Dave Mull

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Category: mindset

  • Your Circle

    I’ve heard it said that you are the average of the people you surround yourself with. Similarly it’s said that if find yourself being the smartest person in the room, you should find another room. Both of these sayings in my opinion get at the importance of a growth mindset and getting out of your comfort zone.

    Whether that be working to develop your own personal board of directors. Made up of people that have skill sets, experiences and knowledge you don‘t have. These folks can serve as advisors in many different areas of life. Career, family, money, future, faith and anything else you can imagine. I’ve been lucky to have built relationships with a lot of successful people that often challenge me to think different and many times to think BIGGER. Sometimes you just need that push.

    The smartest person in the room translates to your comfort zone. It’s easy when you are the expert, have all the answers and are in situations you don’t need help or advice. But if you find yourself in that situation, there is a great chance you aren’t learning, growing or really in a position to level up. Putting yourself in the room with folks that are smarter than you, more successful than you and that regularly push for bigger/better/faster WILL push you to up your game and achieve more.

    You owe it to yourself to find ways to do these things. It’s important to remember, the things you do today WILL define who you will be in the future and often how successful you will be in achieving your own goals. Whatever those may be!

  • Fueling my “WHY” for Fixing Healthcare

    My “why” for wanting to be a part of fixing healthcare was further bolstered this weekend.

    This is me visiting my dad today in the facility he’s spent the last few weeks in. After years of dealing with depression, alcoholism and worsening neuropathy he had a fall that resulted in a broken shoulder. Falls aren’t uncommon for him, they usually lead to an ambulance visit and ride to the ER, but this one was different. He already required almost total care support at home from his wife but she simply can’t do it any longer.

    After going back home again after the shoulder brake a readmission was needed simply because he should have never been discharged home and his PCP said that was the ONLY way to get a referral to the needed place of treatment. This readmit led to a discharge to a SNF for rehab/therapy services. After 3 weeks in the SNF, I received a call and letter from the utilization management company his Medicare Advantage plan outsources this service to. It said that he no longer needs constant care and therefore they were stopping coverage for his stay and therapy.

    I can assure you he does in fact still need consistent care as he’s unable to get out of bed. He can not toilet himself even struggles to eat due to lack of mobility of his shoulders and arms. I appealed the decision but that too was quickly overturned.

    While the decision and letter are frustrating as it shows a complete lack of understanding of the situation. What is most concerning is the total lack of care management support, discharge planning, transition planned, you name it. Neither the facility, the MA plan or the outsourced vendor have offered any support. All I’ve been told is that we won’t “kick him out” because they know he’d be homeless but that means a $307 per day private pay stay until all of his money is gone and he can qualify for Medicaid.

    While I’ve found myself in the caregiver position, I’ve learned a lot being on the patient side of these decisions. I’ve learned how complicated it can be to get someone on Medicaid. I’ve learned about countless other things. But what I’ve also experienced is the deep need that many many many seniors have in what can be the most scary and critical time of their lives. This is way more complicated that’s it needs to be.

    I’m fired up more than ever to build a better healthcare solution that provides a more caring member and patient experience. We can and will do better!

    More to come on this journey as I continue to hear and learn how many people struggle with these challenges.

  • Taking Breaks

    I recently took a week away from the office to take my family on a spring break trip. I’m lucky to have a leader and a team that supports this. One thing I’ve learned through my 20+ year career is that there is NEVER a “good” time to take vacations and to truly unplug and I’m one of the most guilty people about not taking PTO. There is always more work to be done then there is time to do it. Those expectations only intensify the higher up you climb. The next fire drill, the next important meeting, the next presentation, the next budget, the nexts just continue. Because of this, it’s more important than ever, as MJ would say to “Just Do it”. These are my top 5 reasons it’s important to take time, especially if you have a family.

    You’ve only got 1 family and 1 lifetime

    Your family needs you a lot more than your job needs you. Marriages take effort, raising kids takes effort and having healthy relationships take effort. This effort can not be the leftovers because all your effort was all spent at work. This is time and investment that will have a greater ROI than anything you do professionally. I’ve seen both sides, I struggle with this in a big way. I often feel guilty about my family getting the leftovers. I’m sharing this as a way to challenge myself but also encourage others.

    Time is the only resource we can’t make more of

    One of my favorite quotes is that it’s not the years in your life that matter, it’s the life in your years that counts. I have to remind myself of this constantly. Saying that I’ll do that tomorrow, or we’ll take that trip next year or in 5 years. Whatever your time box is and the reasons for it, tomorrow is not promised. I do not want to look back at my life with a lot of I wish I would haves. I’d much rather look back on my life with a lot of, wow, I can’t believe I did that’s.

    The work will be there when you get back (most of the time)

    Most important work related activities don’t come and go in a week. Some do, but that is where the value of a team and the benefit of leadership can really be fruitful. Being a good leader means engaging and involving your team. It means helping those on your team develop the tools so that they can step up and fill in if it’s needed. It means having the faith and the trust in your team, your peers and your leaders that most things can be covered while your out.

