You really have to subvert your own ego and focus on the issue at hand rather than focusing on getting credit for it yourself.
“You really have to subvert your own ego and focus on the issue at hand.”
—Dr. Bill Keck
Third, you need to find ways to share the risks and rewards. You have to share the work, ensure it is as evenly distributed and as appropriately distributed as possible, and that people get credit for what they do. If you’re the leader of the group, you probably take less credit and give credit to others. So you reward others for working together as much as you can.
“You have to share the work and ensure . . . that people get credit for what they do.”
—Dr. Bill Keck
RON BIALEK, MPP
I have a role; you have a role, and humility is recognizing that there are lots of different roles and that none of us individually can really make the difference we might want to make.
“It’s important to remember that as a collaborator, I’m simply a cog in a bigger wheel.”
—Ron Bialek
So be genuine; be honest; be upfront. It takes a long time to develop trust and credibility, but it’s worth it in the long run.
“Be genuine; be honest; be upfront.”
—Ron Bialek
RICARDO MARTINEZ, MD, FACEP
Interviewer: What are your general thoughts on collaboration? Why collaborate?
Ricardo Martinez: That’s easy. The problem is too big, and the resources are too small. That’s number one. If you look in terms of public health, we way underfund that in the United States. We basically have our healthcare focus on the demand side, not on decreasing demand.
Why collaborate?
“That’s easy. The problem is too big, and the resources too small. We way underfund public health in the United States.”
—Dr. Ricardo Martinez
“The growth of big data is creating much greater awareness of the need to bring in all these various stakeholders around a central theme.”
—Dr. Ricardo Martinez
What will bring people together in a collaboration?
1) It’s got to be important.
2) It has to be something they can feel they can do something about.
3) If I go and am successful in my efforts, will it make a difference? You have to feel that your actions will be meaningful.”
—Dr. Ricardo Martinez
“…You’ve got to understand the power pie before you get into something” because anybody that has a stake in the issue that you leave out will show up at the very end and will obstruct the process.
So we really had to get pretty good at understanding who the players were and make sure we brought them in.
“You’ve got to understand the “Power Pie” before you get into something because anybody you leave out will show up at the very end and obstruct the process.”
—Dr. Ricardo Martinez
All too often you find people that leave out slivers, and those slivers may have a lot of political power or they may be very influential. If they’re not involved in the process, you’ve got a problem. Be afraid of creating that problem.
“The thing that I’ve often found is that if you left somebody out who has a stake in the game, when you began to move forward, they often went into obstructionist mode . . . because they didn’t feel they’d been heard.
This wasn’t something you were doing with them; you were doing to them.”
—Dr. Ricardo Martinez
BETTY BEKEMEIER, PhD, MPH, RN
“Really honoring and recognizing the expertise that others bring is another big piece . . . If people don’t feel it or think it’s genuine, you don’t get anywhere.”
—Dr. Betty Bekemeier
Some of my closest colleagues say I apologize too much, but I think apology, sincere apology, goes a long way.
“When I do something at the last minute . . . and ask my buddies to respond more quickly than I think they can . . . I apologize.
I think apology, sincere apology, goes a long way.”
—Dr. Betty Bekemeier
PAUL C. ERWIN, MD, DrPH
“I do think it takes a certain degree of willingness and capability to be humble and to be flexible. One cannot accomplish things in this field without collaboration.”
—Dr. Paul C. Erwin
GAIL REED, MS
The first piece of advice to people and organizations seeking to work with others would be: leave your baggage at home. When you’re talking with a new contact, whether it is in the United States or abroad in health or fundraising, or whatever field, try to leave behind your baggage, your assumptions, and preconceived notions. Listen with an open mind because you’re going to find out a lot of things that surprise you and that are going to be essential to move any kind of collaboration forward.
“When you’re talking with a new contact . . . leave behind your baggage, your assumptions, and preconceived notions.”
