 Aloha, welcome to Keys to Success, which is live on the ThinkTech live streaming network series. We're talking with Dr. Tonya Bagby regarding our theme today, Hold the Vision, Trust the Process. I'm Danelia D-A-N-E-L-I-A. And I'm the other half of the duo, John Newman. Welcome to the show. Mahalo for joining us today. You can catch us live on stream at livestream.com on the ThinkTechAway.com channel. We also encourage you to call our hotline at 415-871-2474 to join our conversation or tweet us at ThinkTechHI if you have any questions or comments. The goal of our weekly show, Keys to Success, is to provide professional and personal development tools and profound insights on how to achieve success in life, career and or business. David Chang, CEO of Chang Holding Company, was our guest on our last show and his words of wisdom with regards to his Keys to Success can be found on Newman Consulting Services website, NewmanConsultingServices.com or landing page, Danelia.org. The theme for today is Hold the Vision, Trust the Process. Joining us today in the studio as our guest is Dr. Tonya Bagby, Acting Director, Veteran Affairs, Pacific Islands Health Care System, which services estimated 50,000 veterans throughout the Hawaii and the Pacific Islands, correct? Correct. Mahalo for joining us today. Mahalo for having me. Thank you. Yes, great having you on the show. Dr. Bagby, share with our viewers, if you will, just a little bit about your path to becoming the Acting Director. Okay. Well, that's, it's been a great journey and I will say that in the beginning. I have a clinical psychology degree and my doctor's in clinical psychology and I joined the Department of Veterans Affairs in 2005 as a psychology intern and that was at the Hampton VA Medical Center in Hampton, Virginia. During that time, the director was an acting director named Dr. J. Robinson, who was also, he was African-American and he also had the clinical psychology degree that I have. And so it was really kind of an eye-opening experience to see a medical center director with the same degree as me. And so although I was doing my internship and was very focused on learning the craft and skills of being a psychologist within the Department of Veterans Affairs, I believe that planted a seed within me to be, to know that there are other opportunities within a healthcare system. From that time, I graduated in 2006 and then got hired with the Department of Veterans Affairs at the Hampton VA in 2007. And from that time, I just continued to work as a staff psychologist, but at any given time when my supervisor or the associate chief of staff of mental health would ask for volunteers to participate in various clinics or organizational stretch assignments that we call them, kind of like on-the-job training and training programs, I would say, okay, I'll do it. I'll do it. Because one of my goals was to learn more about the organization as a whole and not just my role as a psychologist. And so with that, I observed the executive leadership kind of formula within the Department of Veterans Affairs, which has an associate director, chief of staff, chief nurse executive as well as, of course, the medical center director. So there's either the quad or pentad when you have a deputy chief of staff, chief of staff, nurse exec, an associate director and then a medical center director. So depending on the size of an organization. But what I observed right away was that the associate director position was a second in command. So similar to being the COO or chief operating officer as a chief executive officer with the director position. So I knew early on that if I wanted to become a medical center director, I needed to kind of advance across the organization and achieve an executive position. And so I had some opportunities to participate in leadership development courses with the Department of Veterans Affairs and I also, which allowed me to transition into a more administrative side in 2012 where I jumped from being a clinician to administration and when I got hired at the DC VA medical center as the executive assistant to the medical center director in DC, my boss then told me, look, I want you here for two years. And that's it. And so in January of 2014, one cold day in DC, I saw the associate director position open at Pacific Islands, applied and got the job, was successful and moved here in August of 2014 as the associate director and again, just constantly learning and growing and understanding health care operations as a whole. And when previous director retired in February 2016, I then became the acting director of the VA Pacific Islands health care. And that's a blessing for the islands. Thank you. And one of the wonderful things that you're talking about as we're on the keys to success show is the fact that you had a goal and you worked towards achieving that goal. And so in that process, you attended classes, you just really understood that you had to learn different things in order to