Today we’d like to introduce you to Dr. Lisa Herbert.
Dr. Herbert, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
As a little girl growing up in the inner city of Brooklyn, NY, I knew I wanted to be a doctor at the age of 5 after the tragic loss of my grandfather. Being raised by a single mom with a high school diploma, I defied the odds. I was accepted to college at the age of 16 and started my leadership journey as a young college student. I established a student-run organization called Minorities in Medicine that served as a support group for thousands of pre-med and pre-health students on the campus of Stonybrook University that lasted for 19 years. This would become part of my legacy. I successfully graduated college and was accepted to medical school at the age of 20. I was accepted to my first-choice residency program, got married and had my first child as a third-year resident. My first job as an attending was as the youngest Medical Director for a family planning agency where I was responsible for managing six health centers in the Northern New Jersey area that averaged 20,000 patient visits per year. During my time as Director, I was responsible for changing the image of the agency to reflect a comprehensive women’s health care facility by expanding current preventive care protocols. I then opened my own private practice which I operated in my community for over 20 years. I also held other leadership roles as Medical Director for a major hospital, a national insurance company and as an assistant professor for UMDNJ medical school.
You see, I knew I was destined to be a leader. I knew in my heart that I had the qualifications and drive to create change, bridge relationships and results. I was ready to transition from private practice to healthcare administration, so I hired a coach and started my transition to a fulltime leadership position where I was responsible for providing clinical leadership to a health care plan that provided coverage to more than 265,000 members. I assisted in the development of corporate vision and strategy, manage key projects and initiatives that support more affordable healthcare and promote health and wellness. I had a 90-day success plan and I felt I was ready. I knew this was where I was supposed to be. The feeling of having my own corner office with my own administrative assistant, having the responsibility of leading a team, creating policies, and developing a wellness program was everything I could dream of. But what I wasn’t prepared for was the lack of acceptance of physicians in this corporate space. I wasn’t prepared for feeling left out, for my opinions being dismissed, for my medical knowledge and expertise being challenged. I would wake up every day, drive into work and the closer I got to the building, the anxiety would start to set in. My hands would sweat, I would have palpitations, my stomach was in knots and couldn’t wait for 5 pm to leave the building. Because of this experience, I vowed to never put myself in that position again and was driven to make a change, to take back my life, to pursue goals that brought me joy and to provide training and support for physicians who want to be leaders. Now I am a best-selling author, I get to write and blog and own my content, I am a professional speaker, a mom of 2 successful children age 21 and 24 and I have a talent acquisition and consulting company that offers coaching and training to physicians and leaders of healthcare organizations on what it means to effectively communicate and work together for a common goal of healing communities. Living in my purpose has allowed me to help physicians to transition into leadership and it has allowed me to work with physician leaders and healthcare organizations to help them effectively communicate to build stronger relationships and better outcomes.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I didn’t see many physicians who looked like me. There were very few African American physicians and even less that were women. Because of this lack of representation, I was often mistaken as the food service provider, the nurse or some other worker in the hospital. A young African American woman doctor was far from the minds of those who had their own biases or who had never seen someone like me. This caused me to always be on guard and wear my badge, to have a stethoscope around my neck and at times, that still wasn’t enough.
Another challenge I also faced was having to speak up for things that I didn’t see my male colleagues have to fight for. Simple requests like taking patient orders, accepting my expert opinion as a physician or just simply being heard. At times it seemed like I was invisible.
Having a high-stress career and raising a family also had its challenges. Women physicians are often the primary breadwinner as well as the primary caregiver. African American women culturally have been taught to be strong. To bear the burden. To raise a family (mostly without help) and have a career. That coupled with not having a support system of women physicians who were going through the same challenges that I was in my community, in my home, and on the job, made it extremely difficult to function without stress.
Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Just The Right Balance – what should we know?
As the Founder and CEO of Just The Right Balance LLC, I help healthcare organizations develop and retain high performing physician leaders who will improve the healthcare landscape by building healthy communities and strong organizations. The company was formed in 2016 at a time where physician burnout was on the rise and there were no real solutions that seemed to work. During this time, I offered coaching in support of physicians on work-life balance and positive psychology to increase resiliency. It became apparent that the issue was broader and needed more solutions than just wellness. I began to utilize my unique background and extensive experience of being a physician, a certified executive coach and a healthcare leader in hospital administration, public health, and the health insurance industry to think about how physicians operate within the complex world of healthcare. I realized that physicians are taught to operate in silo, have independent thinking and work to perfection. The healthcare system was undergoing rapid change, but doctors were not being trained to keep up. Just The Right Balance discovered that leadership was a part of the solution. Physicians were not being trained as leaders and therefore, could not work within a collaborative environment with other healthcare professionals and administrators who understood change and adapted quickly. They were the missing piece to fixing the healthcare system. Leadership allows physicians to have a seat at the table when decisions are being made that affect their livelihood and the communities they serve. Just The Right Balance used this opportunity to now offer coaching, consulting, and training to help physicians transition into effective leaders with the support of their organizations in order to help them thrive within the healthcare system instead of just surviving.
I am most proud that I am a company that has as it’s CEO, a doctor helping doctors. When I help a physician deal with burnout, break down the walls of communication in their organization and thrive, then I know that I have helped to retain our best and brightest and helped save and build a community.
Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
I feel that my drive to bring about change and finding solutions to problems has been the most important characteristic to my success.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.justtherightbalance.com
- Email: drlisaherbert@justtherightbalance.com
- Instagram: www.instagramcom/drlisaherbert
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/drlisaherbert
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/drlisaherbert
- Other: www.linkedin.com/in/drlisaherbert
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