Central Management Podcast | Radhika Palta

A podcast for healthcare’s middle managers

Radhika Palta had to call the metaphorical fire department to help fight a fire in her first week on a new job.

Middle management is in a golden age. But it’s harder than ever to be a middle manager. Central Management is stories, tips, and wisdom to make it easier to be better.

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Central Management is made possible by Status:Go

Status:Go is a technology implementation partner for healthcare delivery provider organizations. Learn about our work at CentralManagement.work.

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This week’s guest on the Central Management podcast is Radhika Palta, administrative director for the surgery department of a West Coast academic medical center.

“Most of the time, I think, your success is how you deal with the outcome of the really challenging stuff that you go through.”

The highlights of our discussion:

4:30 — Radhika introduces the story of her first week on a new job and the near meltdown that met her

7:20 — Details of the drama!

8:20 — Of course, she almost quit

11:10 — A plan comes to light!

12:40 — Of course, she didn’t quit, and tells us why

14:00 — Radhika recounts the steps she took to begin solving the problem

17:10 — The solution!

19:00 — In summary, lessons learned

Central Management Podcast | Jordan Woods

A podcast for healthcare’s middle managers

Jordan Woods is a chameleon.

Middle management is in a golden age. But it’s harder than ever to be a middle manager. Central Management is stories, tips, and wisdom to make it easier to be better.

This week’s guest on the Central Management podcast is Jordan Woods, heart and vascular service line director for a large healthcare system located in the Midwest.

“I enjoy the challenge of trying to be a chameleon and work well with anybody and be effective and appreciated by a lot of different types of people.”

The highlights of our discussion:

2:50 — job responsibilities of executing on executive project vision, whether he participates in developing that vision or not

8:20 — the impact of dictated quick-turnaround deadlines on manager and employee engagement when implementing projects; and the flip side of that: organizations are under pressure to get lots of things done

14:00 — Jordan enjoys his job and the challenges it presents, especially developing people (he is measured(!) on his success in helping his employees develop new skills that allow them to move into other positions in the organization)

19:30 — the biggest challenge for a middle manager is managing executive expectations about project timelines — and navigating the desires of the executive versus employee engagement (Jordan recently had a conversation with a hospital president where the individual made it clear they think managers and directors are the most important people in the organization)

26:10 — the importance of spending time as a middle manager in becoming a visionary leader involved in organization strategy; middle management, though under appreciated, is a great platform for career development

30:56 — one last brilliant insight from Jordan

Central Management is made possible by Status:Go