get where you wanted to go. It's interesting because as a management consultant, that's exactly what happened to me because when I first started out, I started out in a certain position and even though I wasn't paid to do anything else, I went and I learned all the positions in that particular setting and within the first year, I became the executive director. And so that's one of the keys to success, is set your goal, learn everything you can about where you want to be and do everything you can to get there. Yes, and I think the one thing that I find is critical is a lot of people think they have to know everything, right? And what I've learned, even when I took on the operations manager position of a clinic in Virginia Beach, which is our community-based outpatient clinic, one person came to me and said, you don't know anything about running the clinic. I was like, yeah, I don't. That's right. But I will learn. That's exactly right. And you will help me. That's exactly right. And so taking on stretch assignments or mentoring opportunities really is, as you're saying, and not expecting compensation for it. You say? Yes. Because that will come. That's right. It will come. Such a great statement. Right. And just learning has been really, I think, again, kind of a key to my success. Oh, so true. Sure, with our viewers, what's your vision and what do you want to accomplish in your role? So as a health care operations, again, understanding that we, the medical facility, people trust us with their lives, literally, with their lives. So true. Having a health care organization that is where employees are fully engaged and committed, that we practice customer service and provide great customer service, but that we really have a goal for operational excellence and kind of a culture of safety. So if we have a culture of safety, then we allow, we build trust with the veterans that we serve, their families, any of their stakeholders. And then if we work to a level of excellence, meaning ongoing learning, developing training, mentoring, and not accepting the status quo, per se, in our performance, then I think my vision, if you will, will be achieved because we will be known as the facility that provides excellent care and that is engaged and cares about the veterans who come through our doors. And it's not only about the veterans, but it's also about the employees. Absolutely. I want the employees. I want all of our employees, we have over a thousand employees within the Pacific Island health care system. It's not only here on Oahu, but on all the Hawaiian islands, Guam, and American Samoa. I want all of them to come to work feeling as if they have a, that they have meaning, that they have purpose, that there's passion. Because as a veteran myself, a lot of veterans that we feel that we've been forgotten. Our time was in the active portion of our careers. We were loved. And now that we've, we've moved on, we've, some of us feel forgotten. And what I'm hearing you say is that that's something that you want to, not to happen. You want them to know that we're still, we're still careful and we can't come back and get that. Of course. Of course. So in your role, you have a lot of responsibility and I know, and I know it's not even, I'm sure I'm positive that you have a lot of challenges along the way. What are some of those challenges and how are you working through those challenges? So that, and that's an awesome question because I think one of the challenges I have is really understanding I have expectations and then there's my reality. And how do I manage both or how do I find that balance? And so it's really trying to maintain the balance of, of, of having the expectations of the organization, of the staff to achieve certain goals and outcomes. And yet, you know, at times we don't necessarily have all the resources that we wish we had or want to, to get to our final state, right? And so I have to find ways to empower staff and, and to help them think about achievement sometimes a little differently, right? Because sometimes we just get blinds, you know, we get this kind of tunnel vision about what we want and how we get there. And yet there may be a detour path or a different way and yet we can still achieve the goal or even more of a, even a more informed or better goal if we go a little different, if we take a little kind of detour. So that is the challenge. So it's constantly thinking of and being present. And one of the things I use from a psychology perspective for theoretical conceptualization is that Freud always said that you've got to have equally hovering attention to be effective as a therapist. Would you say that again, please? Equally hovering attention. I like that. So I'm here, but I'm constantly paying attention to things that are going on around me. My administrative staff will say that I have bionic hearing, right? Because I constantly try to, and that's how I'm able to address challenges because I usually have a sense of what's