Abstract
Recently, I started thinking about not only the anniversary of our journal (50 years) but also how quickly time has gone by since my dear friend, Stephen (Steve) McLaughlin, BS, RT(R), RDMS, FSDMS, was SDMS President (1999–2001). In the 25 years since his time as a quintessential leader, I have reflected on how he demonstrated all the elements of being a “servant leader.” As his President-elect, I had a rare view into his leadership style and the influence of having Joan Baker, MSR, RDMS, RDCS, FSDMS as our Immediate Past-President. I was living in a crucible of dynamic leadership training! This essay is my attempt to illustrate the theory of servant leadership, which is founded on these 10 principles:1 –3
Listening—a need to demonstrate active listening skills, while also pausing for periods of reflection.
Empathy—an earnest effort should be made to sincerely understand, sympathize, and accept other people.
Healing—an important characteristic is assisting others in overcoming emotional wounds, as well as aid in a journey of physical and mental wellness.
Awareness—a vital trait is having a good sense of self and being aware of the general environment, as this taps into issues of power, ethics, and personal values.
Persuasion—this element is based on using the skill to convince others on the merits of specific point of view rather than using coercion or manipulation.
Conceptualization—the ability to dream big, while also being grounded in the day-to-day realities that can be challenging.
Foresight—this mindset is based on being tuned to the historical past, the realities of the present, and potential challenges that can endanger the future.
Stewardship—this sense of duty comes from being entrusted with managing an organization’s resources, for the greater good of all the members.
Growth of people—a commitment to investing in individuals, with the belief that people have an intrinsic value. This is paired with cultivating their skills and talents, which leads to strong growth in each person.
Building community—an aspiration to a create true a dedicated community, within the organization, as means to foster institutional strength.
Across these key elements, Steve not only provided me with vital examples but also did it with humor and strength. My children were in junior high school, during my time on the SDMS Board of Directors, and they knew when the phone rang that Steve was calling from Boston, MA. My son would exclaim, “Dad, President Kennedy is on the phone for you!” The fact that my kids called him JFK, due to his accent, was something that he held as a badge of honor (my kids also called Joan Baker, “the London Lady”).
When Steve assumed the SDMS Presidency in 1999, we had to face all the upheaval of the end of the 20th century and the false narrative that computers would be nonfunctional on January 1, 2000 [known by some as Y2K]. While all our SDMS office computers had to be replaced/upgraded, we also needed to move our office from Coit Road in Dallas to new space in Plano, Texas. As the Treasurer and then President-elect, I had to work with staff to carefully trim our projected budget to make sure that we had the necessary resources to make these important institutional upgrades. It was this fiscal conservatism that pushed Steve to dub himself the “Hotdog President.” This humorous title was thrown at me constantly, as he claimed that while traveling for the association that all he could afford was to eat hotdogs in the airport (totally not true!). This type of deprecating humor was the foundation and my introduction to his embodiment of being a servant leader.
Listening/Empathy
Steve owned his own mobile sonography service, which at the time was unique in our profession. As a profitable business owner, he encouraged others to consider a business career, within health care. At his core, he was a diagnostic medical sonographer and maintained a schedule of patients in a variety of urology offices. He once told me that he was about to complete a prostate sonogram on a patient, but due to a physician calling him into the hallway, he left the patient in the examination room. Once the door closed, he heard the audible click and knew the examination door had just locked. His retelling of this embarrassing tale was done deliberately to illustrate the importance of each patient and the need to never take your attention from that core mission. Yes, he did knock on the door and ask the patient to let him back into the room!
Healing/Awareness
When Steve was serving as Past-President, he was diagnosed with brain cancer. He not only wanted to demonstrate his ability to heal from surgeries but also have an awareness of others’ illness and challenges. Steve hated e-mail! I would send him e-mails to try and cut down on the number of phone calls that he did—while he ran his mobile service. After having a mini stroke in the early stages of his disease, he told me, “Kev, I was trying to read one of those e-mails of yours and my wife found me blacked out in the office. Can you try to cut the length of those down a bit?” Again, he used humor as a way of trivializing his health challenges, but it was also a hallmark of his determination and overall resilience.
Persuasion
One of Steve’s greatest accomplishments during his Presidency was the ability to persuade the US Bureau of Labor Statistics to reclassify and upgrade our occupation in their outlook handbook. 4 He was hyperaware of the challenges to convince a federal agency that our occupation was separate and distinct from other radiologic sciences. To that end, he talked (on the phone) to a specific federal agent who designed and revised the outlook handbook. Steve’s tenacity and salesperson personality was another of his servant leader qualities that helped him to get this landmark change completed for our profession.
Conceptualization/Foresight
As Steve navigated the real and imagined challenges of moving our association into the 21st century, he often used past examples of success to guide his ultimate goals. It was his tenure with Joan Baker as founding members of the SDMS Government Relations committee that taught him the importance of presenting our profession as a unified occupation, rather than fragmented into specialty groups. The lessons learning by lobbying state and federal officials pushed him to coin the phrase: “United we scan” (see Figure 1). He believed so strongly that our profession needed to be unified and was instrumental in expanding our lobbying efforts to include all the professional organizations, within sonography. He also would visit clinics and hospitals and personally tell the staff that they had to be united in the promotion of our profession.
Kevin Evans and Steve McLaughlin at dinner, during a leadership retreat, in Seattle, Washington (fall-2001). Note that Steve is wearing his United We Scan logo shirt. [Image provided by Terry Dubose, MS, RDMS, FSDMS, FAIUM].
Stewardship/Growth of People
It goes without saying that Steve took me under his wing and was determined to prepare me for leading our association. I did not have the experiences that he had in the business world or the ability to talk with leaders across the medical imaging professions. When I traveled with him, he was always using meetings, private negotiations, and national meetings to demonstrate to me the importance of my growth and those around us. I rode in a taxi with Steve and another association President to the airport. The discussion in the taxi got rather intense but Steve never showed his frustration. My journey into leadership was forged by the McLaughlin master class in mentorship.
Building Community
Beyond his slogan, “united we scan,” Steve believed in the importance of opportunities for sonographers to gather, network, and learn from each other, such as at the annual conference. He told me (as Treasurer) that the annual meeting is our one chance to bring the entire community of sonographers together and they need to feel that excitement. He would always say to me, “I want every conference attendee to go home and tell all their co-workers about the amazing SDMS conference.” Now, sonographers can gather not only in-person, but also through SDMS virtual events.
Summary
Steve’s legacy has been the ongoing development of sonography leaders who unite and inspire us to a professional life of servant leadership. I know that he still watches over me in my volunteer efforts and to me, he embodies the ancient hero Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh was a great king who did not oppress his people and was remembered for all time because of the city (profession) he built, the journeys that he made, and were extensively recorded. When he died, his family and his people mourn him. 5 Rest in peace good and faithful servant-king!!