—Gail Reed
Listening is so important because they’re going to tell you about themselves, and you’re going to tell them about yourself. In my experience, if you’re the one who asked for the meeting, try to do the listening first, because what they say will help guide you when it’s your turn to talk. Listening will help you pick out what you want to say about yourself or your work that is most likely to strike a chord, to resonate with your new acquaintance.
It’s also a sign of respect that you want to listen to them first.
“Try to do the listening first, because what they say will help guide you when it’s your turn to talk.”
—Gail Reed
Some other things apply. A wonderful representative of UNICEF that was a dear friend of mine, now departed, said, “Getting into a collaborative relationship is like wooing a lover.” I’d have to say staying in is like making a marriage work; it’s constant attention to relationship building. You can’t assume that it´s going to go off and live happily ever after. It’s not.
“Getting into a collaborative relationship is like wooing a lover . . . staying in is like making a marriage work.”
—Gail Reed
But you do need to prioritize because relationship building is a very labor-intensive exercise. It takes many cups of coffee—in our case, maybe it takes a few mojitos. The best example I can give is it takes a lot of writing on the napkin together.
“Relationship building is a very labor-intensive exercise. It takes many cups of coffee . . . It takes a lot of writing on the napkin together.”
—Gail Reed
VIRGINIA CAINE, MD
“Conflict I think can be a good thing, because a lot of times people are more honest, you know, about what they feel and what their beliefs are.”
—Dr. Virginia Caine
So a lot of times, when you have a collaboration, you invite the people that you know and you’re comfortable with. You’re not always looking for diversity in these collaboration processes.
And so, if you get like-minded people that think the same way as you, and there’s no diversity in their perspective or their thoughts, you’re never going to come up with any innovative solutions. You’re just going to get the old, traditional, routine interventions where, wow, you may not be getting the outcomes you wanted to see.
“We feel more comfortable if we are interacting with someone that’s just like us, talks like us.
If you get like-minded people thinking the same way as you, and there is no diversity in their perspective, or their thoughts, you’re never going to come up with any innovative solutions.”
—Dr. Virginia Caine
CHUCK VEHLOW JR.
…planning has to be discussed and considered very carefully. What are the major recorded steps, goals, and objectives of what we’re planning?
“If an organization doesn’t have a business plan, I’d be very leery of doing any collaboration with them.”
—Chuck Vehlow Jr.
But you do have to factor in the time it takes to collaborate, and this is often underestimated early on.
“You do have to factor in the time it takes to collaborate, and this is often underestimated early on.”
—Chuck Vehlow Jr.
DONNA PETERSEN, ScD, MHS, CPH
Donna Petersen: We talk about this a lot because you know this; public health is not something anyone does alone.
“You know this; public health is not something anyone does alone.”
—Dr. Donna Petersen
We’re all in bureaucracies, and when you go down the hall and knock on the door because you need something, you want them to look up and smile, “Hi.”
“When you go down the hall and knock on the door because you need something, you want them to look up and smile, ‘Hi.’”
—Dr. Donna Petersen
Be nice to people. How you make people feel at the end of the day is what they will remember.
“Don’t take things personally, even if it is.”
“Be nice to people. How you make people feel at the end of the day is what they will remember.”
—Dr. Donna Petersen
CASWELL A. EVANS JR, DDS, MPH
There’s some give and take because whenever you solicit an individual, a group, or an organization to collaborate with you on an initiative, you need to expect that down the line, there’s going to be a quid pro quo, and they will call on you to collaborate with them on their own initiative.
“Whenever you solicit an individual, a group, or an organization to collaborate with you on an initiative, you need to expect that down the line, there’s going to be a quid pro quo, and they will call on you to collaborate with them on their own initiative.”
—Dr. Caswell A. Evans Jr.
Part of that is also what I call “giving it away.” From a leadership perspective, once the vision is crafted, you’ve got to be prepared to let it go to the point that everyone has to see the vision as a collective, but they’ve got to interpret the vision from their own perspective, and say, “Within this vision, I see this particular piece as being ours, or mine, and this is what I can do with this piece.”
“You’ve got to let go. Once the vision is crafted, everyone has to see the vision from their own perspective and say, ‘This is what I can do with this piece.’
