Senator Frist sits down with former Veterans Affairs Secretary Bob McDonald, who shares some powerful leadership lessons, including how you build trust and compassion in times of upheaval.
Bob McDonald served Procter & Gamble for 33 years with the last four as Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer. Following his career at P&G, Bob was named Secretary of Veterans Affairs by President Obama in 2014, taking the helm of an organization in crisis. An Army veteran and graduate of West Point, McDonald was able to apply his military training and years of private sector experience to help transform the agency into one that delivered better care for our Military veterans.
When describing one of the biggest challenges the VA faces, McDonald says this, “If you took the VA, and you put it on the list of the Fortune 500, it would be number 9. No corporation in this country of that size, would change its leadership every 1, 2, 3, sometimes 5 years. I auditioned for 28 years to become the CEO of a Fortune 25 company. We need to figure out a different way to lead this organization to provide it the right leadership.”
Listen now to hear more from Secretary McDonald about how to effectively lead in crisis, create culture change, and why he believes “the VA is the canary in the coal mine for American medicine.”