going on before people bring them to me. And with that, I already kind of have an idea of how I want to respond. So staying a few steps ahead, it helps me kind of run, I think, an effective organization. You know, you're so right with the tunnel vision. Actually, John always uses those two words. He says, you know, it's important not to have tunnel vision, that we've got to expand our horizon and understand that their life will bring you all different challenges. And if you're just looking at it like this, you have a really hard time kind of accepting and hamming those, but in actuality, we need to go with the flow. Yes? Go with the flow. With our end result, always in sight, but understand that we're going to go like this a little bit. Yes. And actually, our lives become much more rich. Yes. Because we just experience things that we could not have even envisioned for ourselves. Absolutely. And we experience people and scenery, and you know, the detours are absolutely phenomenal. Yes. So true. So, Dr. Bagby. Bagby. Very good. Bagby. Forgive me. Unique name. What is that? Correctly, please. It's a married name, so it's Bagby. It's a married name. Okay. It's his, right? Yeah. All right. How does your mission and vision relate to your strategy? Well, with the Department of Veterans Affairs, our mission really comes with Secretary McDonald and Undersecretary Sloane Gibson, and then Dr. Shulkin, who's over Undersecretary of Health Operations. And you know, we have the mission of ICARE, which is kind of our mantra, if you will, of integrity, commitment, advocacy, respect, and excellence. That's we care, right? ICARE. And then we have a document called MyVA, and with the blueprint for excellence, which has certain directives and initiatives across the Department of Veterans Affairs, or Veterans Health Administration, goals that we need to achieve as a health care facility. And so that really provides the overall kind of mission or vision, I guess, and our mission within Pacific Islands. And then the strategy comes in, how do we operationalize these directives, right? How do I, as a leader of the organization, tap into the various expertise on the leadership team and the staff members across the organization in Pacific Islands? How do I empower them to come together, to come up with plans for us to achieve the goals in which have been set by us from our executive senior leadership, right? And so if I understand the mission and how it relates to strategy, it's really the idea that how do I help translate that mission, give it a vision, a lot of times when I share with staff, because we always get new directives and always get new things that we have to do and all that kind of stuff, but it's not really anything new, right? And so it's just a matter of helping people incorporate and understand that we're already doing it. We're just having to do it a little differently. And so let's tweak our process to kind of meet these objectives and goals and succeed. Right. So hold that thought just for a moment. We're going to take a short break. This is Keys to Success on the ThinkTech live streaming network series. We're talking with Dr. Toneo Bagby regarding our theme today, Hold the Vision, Trust the Process. My name is Danilia, D-A-N-E-L-I-A. And I'm the other half of the duo, John Newman. We'll be back in a minute. So please stay tuned for more Keys to Success. Hi, I'm Steven Phillip Katz. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist here in Hawaii, and I'm the host of Shrink Rap Hawaii, which is on Tuesdays at 3 o'clock. Have a great summit. Take care of your mental health. Aloha, everyone. I'm Maria Mera, and I'm here to invite you to my bilingual show, Viva Hawaii, every other Monday at 3 p.m. We are here to show you news, issues, and events local and around the world. Join me. Hey, everybody. My name is David Chang, and I am a new host for the show, The Art of Thinking Smart. I'm really excited to be able to share with you how to get the smart edge in life. We're going to have awesome guests in the military, business, political, nonprofit world. So no matter what background you're from, we have something for you. Please join us every other Thursday at 10 a.m. at thinktechhawaii.com or on The Art of Thinking Smart.com. I look forward to seeing you. Aloha, I'm Shantel Seville, the host of The Savvy Chick Show. You can watch the show every Wednesday at 11 a.m., Honolulu time, and enjoy how to be inspired and powered. If you're a woman or girl, everyone is welcome, but it's really dedicated to you, and we look forward to seeing you. You can also find us on thinktechhawaii.com. See you soon. Aloha. Welcome back. This is Keys to Success on the Think Tech Live Streaming Network series. We encourage you to call our hotline at 415-8712474 to join our conversation or tweet us at thinktechhi. We've been talking with Dr. Tonya Bagby, Acting Director of the Veterans Affairs Pacific Islands Health Care System, about our theme today, Hold the Vision, Trust