Sally Thompson Durkan

I attribute my success to being open, honest, diligent, and hardworking. I've always believed in laughing, having fun, and enjoying what you're doing. You have to embrace what you're doing and make sure it's done right. Throughout my career, I've focused on being organized, clear, and concise in everything I do. I think it's important to be nimble and able to adjust when things change, because no day is typical - you might think you're going to do A, and you end up with X, so you just have to shift gears. I've also always made sure to be thorough and detailed, which can drive people nuts, but especially in healthcare, you have to be very precise because if you don't do something correctly, the company can be fined. So I'd say my success comes from being strategic, organized, hardworking, and making sure I enjoy the journey along the way.

The best career advice I've received is to have an open door policy and make sure everybody has a seat at the table. No idea is a bad idea. It's about being inclusive and making sure all representation is there when you're working together in an organization with team members, because you're all trying to solve something for the organization you work for. My approach has always been that no idea is a bad idea - let everybody say whatever they need to say. You don't know who knows what, and good ideas can come from everybody. You want to make sure everybody feels like they've been heard and seen, and their time is as valuable as your time is. It's really about getting along with people and being respectful.

Make sure you are heard, you're seen, and you're not shut down. You need to have a voice and speak up, but as I always say, leave the attitude and the bitch factor at the door. Girls in general can be snarky to one another, so don't do it. You've got to leave that and work with everybody. It's still a hard world out there with the men and the women and the shenanigans that go along with that. I've seen a lot of stuff go on, especially when I was in advertising, which was the worst with bad behavior. Women need to be confident, stand your ground, but be polite, and work with everybody. There's always going to be somebody in an organization that's just going to rub you the wrong way, but you have to deal with it professionally. Overall, women need to support one another and uplift them, and not look at them as competition. It's a competitive world, but look at them as you're working together, not against. Share with them what you know, and they can share with you what they know - it's a give and take. Women really need to be kinder to women. There's still that competition out there which can be nasty and negative, but embrace it and lift up and share.

I think overall, with the way the economy is right now, healthcare still is a place that seems to be well needed. It's a personal industry because you're providing health and access to health to a person, and I think that is always going to be a business industry that is going to survive and has to survive. I just see other things coming into it, like AI. At some point, we can't rely on AI and let it take over. There'll be a big misstep with AI, and you have to check those things at the door as you go along, because that's an unknown. I really think it can be part of what the business is of healthcare, but you're dealing with human beings, so you can't let just something like that take over. It's part of the mix. I see healthcare as a surviving industry. As a marketer and communicator, you really need to follow the businesses and what's out there, whatever it is, with the checks and balances. You have to be mindful of all of these new changes, and all these great ideas and bad ideas. I'm of a school where you have to be a little more cautious - I was around in business when the dot-com started, and I thought, okay, this is not going to survive, and it just imploded after a very short time.

The values most important to me are respect, honesty, consideration, politeness, and being accepting. I believe you should leave the attitude at the door before you come into the room. Don't come in with whatever attitude you might have, and don't try to hijack the meeting. You need to be respectful. You're not going to agree with everybody, you're not going to like everybody, but do not be rude, don't be patronizing, don't be belittling, don't be aggressive - avoid all the negatives that are still going on and seem to be getting worse. It's about treating people with respect and making sure everyone's time is valued equally.