I'm doing. All right. We had a great night last night, a wonderful dinner. And Dean West set the table for us for what's going to be a very forward thinking, very strategic day. But I want to start over the next few minutes and really look at leadership from a very high level, kind of my thoughts on this and how we navigate through the challenges of being involved in society and interacting with patients and taking care of athletes on teams and all of those things. So again, very high level. So let's just have some fun over the next few minutes, OK? So there's no doubt that the game that we're playing is changing. It's changing in every way. Technology is changing. Certainly the science is changing, as we'll learn here. And the way we deliver health care is changing also. So how are we? How are we going to navigate through this? Well, I would say to you that to navigate through it, we have to be brave, right? We have to be brave enough to say, OK, who are we? To be self-aware. To ask, how can we do this better? And then be willing to take a chance and not be afraid to make a mistake. Because when you do that, when you do all that, well, in essence, you're leading, right? But what exactly does it mean in terms of leadership? What does that word mean? Well, John Quincy Adams really said it, I think, very well. If your actions inspire others to dream more, to learn more, to do more, to become more, then you're being a leader. OK, well, what are then some of the general principles of leadership? Well, we develop a common shared vision. And then we codify the ways to achieve that, the strategies to achieve that vision. We engage those who may be impacted in every way. We engage them with that vision. We create associations or collaborations that understand and accept the vision and the strategies that we're going to utilize. And then we have to motivate them to overcome all the obstacles that we might find. And then we provide the resources for success. We set them up for success. OK, so that makes sense. But essentially, fundamentally, every encounter with a patient, every operative case, every research project, every colleague interaction is a leadership opportunity. And just you being here today is absolutely leadership. But it's not that simple. There really is some complexity to this, right? And I think that mixing established traditions and established leadership principles, established leaders with groundbreaking innovation, with emerging principles, with emerging leaders, that is really the complexity of this. And I think Doritos did it really well, OK? So how many people here like Doritos? Everybody likes Doritos, right? Who likes the old Doritos, right? Raise your hands. Good, OK. Who likes the new Doritos? OK, good. So I think that they just, I think they nailed it with this. So let's just watch their, this advertisement. Make your move, cowboy. You can't tell me nothing. You can't tell me nothing. Can't nobody tell me nothing. You can't tell me nothing. Yeah, I'm gonna take my horse to the old town road. I'm gonna ride till I can't no more. OK, so I mean, what does that teach us, right? Well, it teaches us that we have to respect traditions. We have to respect established leadership principles, established leaders. But there is absolutely no doubt that we have to embrace innovation. We have to embrace emerging ways of leading. We have to embrace emerging leaders. And when we do that, we really do it, we do it best. And you say, OK, that makes sense. But how exactly do we do that? What, you know, what is this all about? So we're gonna try to piece together some of the, you know, the puzzles, the puzzle pieces. And what are some of the specific principles? Well, these are just some pearls that I think they've meant something to me as I've gone through this. And I just want to walk through them with you, OK? So first of all, you have to be inspired. You have to be inspired. Like this young boy, this Phillies fan, so inspired, right? You gotta listen to the world that you live in. And you have to be open to all of life's possibilities. And I think if you listen, if you really listen, then you will be inspired by something or some things. And once you are inspired, then you have to be passionate about it. You have to be passionate. OK, so we have to identify specifically those interests in terms of sports medicine. And it can be any one of these. It can be education, research, development, whether that's clinical or advocacy or policy or leadership. It can be networking. It can be teaching others, mentorship. It can be more than one. But when you pick those interests, then you gotta be passionate about it. You have to be passionate about it. You have to embrace a mentor or mentors, right? It can be a teacher during residency, during fellowship. It can be a colleague. It can be a current leader. You know, for me, it was Dick Rothman. It was Frank Jobe who taught me so much. But you don't have to necessarily embrace everything that they do or their entire persona, but identify the things that really speak to you. And then once you do that, then you be passionate. You take that with you. You carry it with you. You have to engage all of the opportunities that you have. And so where does that begin? Well, that begins with a society, you know, with AOSSM, by volunteering your time, which you're doing right now, volunteering your time and your interest and absolutely your expertise. And then you gotta be passionate about it. You have to be passionate about it. So how do you do that more specifically? Like