THE VA NEEDS A LEADER WHO KNOWS THE BUSINESS
Posted by Ed Wolff on May 21, 2014 · Leave a Comment
The Veterans Affairs Department needs a leader who knows the business. The agency is mostly a collection of hospitals and needs a leader who has experience as a successful hospital chief executive officer. It needs someone who recognizes when the ratio of professional medical staff to administrators is too low and can fix the problem. A heroic military man who performed well on the battlefield may not be the best person for hospital management.
I once worked for a small aerospace company that was bought by a commercial company that wanted to invest its profits in high technology. The buyer replaced the technical person who built the aerospace company with a retired army officer. The officer proceeded to drive the company into oblivion because he did not understand the business. He might have been a good warrior and leader of men, but not knowing the business can be a fatal handicap.
