Tyler & Company Interviews Southwind’s Vice President

Tyler & Company sat down with Southwind’s Vice President Sandy Kurtz, MD.  Sandy Kurtz to reflect on literature and tactics he incorporated throughout his career.

Tyler & Company: “Innovation” is buzzing these days. How do you encourage people to think outside of the box?

Dr. Kurtz: One important thing you learn in life is that there’s more than one way to arrive at a satisfactory solution. As an administrator, I asked every subordinate admin to provide two to three remedies for a given challenge. In terms of moving people toward a thought process, this is a good rule. Why? For most, providing one solution is easy. However, since you’re forced to look at problems in different ways, providing two or three solutions generally offers innovative breakthroughs.

Tyler & Company: In your view, what constitutes a good leader?

Dr. Kurtz: Professors at business schools dedicate their entire lives trying to educate us on what leadership is and how to be a good leader. My views are based on many of their thoughts and personal experience. Some people reading this probably have better interpretations of how to approach this topic. My hope is that readers find one or two things useful, and that they complement their outlook.

Leadership is important for the success of any organization and requires professional and personal enrichment. In “Leadership That Gets Results,” Daniel Goleman applies leadership styles to four capabilities of emotional intelligence – the capacity to manage ourselves and our relationships. They are self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social skill. Jim Collins’ Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap ... and Others Don’t speaks to “level-five leadership.” And, who can forget Peter Drucker and all of the management wisdom that he gave American businesses over his profound career?

In what I’ve experienced, successful leaders are, above all else, successful managers. Likely the best leaders we can find are those whom have also mastered how to be happy. They have found a work-life balance right for them. 

The full interview is published on Tyler & Company’s website. Read the full article.