I've got a new series coming!

You may know, I have spent my 35-year career in healthcare teaching physicians the business and leadership sides of practice. Over half of my career, I have spent in interim leadership positions in large physician organizations – CEOing. Recently, I have had the pleasure of meeting (virtually) Lucinda Koza, the founder and CEO of i-Ally, Inc a support community and app for Millennial and Gen Z, uncompensated/family caregivers. Lucinda caught my attention when she shared with her large community of young family caregivers her advice to think of themselves as the CEO of the situation. 

I just could not stop thinking about young adults who have not even be able to start their careers before having to spend significant time and energy caring for a loved one. Of the 53 million family caregivers in the US, 29% are Millennials and Gen Z. I know how difficult it was to devote my energy and time to taking care of my beloved Bob. I was in my late 40s when Bob became ill. I was lucky to have had a full career and range of professional experiences when it came time to put the bulk of that on hold to take care of a loved one. Caregiver was, by far, the most difficult job I have ever done. 

Lucinda’s guidance to her community, to be a CEO, had me attempting to empathize with having to do the caregiver and/or the CEO job as a young person. That made me realize that most of her community, by virtue of their youth, has not yet held the position of CEO. 

So, I set out to see what correlations I could find between family caregiver and CEO. There are far more than you might think, certainly more than I thought there would be. I have put together a series of educational posts that will begin on February 15, called:

Caregiver As CEO
aka Chief Everything Officer

Each weekday I will post a graphic with some thoughts on the topic. The five subcategories of this exploration are: Strategy & Planning; Analysis & Data; Team & Resources; Facilities Management & Environmental Services, and Self-Management.

I was surprised at the correlations I found between being a CEO and being a family caregiver. I have thoroughly enjoyed putting this series together especially with the idea that it might help some family caregivers. Initially, I thought I would post it only on Instagram as that’s where Lucinda has her largest following of young caregivers but upon showing it with a couple, eh hem, older folks, I have been convinced that this information will help caregivers of all ages. 

My three social media accounts that will provide the most thorough program are: 
•    @hospicedoctorswidow on Instagram 
•    @Jennifer A. O’Brien, MSOD on LinkedIn
•    @Hospice Doctor’s Widow – Jennifer A. O’Brien, MSOD on Facebook

Please note that the Facebook account above is different from my personal account. If you are connected to me via my personal account, you may not get all the postings in this series. Also, I will post on Twitter but the 280-character limit will make the series considerably less comprehensive.