Most months our Spotlight on Flex showcases professionals from member organizations who exemplify personal and professional success while working a flexible schedule. Their stories illustrate the long-term benefits that flexible schedules offer to both individuals and organizations.
Although we typically highlight an attorney from a member organization, this month we wanted to showcase Dr. Cindy Kelley, Vice President, Medical Education, Summa Health (Akron, OH) one of this year’s Flex Success® Award honorees as she was unable to attend our Annual Conference due to a last minute conflict. Dr. Kelley, along with her co-honoree, Lori Mihalich Levin (Dentons), exemplifies how flexibility works across industries and across client/partner relationships. We are thrilled to share her personal Flex Success® story with you.
Diversity & Flexibility Alliance: How have you made flexibility a priority and a success with your schedule? How has your organization contributed to this?
Dr. Cindy Kelley: I have learned that with planning ahead and clear communication, a flexible schedule is possible. With four daughters, I’ve realized that one-on-one time with each of them is a rarity but is so important. So, I’ve started blocking the first hour on my Friday schedule so that each week, I can take one of them to breakfast before school and work. Things do come up and we have to be flexible! But I’ve learned that if you don’t at least make a plan, time will pass you by, and you’ll miss these opportunities. My organization contributes to this flexibility by trusting us to get our work done and focusing on outcomes rather than the process. In addition, my boss not only talks about the importance of work-life balance; he lives it. This gives us permission to live it too.
DFA: How has working flexibly made your career more sustainable and contributed to business/professional development opportunities?
CK: My career would not have been possible without the support of my institution, and specifically, my partners as I shifted and changed my schedule early on. Just one-and-a-half-years into my first job as a family medicine residency faculty member, I went to my boss in tears telling him that I didn’t think I could continue working full-time and taking obstetrics call. I hadn’t anticipated how hard it would be to manage my schedule with a toddler and a newborn while my husband worked ED shifts. We talked about what I needed and discussed a potential plan. He took this to my entire group and they supported the change in my schedule. Since that time, I have worked all kinds of schedules. I am forever grateful to my partners for their support.
Lori focuses her practice on Medicare reimbursement counseling, with a special focus on Medicare graduate medical education (GME) payments to teaching hospitals. She represents academic medical centers, teaching hospitals, community hospitals, and health systems, as well as a broad array of other health care organizations.