, 2023

Learning from local partners, who offer the best of the best, here at home

Talking with people is one of my favorite ways to learn, and sometimes you have a conversation that reminds you of the visionary experts we have right here in southwest Missouri.

I had one of those moments this week as I had lunch with Spencer Harris, president of digital agency Mostly Serious, and co-founder of Habitat Communication & Culture, which coaches businesses on leadership and planning.

I met Spencer through the Chamber of Commerce, and CoxHealth has been fortunate to partner with Mostly Serious on the development of coxhealth.com.

Spencer has a way with words. When he speaks up in meetings, he always offers meaningful insight and valuable context. He is a dynamic thinker with a knack for creating engaging conversation.

Spencer has made his career as an operations and people manager. He focuses on the big picture and vision and works to create a culture where others can thrive.

I was grateful for the insights he shared on a few key topics:

Public speaking: As we talked at lunch, I saw that he and I definitely have similar personalities. We are both introverts by nature, but unlike me, Spencer seems to thrive as a keynote speaker.

We talked about how he has developed the skills to feel comfortable on stage. For Spencer, it has been a matter of building on his speech and debate experience, his time as a professor, and keeping the focus off of himself.

When he is speaking, he is thinking about providing value to his audience. When you are thinking about how you can share and how you can serve, you don’t have time to think of what you “should” say or what people might be expecting. It is advice I took to heart and plan to use the next time I am called to speak.

Leadership approaches: Just like CoxHealth, Mostly Serious has worked hard to attract the best talent and build the strongest teams. Spencer has invested in making sure his teams are working at the top of their abilities. He has learned when to actively manage and when to step back and let others take the lead.

Focusing on your passion: Spencer and I have both moved between industries in our careers. Spencer has worked in academia, teaching persuasion, public speaking and communication; then in business consulting; and now as the operations leader of Mostly Serious.

I can see clearly the skills that have made him successful. He focuses on what he is most passionate about: educating, connecting and inspiring others. In parallel, I see how my career has focused on helping organizations combine the best people with elegant processes to produce results.

I learned so much from Spencer’s take on these topics and more. He is great at thinking ahead, weighing each “if this, then this” juncture in a process. His ability to think about those dynamics makes him a great strategist, and I appreciate what he brings to the table.

As we wrapped up, I asked him to ponder a question for our next lunch: What could Mostly Serious do to take CoxHealth to the next level?

I love asking that question of our local partners. Too often, businesses think they need the opinion of an out-of-town expert, but I regularly sit across the table from individuals in this community who are the best of the best.

There is a lot to be said for getting the most out of our local relationships. Mostly Serious and CoxHealth have accountability to one another. We are connected by a relationship, and their mission is connected to ours.

That is one of the best parts of CoxHealth: our focus on all things local. We will always pursue the best option in all we do, but you will be surprised how often the very best is right in your back yard.

When we take the time to talk with those who are working to make our community better, we have a chance to grow. And when we partner with our neighbors, we become part of one another’s success, and we all reap the benefits!

Connecting with colleagues in good times and bad

In my daily work, I get to see a lot of what our people are dealing with as they navigate their work, and their lives, as part of CoxHealth.

This was a week of mountaintops and valleys in two connections I made with employees.

I sat down this week with a gentleman from our finance department who is considering pivoting his career into patient care. I originally met him during orientation, and he told me it was one of his life goals to become a nurse.

He is great at his job, but he has always had a passion for caring for others. When we announced the Alliance for Healthcare Education, he saw the partnership as a chance to realize that dream.

He had done a great deal of research into how businesses can support colleagues seeking a career change. I sat down with him and our VP of HR, Andy Hedgpeth, to talk about how we can help make his dream come true and how we can create seamless pathways for all of our team members who want to add skills while working full time.

It is always an honor to be a part of someone’s career journey, and I know he will find success in his pursuit of new skillsets.

But professional growth is not the only way we are called to support one another at CoxHealth. As I was leaving orientation, I met an employee who was sitting on the bench outside Foster Auditorium. She was crying. She told me about the struggles she has had with several medical issues that had worsened this summer. She loves her job and her colleagues, but her health has made it hard to summon the strength for her work.

While my friend from finance is seeing new opportunities, she was seeing walls closing in.

As leaders, we are here to help the aspiring, and, just as importantly, we are here to comfort those who are in a time of stress. That’s exactly what I got to witness. In the time we were chatting, her manager arrived, and our HR team also came to assist. It was like seeing the cavalry come to the rescue.

We are the largest employer in the region, but, what makes CoxHealth feel so special, is that every individual matters to us. We will work to find ways to help our colleagues, whatever they are facing. I know we will take care of her, just as she has cared for her teammates.

I am grateful to work for an organization that is committed to our colleagues, on their best days and their worst. We take the compassion we share for our patients and extend it to our teammates and friends. We will always be defined by genuine care for one another, and that will always make me proud to work at CoxHealth.

Celebrating collaboration in the region

This week, I was glad to see that Southwest Baptist University and Mercy Springfield Communities announced they are expanding their partnership to include a broader range of health care professions. The growth in that partnership is the type of collaboration our region needs to train the next generation of health care professionals.

How wonderful is it that we live in a region that is open and willing to do so much to create positive change for our communities? From creating the new Alliance for Health Education to building on successful partnerships, I’m confident in our region’s ability to work together to meet and exceed our future health care needs. Congratulations to our friends at Mercy Springfield Communities and SBU!

Voice of the patient

Adapted from inpatient feedback from Cox Springfield Emergency Department: “The CT tech was excellent and made me feel so comfortable when I was so scared. Once they got me back to the treatment area, the waiting time for the CT was quick.”

Thank you for all you do,

Max