Soft skills for the healthcare facility professional

High Reliability welcomes Lamar Davis to the podcast. Lamar is the Director of Facilities Engineering & Support Services at the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab in Chicago, IL.  

High Reliability, The Healthcare FM Podcast is brought to you by Gosselin/Martin Associates. Our show discusses the issues, challenges, and opportunities within the Facilities Management (FM) function. 

Lamar has had a lengthy career in healthcare facilities management in the Chicagoland area. In addition to the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, Lamar has worked in facility leadership roles at  Access Community Health Network, Provena Health, and Advocate Health. Lamar has volunteered nationally and locally with the American Society of Healthcare Engineering. He has mentored individuals throughout his career.   

Our far-ranging conversation speaks to the soft skills needed in healthcare facilities management, to which Lamar offers several insights. Additional topics covered include:

• About the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab, and unique challenges directing a facility located in America's third-largest city;
• Working with staff to find and cultivate interpersonal skills (13:00);
• The Great Resignation, and creating an Apprenticeship program to help alleviate  (23:00);
• Lamar's strategic career path, and having fun while navigating it (27:30);
• The changing nature of the facilities discipline, and Lamar's thoughts on the balance of soft skill versus hard skills needed in leadership positions (44:00);
• Mentors, taking on a mentoring role, and overcoming the thought that I will be replaced if I share what I know  (47:00).

Thank you for listening to the High Reliability podcast. To learn more about the Ability Lab, please see https://www.sralab.org

Coming Attractions

Please stay tuned to our website for our latest job promotions. In the next week, we will be promoting:

• Director, Facilities for Griffin Hospital in Connecticut  
• A Vice President opportunity
• A  Director, PDC opportunity 

While you wait for these roles to appear, check out our new website, our Partnered Search Program, and the revamped  Gosselin/Martin Career Hub.