The Back Story: Behind Concordia’s new holistic approach

First 60 Days

When I joined Concordia, I brought experience in the types of challenges that often plague university health and wellness departments—things like unsteady peace treaties between medical, social, and behavioural models, wariness towards electronic health records, and highly skilled but tired staff. My first few days were sprints in data gathering and sense-making to see how much of my experience was useful in a new landscape.

Day #1

I am startled to discover that my office has natural light. I promptly close the blinds so my eyes can adjust. At my keyboard, I spend 10-minutes word-smithing a 60-word email.  In it, I say “hello” to my new team, invite everyone to a meet-and-greet in 2 weeks’ time, and offer to meet anyone 1:1 or in groups. One such meeting began with a nervous smile: “Gaya, I was nervous coming to meet you.” I responded, “Phew. I was nervous too.” After 25+ meetings, I have a 43-item to-do list, a glimmer of insight, and writer’s cramp.

My 1:1s and to-do list helped me draft my presentation for the meet-and-greet. Admittedly, I spent the two weeks leading up to it fretting about how good/daft an idea it was to formally present my credentials, experience, and next steps to my new department. I rationalised that since they weren’t at my interview, they were likely curious about me. The fretting ended when staff stopped me in the hallways to tell me that they were inspired and didn’t know a Director would “care enough” to do this. I’m learning to trust my gut more.

Quick Wins

My 1:1s helped identify “quick wins” such as a monthly e-newsletter to answer a common request to know what was happening across the department. We also launched Gratitude Moments and a nomadic book, “Pass Me On, I’m Contagious,” to spread good wishes and kindness as virally as a cold could.  My approach was simple: use quick-wins to build relationships and a new culture. Process improvements can wait. Nobody wants them in the beginning. I will always remember the maxim: “People don’t care how you know, until they know how much you care.” This little truism makes the rounds in hospitals and classrooms, but resonates in any industry.

Day #60

My to-do list has company—every visioning document and hopeful “game plan” my team had ever written. The documents blended with experience to coalesce on 3 foci and a decentralised leadership model that would empower Senior Managers to work across the CWSS portfolio for the first time. My team was ambitious and so was I. Decentralization was the only way I could realise our dreams quickly and build much-needed operational capacity. And then magic started to happen. (Coming soon).

Gaya