Pandemic Lessons on Leadership: Be Who You Are
- Leadership

As the burgeoning pandemic quietly and quickly encompassed the globe, it was clear that the future was going to be anything but business as usual.
One of my first conversations about pivoting Vivent Health’s direction was with Eric Conley, a member of our Board of Directors who offered sage advice: “No matter what, be true to who you are.” As two health care leaders, neither of us could have predicted what was in store for us, our organizations, community, and world. Eric’s words were timely and timeless as a steadfast guide throughout the tumult of the next 15 months. The pandemic gave us time to reflect and taught us some powerful lessons on leadership.
How Vivent Health Met the Moment
Vivent Health’s leadership began to focus on transitioning our high touch, nationally renowned model of care—America’s only HIV Medical Home—into a high-quality remote operation. Heeding Eric’s advice, we looked to our Culture and Values for guidance and never turned back. At Vivent Health, our Principles emanate through all we do:
We’re Champions passionately committed to ending the HIV pandemic, providing unfettered access to care in pursuit of the highest quality outcomes known to humankind, assuring financial strength so our patients can rely on us until the very final day of AIDS.
We refer to our associates as Champions because in the fight against HIV, nothing less will do. Little did we know that same calling would be true as we prepared to combat another pandemic.
Bolstering our Culture are our Core Values, the guideposts by which we would outlast the pandemic: All-In, Aligned, Accountable, Agile, and Action.
Working tirelessly over a weekend, our leadership team crafted a plan that would protect the health and wellbeing of our Champions while assuring our patients received all the essential care they needed to thrive in the face of Covid-19.
As our plan emerged, the group agreed to four primary goals that would need to be achieved to realize our successful transformation:
- Champions will continue to receive their full salary and benefits, and no one will be laid off or lose their job because of the pandemic.
- Patients and clients will have access to the essential care and support they need.
- Our commitment to quality will be sustained.
- Our financial strength will be leveraged and remain intact to meet the challenges that lie ahead.