the advaita collective
The following blog was sent as an email to my kickass Advaita Collective colleagues.
5 Bullet Summary
Spotlighting “transparency” as a core value and what “full transparency” means to me.
A big welcome (or welcome back) to Armond, Katie, and Michael!
Corey + Krista are delivering a CEU Event, Intro to DBT, on 5/17 from 12-2pm.
Big shout out to the program team for being the backbone
Putting the past behind us: one team with one mission.
I’d like to formally propose we refer to the AIM + Green Hill folks as the “Advaita Collective.” I’m willing to entertain other options, but I’m pretty set.
transparency isn’t about being exposed. it’s about being honest.
Leading an organization should be, IMHO, a very philosophical endeavor. When I took over from my original co-founder as CEO, I first worked to develop (with Nick) a set of core values. At the time, we were an 8-9 person team, and we only had a handful of clients with us in the transitional living program. We tried to pick values that applied to the recovery process and to the entire human development project – in a sense, we were trying to encapsulate some sort of universal, perennial values.
Ok, so what does transparency really mean? Here are two theoretical examples.
Compensation transparency: Ideally, the Advaita Collective would have a compensation process that was so fair and meritocratic that we should all be comfortable with each person knowing how much we were paid, and we would feel like everyone else was paid their worth.
Constant recording: At Bridgewater, a company known for a rigorous, values-based management style, they record all meetings and post the meetings to a shared repository. That means anyone in the company could watch any meeting you’re a part of – what does that do to gossip?
Don’t worry, we’re not installing cameras, nor will we publish pay details, but I aspire to that level of transparency. For now, let’s focus on transparency in our individual interactions through radical candor (caring personally + challenging directly).
welcome to Armond & Katie!
I’m thrilled to have Armond Hendrick and Katie Hancock on the team! Armond and Katie come to the team with awesome experiences that will add a lot of valuable insight and new perspectives to our managed care programs. Now that Corey has largely established her clinical team, we’ll probably hear rumblings of PHP and additional groups starting soon…
If you haven’t gotten the chance to connect with Armond or Katie, shoot them a welcome note.
welcome back to Michael!
Who’s been in this organization the longest? Me. What about number two? If you guessed Nick, you’d be wrong. Technically, Michael O’Sullivan has been the longest-serving member of the Advaita Collective. In 2017, Michael first joined the team as a program facilitator. Since then, he’s been accepted into Duke’s law school and MBA programs, served as an analyst for the company and pitched in on innumerable projects over the years. Michael graduates with his MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business this Saturday, and I’m excited to welcome him back as the interim chief financial officer!
the delicate finance-vision balance
In healthcare, balancing financial realities and aspirational visions often leads to one being paid only in lip service. It’s a real pain in the ass to deal with the financial side of things – paying bills, budgeting, getting paid, and paying team members. Often there is a vision-reality mismatch, and it’s not fun for anyone involved. At times we’ve been way too financially motivated (2017-18), and sometimes we’ve ignored reality (what’s up 2022?). We have a team of professionals and need a professionally run finance department. I know we didn’t get off to the smoothest start with integrating folks from WIllow, but I believe it’s smooth sailing now that we’ve got someone dedicated to building and maintaining complex financial systems. And thank goodness I’m not responsible for that…Let’s show him a good time so he’s back full-time again very soon.
Dialectical Behavioral Therapy (DBT) Continuing Education Event
I’ve always wanted us to develop a reputation as thought leaders and educators. To that end, I’m excited to kick things off this year with a continuing education opportunity, “Intro to DBT,” featuring Corey + Krista. This dynamic duo has already revamped our internal training calendar. Now they’re taking their show on the road or down the street to New Waters Recovery, where, unsurprisingly, attendance for the in-person event is already maxed out. However, you can still register for an online spot here.
I’m also working diligently behind the scenes with Blue Cross North Carolina to develop a special billing code that would allow us to provide full-model DBT through insurance at rates that allow us to compensate clinicians as they deserve. Stay tuned for more…
program team leads the way!
Suppose you’re unfamiliar with our transitional living and intensive outpatient programs. In that case, you may not know how large of a role the “program team,” aka recovery coaches, peer support, and case managers, play. We have never had as impressive and cohesive a team as we do now. A huge shout out to the entire team. If you don’t know Alex, Elliot, Josh, Reilly, Jake, Pete, Troy, and anyone else, I forgot – I know we’ve got a few folks in flux as school commitments have changed. Y’all play an outsized role in our work and rarely get the public acknowledgment deserved. It can sometimes feel like difficult, thankless work, but it doesn’t go unnoticed. (See above for what our first program facilitator is up to now…)
putting the past behind us
This section may seem out of context if this is your first rodeo (long email). For those of you who have been following this journey (journey = reading the long emails) since it began almost a year ago, you will probably thank me for finally “letting that shit go.”
We’re over five months into 2023, so it feels ridiculous to continuously say things like, “Last year was really crazy for us.” Last year was unbelievably difficult on many levels. It was around this time last year that things got pretty wonky, and it didn’t really feel like it was buffing out until March or April. Now that we’re through the rough spots, it’s time to quit dwelling on the past. Below are a few pithy lessons I learned.
Some people build, maintain, improve, and others do it all. These roles may switch during different seasons of life.
“It’s never as good or as bad as it seems.” – Scott Galloway
CFOs aren’t allowed to use Macs.
Be kind and speak your mind.
If it feels like the universe is gaslighting you, you’re spending time with the wrong people.
Learning is a function of experience, risk, and investment.
Love discovering when you’re wrong.
If you want to learn more about my thoughts on 2022, check out this blog (kinda chaos) and if you want even more reflections on growing pains, check this one out (notes on growing too fast).
in closing
Does anyone spot a glaring error in this email? If you did, the first person to email me back with the error gets a $20 gift card to your (preferably local) biz of choice, but I won’t be upset if you want a Starbucks, Target, or Amazon card ;)
PS: If there is more than one glaring error, only the one I meant to leave counts…sorry. mine counts.
PSS: How often would you like updates? What can I include so that you feel like you’re more in the loop?
PSSS: There are talks of starting an Advaita Collective podcast that would consist of conversations with team members, interviews with professionals in the field, and a weekly news roundup of organizational news and highlights. Would you listen? Want to participate?
