It Is Always Day One at the Academy

Rahul K. Shah, MD, MBA
AAO-HNS/F Executive Vice President and CEOI write this column with great excitement as it is my first day as the incoming EVP/CEO of the AAO-HNS/F. Beginnings are important—the tone that is set, the excitement that is conveyed, and the nervous anticipation from all. I work for you, our members. Hence, you need to know how I spent day one on the job.

I was honored to give the opening lecture at the 8th Annual International Tracheostomy Symposium. It is amazing to see the power of collaboratives in healthcare that draw best practices from around the world to help the patient sitting right in front of us. I spoke about generative healthcare leadership and how we need to advocate, innovate, and collaborate to drive outcomes that are greater than simply adding up the constituent parts. There are myriad examples of generative leadership in healthcare, and the AAO-HNS/F itself has great examples and will continue to drive success at this level.

Troy D. Woodard, MD, AAO-HNS/F President, teaching at the Black Otolaryngologist Network (TBON) Sinus Dissection Course in Miami Beach in September 2024.I had an hour-long meeting regarding our Strategic Plan with the consultant working alongside the Academy team and Troy D. Woodard, MD, AAO-HNS/F President. As President, the Strategic Plan will perhaps be one of his most enduring legacies. I am excited to partner with Dr. Woodard and the team he has brought together to craft the Strategic Plan for the next five years. Our consultant, who is guiding us through the process to ensure we capture a broad sentiment from our membership, uses a great analogy. The Strategic Plan is not a road map but rather like a GPS (dynamic, evolving, and iterating), pointing us in the direction we want to go. We certainly know what we do not want this Strategic Plan to be—a stale document that we file away for the next five years. The Strategic Plan will be a key resource for myself and the Academy staff to ensure we serve our members and drive value. We hope that the result is a dynamic, living document that we can use as a guide for our AAO-HNS/F Boards of Directors and membership as we navigate through the next five years.

Dr. Shah and the Academy staff celebrate the holidays with a delicious potluck lunch.I then rounded, and this is what I do best. I find it incredibly helpful to have ad hoc, impromptu meetings with our various business units, so I spent much of my first day walking around the building and listening and learning. The work that the Academy staff does on a day-to-day basis is outstanding. It is important, as their leader, to bring all the parts together to ensure we drive value for our members in an optimal fashion. Each of our business units has targets and priorities that we want to ensure we accomplish this fiscal year. I also had the chance to have lunch with the Academy staff and get to know the individuals behind all the amazing work the Academy does. The lunchroom is adjacent to a beautiful library and archival museum recognizing the rich history of our specialty. If you are in Alexandria, Virginia, drop me a note. I would be honored to show you some of the unbelievable pieces of otolaryngology history in the John Q. Adams Center for the History of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery on the fifth floor of our headquarters.

Admittedly, my first day of Academy work was not on November 1; it was more like September 28 to October 1 when I had the chance to meet and talk to so many in the otolaryngology community at the AAO-HNSF 2024 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO and then again on October 24 when I attended a meeting with Academy member Todd Blum, PhD, MHA, MBA, who is CEO of ENT and Allergy Associates of Florida. As I committed to members, I am here to listen and learn from all of you. We have shared pains, but each of us approaches problems with unique solutions. By meeting and learning from each of you and your practices, I hope to glean some commonalities that can be generalized to members through various Academy offerings, learnings, teachings, or advocacy. It was great spending several hours with Todd and learning about their successes, but most importantly, areas in which the Academy can be of assistance to their practices, providers, and patients.

Outgoing EVP/CEO James C. Denneny III, MD (left), with Dr. Shah at the AAO-HNSF 2024 Annual Meeting & OTO EXPO.I would be remiss not to acknowledge the shoes I fill of our outgoing EVP/CEO, James C. Denneny III, MD, as he leaves this role in a very strong position. It was a gift to have been in the office next door to his for the past month. Jim is a treasure trove of knowledge—crucial organizational and specialty-specific information he has accumulated over his four decades serving our members in various leadership capacities. The Board of Directors had us overlap as leaders for November, and it has been a blessing to learn from him.

The final and perhaps most important task on my first day was fielding an urgent call from a member who needed to bend my ear. I was proud to be able to help this private practitioner by being a sounding board to discuss a complex issue. Indeed, that is a key role of this job – always being available to our members.

“I love data.” Dr. Shah (left) reviews graphs.Jeff Bezos famously coined the phrase, “It is always day one.” In a 2016 letter to shareholders of Amazon, he compares the day one versus day two philosophy. In this letter, Jeff Bezos notes, “Day two is stasis. Followed by irrelevance. Followed by excruciating, painful decline. Followed by death. And that is why it is always day one.” Tenets of the day-one approach include customer obsession, adoption of external trends, and prompt decision-making. I intend to approach each day in my role here at the Academy as Day One and imbue this upon our staff and teams. I hope you join me in considering this philosophy for our organization. We must constantly be advocating for our members (both domestic and international), looking for opportunities, innovating, and collaborating. If we do these things well and consistently, it will always be Day One for our Academy.

November 2024 Travels in the Field with Rahul K. Shah, MD, MBA

The American Medical Association Otolaryngology Section during the November 2024 AMA House of Delegates Meeting.

Otolaryngologists as Leaders Panel Presentation at the November 2024 SUO/AADO/OPDO Meeting (left to right) Jeffrey M. Bumpous, MD, AAO-HNS/F Past President Carol R. Bradford, MD, MS, SUO President David J. Brown, MD (moderator), Douglas A. Girod, MD, Dana M. Thompson, MD, MS, MBA, and Dr. Shah.

Dr. Shah visits AAO-HNS/F Past President Gavin Setzen, MD, at his practice Albany ENT & Allergy Services, PC, in Albany, New York, on November 14.

Dr. Shah visits AAO-HNS/F Board Member, Marc G. Dubin, MD, at his practice, The Centers for Advanced ENT Care in the suburbs of Baltimore, Maryland, on November 20.