Then let them bask in the glory of their accomplishment.”
—Dr. Caswell A. Evans Jr.
AMY LEE, MD, MPH, MBA
And in order to be able to influence people, you need to get along with them.
“My favorite book to this day is Dale Carnegie’s How To Win Friends and Influence People. Even though it was published in 1936, the stories still ring true.
I’ve read a lot of books after that, and they’ve given more scientific explanations and added more stories, but it still gets down to that basic concept: people are people, and they want to feel valued.
And in order to be able to influence people, you need to get along with them.”
—Dr. Amy Lee
I’ve even given some workshops to people at health departments on influencing others. Some of it’s very basic. I mean, we’re all human, and we all respond to people understanding where we’re coming from; it makes us feel valued.
“We’re all human and we all respond to people understanding where we’re coming from; it makes us feel valued.”
—Dr. Amy Lee
MARY JANE STANCHINA
Mary Jane Stanchina: Absolutely. If there’s no passion—if there’s no emotional commitment, I don’t think the opportunities for a collaborative environment work very well. This relates to the example about the grant; the writers had a commitment to the cause!
“If there’s no passion—if there’s no emotional commitment, I don’t think the opportunities for a collaborative environment work very well.”
—Mary Jane Stanchina
Listening is the art of “being present” to what someone else is saying, and that includes an understanding of the language that is used.
“Listening is the art of ‘being present’ to what someone else is saying.”
—Mary Jane Stanchina
It also has to deal with the concept of “group-think.” I’ve always felt that group-think is far better than single-think because you have the opportunity to obtain a very diverse viewpoint.
“I’ve always felt that group-think is far better than single-think.”
—Mary Jane Stanchina
LOWELL W. GERSON, PhD
Lowell Gerson: No, I am not cautious when I enter collaborations. Since beginning my academic career, I realized that the problems I am working with are usually greater than my skills can handle.
“I realized that the problems I am working with are usually greater than my skills can handle.”
—Dr. Lowell W. Gerson
FREDERICA L. COHEN
You have to learn to give and take as you go.
“You have to learn to give and take as you go.”
—Frederica Cohen
Frederica Cohen: It would seem that way, for sure. Because if you set up a program without input from the people who are going to have to run it, especially if you have no knowledge in that area, the chances of success are much slimmer.
“If you set up a program without input from the people who are going to have to
run it . . . the chances of success are much
slimmer.”
—Frederica Cohen
ARDITH KECK
Ardith Keck: Well, collaboration is working together, and if you want to achieve your goal, the best way to do it just about in every sense—just about always—is to collaborate. Very few times can you achieve as much by yourself as you can in collaboration with others.
“Very few times can you achieve as much by yourself as you can in collaboration with others.”
—Ardith Keck
Your goal should be to work together and maybe to find a way to get around the reasons why it might not work. That means change what you’re thinking, change where you are, and change how you want to do things.
—Ardith Keck
SUE PHILLIPS
Sue Phillips: I think he (Dr. Bill Keck) evidenced more heart and an attitude of serving others than one might typically expect from a health director. Dr. Keck was never shy about trying new things.
He was so good at being able to put the right people in the right places. If he took something on, he was going to see it through. I worked for him 25 of the 32 years that I worked for the city of Akron. When we had a new director come in upon Dr. Keck’s retirement, the difference between Dr. Keck and the new director was so marked that I thought, “Gosh, how fortunate I was to work with an individual like Dr. Keck.”
DAVID KETTLEWELL IMPRESSIONS
BILL KECK: A MAN WHO KNOWS SOME LESSONS THAT SHOULD BE PASSED ON
My impressions of Bill were immediate—and have been long lasting.
I sensed his deep integrity, and the more I learned of his career, the more impressed I became.
When I saw his resume, I thought of Lincoln’s statement that he’d consider granting commissions for military leadership by comparing letters of reference by the pound. It was endless—a compelling testament to a man who’d accomplished so very much in service to others in life.
I saw the quality of the man and sensed he knew things that should be passed on. That was the seed, the beginning.
