Lyn Hesterlee, MBA, CMA

I attribute my success to the interpersonal relationships I've built throughout my career. The relationships you form or build are the most important, I think, and you get great respect from that. I've always made sure to be good with my staff, and when you're good with your staff, they're gonna respect that and they'll be proud to be there. I had employees that wanted to follow me, stay with me, always, and I learned in the medical field that's a trend - these kids go from job to job, but they get attached to a manager and they want to follow that person. I also learned that you've got to have the right people to make you great. I could know everything in the world, but if I didn't have the staffing, I wouldn't be who I was. I made sure they were well educated, they were trained, they knew what they were doing, because they're the ones that are doing the grunt work, and they make you look better. I never sat at my desk hardly, until after hours when it was quiet, or I'd go in super early in the morning when it was quiet so I could get things done. I can make 5 or 6 decisions on my feet, running from department to department. As we mature, our thinking gets different, and I think about situations I handled 30 years ago - today, I would handle them totally different because I have more wisdom. I have more ability to think out the whole situation and understand what's really important and what isn't.

The best career advice I ever received came from a man I worked with in accounting. He always made me stop and think, no matter what the issue was. He would come off with these profound statements that made you stop and think about it. He said something to me one time - he said, people don't know what they don't know. When he said that to me, it sounds kind of silly, but when he said that to me, I was very young and I didn't understand that. I had to ask him about it, and he's like, the statement explains it. That really stuck with me and changed how I approach things.

Don't ever give up. Don't ever think you can't, because you can. You keep trying, and the more you learn, the more hungry you'll get, and you will achieve it, and achieve it, and achieve it. The race is a long race - you don't have to conquer it in a year or two years. You've got a life ahead of you, and you can run that race and learn and accomplish all your goals if you set attainable goals. Don't set goals that are so far out you'll never obtain them - something I learned early on. Set goals that are attainable. In a year from now, you want to be here, and make sure you get there. You've got the power to get you there. When you accomplish that goal in a year, take the next goal, but never give up. Don't ever say you can't, and don't give up because you can. Find a good mentor that you can relate to. I know people say, oh, they're old, they don't know anything. Oh, they know so much more, honey, and they can help you. If you can find a mentor that you match up with, you'll learn so much. They'll learn so much more from that mentor, not on the technical side or the book side, but that mentor can teach them so much more. You gotta hook up with somebody, you know, that you can trust and be comfortable with.

Challenges include high turnover among younger staff, the complexity of insurance billing and coding, and ensuring well-trained, reliable employees. Opportunities exist in the growing demand for senior and residential care, the importance of mentorship, and applying operational knowledge, including regulatory and building oversight, to improve patient care.

The most important values to me are compassion, continuous learning, and independence. I've always, always had a compassionate heart, and I think anybody who works in the medical field has to have a compassionate heart. When people don't feel good, they're not their best, so we have to be our best. I love learning - today, I love learning, I never stop learning. Even at 70, I'm still having fun and learning so much. I feel like as long as I still have my mind and my knowledge is still there, I want to keep sharing it with others. Independence has also been crucial to me. My mother made me a very strong and independent woman without even knowing she did it. I had an aunt and my father's mother, my grandmother, who were both strong, independent women who had great careers and took care of themselves. They were role models, and I saw them taking care of themselves and what needed to be taken care of. I wanted the same for myself - to be a leader in my industry. I always tell people, ask me questions, learn from me, because I don't think there's anything more important than experience.