An Interview With Sara Connell
Planning for the morning begins the evening before. Lay out your wardrobe; always have a plan. Get rid of your junk email before getting out of bed. Rise with energy and a sense of anticipation regarding the day ahead. List your priorities and get after them.
Beginnings are a Genesis. That means that not only are they a start, but they are also the origin of all that follows. This means that the way we start something, the way we start our day, for example, creates a trajectory for all that follows. How do highly successful leaders start their day in a way that creates a positive trajectory for a successful, effective, productive, and efficient day? How do you create habits that make these routines permanent? How do you get inspired to develop the discipline necessary for such a lifestyle? In this new series, called Morning Routines and Habits Of Highly Successful People, we are talking to successful leaders who can share the morning routines and habits that have helped them to achieve success.
As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Lyndean Lenhoff Brick.
Lyndean Lenhoff Brick, J.D., is Founder, President and CEO of Advis, a modern healthcare consultancy at the forefront of American Healthcare. Lyndean specializes in innovative revenue enhancement and savings protocols at the intersection of regulation, compliance and provider operations.
Lyndean is the regulatory lead counsel to a base of clients across the country and is nationally recognized for her work and client representation in the field of Medicare and Medicaid rules and regulations.
Lyndean is Chairwoman of the Illinois Hospital Licensing Board and is the author or co-author of numerous books relevant to the healthcare industry.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive into the main focus of our interview, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I had a very happy and playful childhood, along with my sister, alternating between home and education in Boardman, Ohio and Summers at the Playhouse, a summer stock theatre owned by my parents, on Crooked Lake just outside Petoskey, Michigan. Education was always very important. There was a constant emphasis on success.
What or who inspired you to pursue your career? We’d love to hear the story.
My father. He always wanted me to be able to provide for myself. My interest in being a classics scholar wasn’t going to cut it. The law beckoned.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Was there a particular person who you feel gave you the most help or encouragement to be who you are today? Can you share a story about that?
My husband. He has always been my greatest supporter, best advisor, closest friend and inspirational with his selflessness. What’s best for the family has always come first.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting mistake that occurred to you in the course of your career? What lesson or take away did you learn from that?
There hasn’t been a lot of humor in American healthcare over the years. Once, however, I was stranded in a hospital adjacent to a nursing home in South Carolina during a hurricane. Sitting in wheelchairs before a large picture window, as if watching TV, while the hurricane swept through, the residents applauded every time they saw debris flying past their line of sight. They particularly enjoyed the stop signs; the winds that day had other ideas. We survived. I learned to pay attention!
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Perseverance: Get up and do it every day. Compete.
Transparency: People must trust you if you’re to lead successfully.
Don’t take yourself too seriously: You’ve got to have a sense of humor.
I’m an author and I believe that books have the power to change lives. Do you have a book in your life that impacted you and inspired you to be an effective leader? Can you share a story?
As a young woman, reading widely about Eleanor Roosevelt definitely left a mark. She suffered the opinions of others lightly and carried on just the same. I admire such drive, steady purpose and strong character.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
Due to the lingering effects of the pandemic, Advis is presently developing several Long-Term Care Acute Hospitals. We’re also converting struggling Rural Hospitals into Emergency Rooms and Patient Transfer Hubs, which is likewise very important at this time.
OK, thank you for all of that. Let’s now shift to the core focus of our interview. This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain to our readers why it is important to have a consistent morning routine? Can you please share your optimal morning routine that can create a positive trajectory for a successful, effective, productive, and efficient day. If you can, please share some stories or examples.
Planning for the morning begins the evening before. Lay out your wardrobe; always have a plan. Get rid of your junk email before getting out of bed. Rise with energy and a sense of anticipation regarding the day ahead. List your priorities and get after them.
Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits?
Repetition. Break a bad habit with a good one and repeat. Repetition is habit forming.
Doing something consistently “day in and day out” can be hard. Where did you get your motivation from? What do you use to motivate you now?
Just knowing how my people at Advis depend on me for their livelihoods and family well-being is motivation enough for me.
What other resources would you suggest to our readers?
The wisdom of others is around you. Take advantage. Consult. Be considerate.
Ok, we are nearly done. You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good for the greatest number of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Perform at least one act of kindness every day. These things accumulate. Over time your world, our world, becomes a better place. Never stop being kind.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US, whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this, especially if we both tag them 🙂
Dr. Fauci. The man has been bent and twisted every which way and he’s still standing, same as he ever was. Integrity intact. I admire that! We’d have a great lunch and conversation. If my husband joins us, great wine will flow.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Thank you for these really excellent insights, and we greatly appreciate the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success.
Lyndean Brick Of Advis On The Morning Routines and Habits Of Highly Successful People was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.