The Best Companies Function Like the Human Body!

The question I get often as a physician and entrepreneur, is "How does my training as a physician transfer to my life as an entrepreneur?" My response is that physicians are trained to solve problems - one of the key roles of any effective leader. In addition, as an osteopathic physician, I was trained to look at the human body holistically and to treat patients with a careful understanding of the tenets that our bodies are self-regulating and self-healing. This training has shaped my approach as an entrepreneur and now as a founder and CEO of a startup.

Recently, The Fitler Club invited me to share my thoughts on entrepreneurship for one of their “Lessons Learned” speaker series.?

During my remarks, I discussed how I believe there are parallels between business health and human health. I see an organization or corporation as a unit — much like the human body. It is made up of different components that make it function:

• Cells = Individuals
• Tissues = Teams?
• Organs = Departments?
• Organ Systems = Executive Leadership

Separately, all of these components have individual jobs but, together, they enable the body (organization) to work and self-regulate or achieve homeostasis. In many organizations, however, individuals may feel like they are working independently from other individuals or teams, and that their work is disconnected from the rest. This has been exacerbated in remote culture, in reality, that is not the case. Whether you are working individually on a project for one team, or working as a team on multiple projects, all of that work is ultimately interconnected.?

Business leaders, much like physicians, must think about how each of these components works individually and together in order to be successful. If a component, such as the “Tissues (Teams)” or even the “Organ Systems (Executive Leadership),” is not functioning properly, it has the potential to cause a widespread issue within the entire body (organization) and impede its ability to self-regulate. Then, we must step in to diagnose and treat the issue.?

Rather than waiting to diagnose and treat an issue when symptoms develop, I implore my fellow entrepreneurs and business leaders to be proactive:

• Help your individual employees and teams understand how their work — whether independently or together — is all connected and dependent on each other. If that work is completed, unfinished or incorrect, it will have a broader impact on the organization as a whole even if it may not seem like it.
• Check-in to ensure your organizations’ components are healthy and functioning properly. Physicians urge patients to prioritize wellness visits to maintain good health and a consistent awareness of the body’s performance, capabilities, and challenges. Your organization is no different, don’t wait for a problem to develop to check on the health of your organization at any level from the cellular to the organ systems!