Thank A Mentor

Mentors are the “silent partners” in our career development. Do you have a story of someone who helped you?

Back in the early 80’s I was an Assistant Vice President at Misericordia Hospital in West Philadelphia, PA. The health system CFO was Jim Schleif. For those that worked with Jim knew he was fair but tough especially with all things concerning the budget. But what many did not know was also an educator and mentor. Jim would spend every Tuesday morning with our team and educate us on healthcare finances. He knew that by investing in our team we would be better prepared to handle the challenges of running an intercity hospital. Two key message Jim constantly repeated was “you have to know your numbers” and “the numbers tell a story.” To reinforce his points, he insisted we all buy small pocket calculators which we could use anytime to make sure our numbers were accurate.

Throughout my career I insisted all the Teams I led knew of Jim’s two key messages “you have to know your numbers” and “the numbers tell a story.”

Jim passed away in April 2005 and his mentorship live on in me and others. In fact, I still have the Radio Shack pocket calculator that I purchased almost 40 years ago. Thank you, Jim, for your investment in me!

What is your mentor story?