Tom Koutsoumpas was nominated recently to make the top 100 Modern Healthcare leader list. This is an honor in and of itself and it was great to see other C-TAC champions on the list.
Seeing Tom’s nomination made me reflect back on my 10 years with him, soaking up what I could on leadership and trying to apply it to C-TAC.
Before I get to that, a snapshot of Tom. Not his bio, which is extensive! But how he makes you feel.
I heard Tom before I met him. Not heard of him, I heard him –this great booming laugh coming down the hall. Then through the door he came with aviator glasses and a pinstriped suit with a big smile, having just ended a conversation with someone.
Whoever he was talking to (the parking lot attendant or a US Senator), that’s just Tom.
“Every time I talk with Tom,” someone once said to me, “it’s like he just won the lottery – he’s so optimistic.” That spirit even comes across in the emails he sends, which can make you wonder if the exclamation point on his keyboard gets stuck on repeat. Yes – I love it!!!!!!!! He’ll reply. The man is a battery of positivity, which is especially needed these days.
And that optimism is carried through each of the top 5 insights on leadership I’ve learned from Tom.
1.) Do meaningful work but don’t take yourself too seriously. Tom’s devoted his life to helping others, from transforming mental health to helping those with serious illness. A lot of that work comes through the hard grind of serious policy change. But how many of you have been in a meeting with Tom when you hear STOP. IN THE NAME OF LOVE? His Dianna Ross phone ring goes off at random. “I’m so sorry” he says while he’s laughing, shoulders shaking (like a kid pulling a prank) barely containing himself, and everyone else starts to laugh as well. It’s good to take moments to remember the simple truth that we’re just people (with eclectic interests in music) trying to do the best we can.
2.) Simplify your message. I think Tom picked this up from his time around political leaders like the late Bob Dole who could deliver a point concisely, with a zinger. While it’s often true that to change policy you have to be able to get your hands onto the wires and mechanics of a very complex machine, you don’t need to carry that complexity into how you talk about it. Your message should be easy to understand for everyone, in plain English.
3.) Remember Terre Haute. If you’re working on something meaningful, it should be relevant and relatable to everyone. If you’re reading this and you’ve worked with Tom, I’m sure you’re smiling because it was drilled into us. What we’re working on should make an impact everywhere, Tom often says, not just for folks in Washington DC but everywhere in this country – for instance, in Terre Haute.
4.) It starts with the person. It was the story of the impact of serious illness on his mother and the family that brought Tom to get together with Bill to launch C-TAC. Tom would tell his story in meeting after meeting in the early days of C-TAC. At first I was worried (primarily for Tom) that the folks on the other side of the table would roll their eyes and want to get to the topic at hand. But I was wrong. Hardened healthcare executives, seasoned policy makers, person after person would respond to Tom’s story. And not only that, they’d share their own. We got started through hundreds of these types of meetings with Tom and Bill where the professional guard was down and folks were connecting as caregivers and family members who’d experienced how chaotic the system was for those with serious illness.
5.) Let’s do it. There’s been so many times when we get to the end of a meeting and Tom says: so, what are we doing about it? If it’s a problem, let’s fix it. If it’s a good thing, let’s figure out how to do more of it. That’s a good impatience to have, especially in Washington DC!
If you’ve worked with Tom, I’m sure you have more to add here. And I’d encourage others to chip in with their stories.