the Process. My name is Danelia D-A-N-E-L-I-A. And I'm the other half of the duo. Welcome back to the show. Dr. Bagby, share with our viewers, if you will, what are your three top success habits? Three top success habits. So one, and this is based on some of the feedback I've received from staff, is being present, being kind of like it goes back to that equally hovering attention, being mindful of my environment, of other people's experiences, and being approachable. People know that I have standards and or expectations. People also know that I have strong boundaries, yet people also know that, and that I will be truthful. Right? And it was integrity. Integrity is really important. Yes, it is. So I think there is a level of consistency in my behavior, and that has helped people feel confident in me as a leader. And I think being able to, again, be present, mindful, approachable, and in somewhat having some transparency in who I am has helped me quite a bit. Just talking with you in the past, we've had conversations, you are very calm, and that's actually really an important trait as well, because there's so much going on. Emergencies here, emergencies there, but to be able to not get caught up in that and to be able to sit out and think about what's happening and then be able to respond not react accordingly is really, really great. I'm not always great at that. I do that. I really do my best to catch myself sometimes, because sometimes I'm just reacting to this situation, but I've learned over the years, when I was much younger I was reacting, but as I learned over the years, I'll catch myself when I start reacting and just sit back and go, wait a minute, there's a reason for this happening, so just take it in, respond. Yes, and I've also found that too, it's kind of listening to the silence, but also usually when people are crying, chicken little, the world's coming to an end, it's just distraction, it's just noise, and when you start asking the right questions, listening, asking the right questions, and really getting to the root, then the truth comes out, and you can then strategize and or plan your response, and I have found nine times out of ten if I just kind of stay calm, if you will, and not buy into the drama, it allows me to make better decisions. I think as a leader it's important to be calm, because everyone's watching, right? Yes. But it seems as though you're also passionate about what you want to do and where you are, and your goals and visions. Very much so. What is the best advice you've ever received? It was from my mother, and it was during the time in my life, teenage years, where it was very, as we all know, is not always the most fun, and she said, you know, your life is what you make it. Yeah, so true. And so as I reflect on that over the years, you know, I have a choice in how I'm going to respond to life. I have a choice in knowing or in whether I accept the status quo, if I stop. You know, there's choices, and if I want more, and more doesn't mean material things, but if I really want to live an engaged life, then I have to take ownership of that, and I have to hold myself responsible for that. Right. And so she shared that, oh, and I was about 14 in a very pivotal time, and I thank her for it, because it gave my life meaning. Right. You know, it's interesting, because my mother gave me some of the best advice as well. All I can say to the millennials and the next gen is, listen to your mothers. Sometimes. Sometimes. Because they are human too. Yeah, that's true. That's true. But the joy of it is that, even then, I'll say this, and my mom told me recently before I came to Pacific Islands, actually, I was with her in Florida, and she shared with me, which I thought was amazing, which is part of the why I really value communication and being open and transparency. But she said, you know, I would never dream this for you. Yeah. You know, you've gone far beyond my expectations. Yeah, that's wonderful. That's wonderful. And so for a mother to say, you know, I only had you go in this far. My life. Right? And yeah, you're up here. Oh, my goodness, you know. Good thing you didn't listen to me. Right, very true. And that's another thing that people think that they always know what's best for you. Yeah. Well, no, you have to know what's best for you. You have to, I've had to learn to trust what is best for me. That's true. You know what's best for you if you really spend some time in silence just letting it come to you, you know? That's very important. Yes. But I must say this. It's a good thing you did listen to her because it inspired you to do and be who you are today. Of course. I mean, you have to listen to the mother. Yeah, of course. But not everything. No, no, that's true. You don't have to do everything. But listen to her. Come on. And I got to hold up your mother's image. Oh, yeah. My mom. And she would say, you know, you're grown up and you don't want me telling you what to do. But I'm going to tell you