throwing a ball? There are a lot of ways to do that. You gotta become a member, of course, of that society or that entity or that organization. And then you can be engaged with committees, with research in terms of research grants, volunteering to be an instructor, reviewing journals, and becoming a mentor to others. Even more specifically, we codified this in the fall SMU, Pathways to Leadership. And if you visit the AOSSM website, there are specific details, but I'm just sort of gonna walk through it. It's really very straightforward. It's not meant to be cryptic. You review, you go to the website, and you review the standing list of committees and task force, and they're very well described there. You then volunteer, and those applications, they come out in the fall on the website, and you can apply to more than one task force or committee. The terms are four years for committee members, and if you're chosen as a chair from that committee, it's a three-year commitment. All members are eligible, except international members, and all applications are then reviewed by the current chairs of each of those committees, and they make recommendations to what's called the committee on committees. So, like, what's that? You know, who's the committee on committees? Well, the committee on committees is the president, the current president, the incoming president, and the vice president, and they then make appointments based on those current chairs' recommendations, focused on diversity and equity and inclusion. There's nothing that's cryptic about it. There's no reason for it to be cryptic. It's not hidden, and if people know what the process is, then so many more people are going to be engaged and involved. So I go through this specifically so you have a sense of it. Then you have to be open to all the possibilities, right? You know, we often have this plan. We have an idea of what we want to do in a year, two years, five years, ten years, and life doesn't always follow that plan, right? And you have to be open to that. You have to be open to the detours and the shifts and the bumps in the road, and then you just embrace it, because sometimes some of the best things happen when you least expect it, and you be passionate. And I would say to you that sometimes you find things that you never imagined were there, and they're vitally important to your function. So you've just got to be open, open to those possibilities. And then you have to create, and you have got to respect the team that you work with, okay? John Donne said it beautifully, no man is an island entire of itself. Every man, every woman is a piece of the continent, a part of the main, right? That's just beautiful, right? But you have to start by creating a team of diverse collaborators, okay? Be open to that, and you've got to establish goals. You have to divide responsibilities. You have to provide support and guidance. You have to encourage their creativity, right? Don't restrict them, but allow them to become themselves, and respect each collaborator's input. You've got to be supportive if you just don't reach the mark that you intended. But you have to celebrate their successes, and you have to champion diversity in everything that you do. You have to be honest and straightforward and transparent. You have to be enthusiastic. You have to be true and authentic, and you have to be humble and compassionate. And I didn't invent those things. They're just things that I've learned from the people in this society. And then lastly, but most importantly, you have to be consistent and persistent and realistic. And what do I mean by that? Well, you start by focusing your involvement in a few areas, okay? Don't overwhelm yourself. Pick those things that are most important to you, and then you expand that involvement as your time allows you. Don't overpromise and don't underdeliver, and you have to learn how to very respectfully say, no, I just can't do this. At this time in my life, it's not possible for me to do it. Because you always, you always have to prioritize your patients, and you have to prioritize your family. It's absolutely vital and important. Because if you do that, then as, you know, this famous researcher Mick Jagger taught us, you may not get exactly what you want, but you're going to get what you need, okay? So these are things that have been, you know, have been important in my life and have helped me. They may not really speak to you, but I think some of them probably do to varying degrees. So what have we learned then? Well, we've learned that leadership is about camaraderie. It's about teamwork, right? And John Wooden said it so well. If you want to go fast, okay, you can go alone. But if you want to go far, if you really want to go far, you need a team, okay? That leadership is a lifelong commitment. If you look at our current leadership, they have served on an average of 8 to 9 committees over 17 to 18 years. So it is a sustained involvement and volunteerism. And if you really care about it and you're passionate, then that happens. And maybe most importantly, as you all, because everybody here is going to do this, as you leave your fingerprint on the world, you just have to have fun with it. You just absolutely have to have fun, okay? So as we come full circle here, we, and I say that, everybody here, as we lead, we absolutely lead best when we do it together. Who got next? I ain't dancing. It's your turn now, okay? So thank you. Thank you.

changing landscape of leadership

brave

developing a shared vision

teamwork

fun with leadership