    Breaks are good for your mental health

    Taking a break to reset and recharge have proven to increase performance. Stepping back for a bit can give you new perspective. It allows you to see how things go while your away. It allows you to see folks true colors. It also lets you clear your mind, find fresh ideas, get excited about jumping back in and importantly a feeling of appreciation.

    Be the leader that encourages and celebrates these breaks

    Todays workforce is extremely competitive. Top talent can find jobs faster and easier than ever before. People want more than anything to feel appreciated and supported. Be a leader, be an organization, be a culture that celebrates peoples value and life outside of the the business. When people feel supported and valued, not only will they stay longer but they will work harder and give more. Be the leader that not only supports but models these traits, your business will benefit from it. I guarantee it.

  • New Adventure

    Today (2/24/22) is officially my last day at Humana. I will be forever grateful for the relationships, friendships, mentorships and more that I’ve experienced during my 17 years. In addition to the people, I’ve had incredible opportunities to learn and grow in a number of roles across the organization. I’ve been blessed with great leaders and teammates all along this journey and I’m hopeful our paths will cross again.

    I have received so many notes of congratulations, encouragement and gratitude. Knowing that I’ve had an impact on peoples lives as a leader and colleague helping them progress in their own careers and life is really what’s its all about. I love business, I love our customers and the mission but above all of that are the people that make it all worth it.

    With that said, I’m extremely excited to share that I am joining the talented leadership team at Honest Medical Group a Rubicon Founders portfolio company as CFO. I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this team that’s focused on building products and services that focus on improving care and member satisfaction while reducing costs for people with Medicare.

    Here’s to new challenges and new beginnings!

  • The Growth Mindset & Why it Matters

    Almost 4 years ago I had the opportunity to do something new in my career. I got to become the COO/CFO for a start up within the large company I had 14 years working in. I knew this would be a significant change for me, I knew it would be challenging, I knew it wasn’t safe but what I didn’t fully appreciate was the amount of change it would do for me. It was scary, it would take me out of my comfort zone and push me in ways I’ve never been pushed. What I’ve also experienced through his is how important mindset is. Being open to that challenge, excited about it, starting with a beginners mindset and embracing a growth mindset has been a game changer for me. I’m not the same person, leader or employee that I was 4 years ago and I want to share a little about what I mean by that.

    Something I’ve always tried to embrace is “rethinking routine”. Which means I love to ask why we do things. Why we do them at all, why we do them certain ways, is there a better way or a better thing? I tend to get bored easy and I don’t like feeling in a rut, so shaking things up is a natural tendency I have. In business, I’ve found this to be a successful part of my career journey. It’s really easy to for people, teams and organizations to get into a rhythm of process. The challenge with that is that our world changes so rapidly, this can easily mean you find yourself behind. Behind in technology, efficiency and organizational design including talent. Being open to and embracing this fact allows you to see and address things starting with curiosity. If you don’t try to disrupt yourself every single day in business, someone else will. Which is at the heart of a beginners approach and feeds the growth mindset.

    The reason I call this out as mindset is because I believe and studies show that it is in fact a mindset characteristic. Luckily this mindset can be built, grown and nurtured. Individuals can of course take this on themselves but it’s drastically more successful if it’s supported by the organization and its leaders. Meaning that rethinking routine is celebrated and not criticized. This feeds a culture of safety vs. a culture of fear. It takes mature and strong leaders to accept and embrace when their world is challenged. But leaders that can do that and do it successfully, build a culture that is fired up for it. When your team members not only feel welcomed to question things but actually expected to. The level of freedom, empowerment and buy-in explodes.

    I’ve luckily embraced this in just about every role I’ve had. Which has often then led me to the next role. But none more so then when I had the opportunity to start a start up within my company. Myself, my peers and our teams were given the task to 100% focus on the member fist and challenge everything we knew about how things were done today. Some of those things were excellent, absolutely no reason to change, best in class. But in many cases, there was a better way to organize, better technology to use, better processes to implement. All building toward a better way to serve our customers, which was 100% our focus. This opportunity was sparked by our leader, who on my very first day handed me a book and said read this. It was a book called “Start with Why” by Simon Sinek. That gesture, that book, that push from my new boss at the time sparked something in me. I felt a new level of push to not only embrace this mindset, but lead and build a team where this was deeply embedded in our culture. It also kicked off a new burning desire to learn more and since then I’ve ready over 50 books and listened to countless podcasts relating to this topic.

    I’d be remiss to suggest this was easy and not something that has gotten even harder the longer we exist and the bigger we get. But even to this day, almost 4 years later, it still sits at the epicenter of how we act and what we do each day. The mindset allows us to navigate the hard days, the challenges and see them as opportunities to learn and improve. I’m forever grateful for that leader, the push and this opportunity. I’m excited about the future and continuing to build and grow this mindset wherever it may take me.

    I ask you to lean into learning about the growth mindset. There are great books and podcasts on the subject. It’s not only great for business but in your personal life to. As a husband, father, son, friend, mentor, mentee, you name it. If you can embrace being open to other views, opinions, ways of doing things. If you see challenges as opportunities instead of blockers and start with “why” and “curiosity” the growth and happiness you will experience is something I can’t wait for you to tell me about, because it will come.