anyway. Anybody. All right. Here we are. Let's see. Dr. Bagby, when you have a chance, what do you ask other leaders like yourself? What questions do you ask? I usually ask about their journey because oftentimes a lot of people just focus on the title and or the position and they forget about the person. And so really learning about people's journeys just opens up a wide book of opportunity. And I learn from listening and so having a person tell me their story allows me to engage differently and to reflect better, I guess, if you will, on some of my goals and challenges as a leader. You know, that's really critical because people who are successful, and we've said this many times before on the show, are more than willing to share their journey and their success habits and everything else and share advice. If you ask, if anybody asks, you know, never ever be afraid to approach somebody who you feel is successful in life, whatever that success is to you, it could be a great having a great relationship, a great marriage, it could be, you know, being financially very well off, it could be a lot of different things. But if you want certain things in your life, then find people who have those things and ask them about their journey and any advice they can give you, you'd be amazed how much you can cut out all the challenges that you have. You can cut out a lot of those if you learn from other people first, you can get there quicker. Right? You have to be able to listen. You have to be able to listen. So true. And listening, a good listener is a powerful person. Correct. And that's one of the keys. People just wait for their turn to speak. Correct. So how have you developed as a leader and as a person, as a result of being in your position? You know, and I thank you for that opportunity because, and when I was reviewing the questions, I thought, wow, I had to sit back and think on that. And as a leader, I think I've become more focused as, you know, just more focused. I've become more confident in who I am and what I understand and what I know. And I also feel that I've just become more grounded because, you know, it's just, it's a very dynamic environment in where I work. And so, like I say, being calm and kind of, and just feeling more grounded and focused has just, has helped me tremendously. I don't know. And I guess I was trying to say that people have shared that with me too. People have watched me in my journey, but I've become more grounded, more focused, more confident. And personally, I think I've become more vulnerable because, again, there's a perception of leadership, right, and authority and power. And so you never know what other people's agendas really are. And so I find myself a little bit more vulnerable and which allows me to appreciate the friendships and the relationships that I have, like with my mother, with my family, you know, and friends who just like me for who I am and they know the, you know, the good bad and the ugly, right? So it's not, they don't have just the perception of me now. Yes. They've seen me from the beginning and, and, and continue on. So the vulnerability is, is, is, is interesting. Yes. Yes. Very true. So what, let's kind of sum up right now as far as your three top keys to success. Three top keys to success. Well, I, I believe to, you need to do what you are, what feels right for you. Okay. And what is a part of who you are. Yes. I think, and I think that truly is the key. Uh-huh. Okay. And I just like to share a quick quote that really, I think captures it from First Lady Michelle Obama in her 2010 Oprah's Magazine and what I know for sure column. First Lady Obama said, authentic power. This happens when personality aligns itself with purpose to serve the greater good. Right. So true. So what's your second key to success? Being intuitive. Okay. Trusting myself, my gut. Okay. And what's your third key? Don't, don't force the outcome. Yeah. Don't force. Oh, great. Wonderful. That's all great. So we've reached the end of the show. It didn't that go quick. Really quick. And you had so much more to give us. No. So Dr. Bagby's Words of Wisdom with regards to keys to success can be found on Newman Consulting Services webpage, NewmanConsultingServices.com and landing page denilia.org. Thanks to you, our viewers and listeners for tuning in. Thanks to our broadcast engineer, Zuri Bender, our floor manager, Nick Sexton. And to Jay Fudella, our executive producer, who puts it all together. And thank you so much, Dr. Bagby, for joining us today and sharing your insights to success. And tech keys to success will be back next Thursday at 11 a.m. So please tune in again. And ask your friends and family to do so as well. My name is Denilia, D-A-N-E-L-I-A. And I'm the other half of the duo, John Newman. And in closing, Denilia and I would like to share a quote from Mikkel Govindroff, believe me, and it says this, a successful leader implements projects that benefits others. Okay. Thank you all. And Aloha. Aloha.