Talk to
your people
Alan Levine
former president and CEO, Broward Health
Alan Levine gets closer to his employees
by making fun of them, specifically anyone
who did not go to his alma mater, the
University of Florida.
“I make fun of everybody here that is not
a Florida Gator because all of their teams
are terrible and ours are good,” the former president and CEO of Broward Health says with
a chuckle. “I throw stuff like that into e-mails all the time. It generates a sense of
camaraderie.”
Levine spoke in our January issue about
how revealing a little of your nonbusiness
personality in the workplace can make it
easier for employees to approach you about
more important concerns.
“I want people to see me as somebody
that communicates,” Levine says. “They will
e-mail me their concerns, and I always try
to respond to them. They may not like the
answer, but I think it’s important for everybody to feel like we are all on the same
team.”
When he’s not bragging about the Gators,
Levine says he is very open to talking about
issues that may affect his employees’ jobs.
“Frankly, you get a lot of great ideas from
them,” Levine says. “Employees are not
looking for a leader who has all the
answers. They look for someone who is
willing to find the right answers.”
Seeking out employees to find those
answers helps them feel valued and gives
them the sense that their role at the company is an important one. For example, Levine
relied heavily on employees when he hired
a new CEO last summer at Imperial Point
Medical Center.
“We hired their No. 1 pick,” Levine says.
“The employees and doctors feel a sense of
ownership in terms of that decision, and
they’re invested in the success of their new
CEO. They are invested in that new manager’s success. All of those other people at
that level feel like, ‘OK, we’ve bought in to
this person. If this person isn’t going where
we need them to go, we’re going to get
them there.’
“If I pretend I have all the answers, what
ends up happening is people become afraid
to make decisions for themselves. ‘I can’t do
this until I go talk to Alan.’ You want to
empower people to make decisions and feel
comfortable making decisions.”
[Editor’s Note: Levine left Broward Health earlier this year to become Secretary of Health and Hospitals for the State of Louisiana.]
