During Monday's class, we had a guest presentation from Chris Armijo and I thought it was very interesting. He explained a little bit about his background and how he got involved with the health care field in general. One of the first things that was intriguing was that Mr. Armijo wasn't even interested in the health care field to begin with. When explaining this, he mentioned that he was a "party kid" growing up and that he knew that this type of lifestyle would never land him a good job in the future. This led him to join the army because they paid for schooling and it was a way out of the party scene. I personally thought this was very interesting because it shows how careers and interests can spark up out of nowhere and that you never know where you going to be years down the road. After he introduced himself and explained some of his background, he went on to explain some of his personal experiences with organizational behavior.
The first topic that really caught my eye had to do with relationships within an organization and how crucial it is not to ruin these bonds. Mr. Armijo explained how there would be times when higher ranking officers would scold him and he would have to accept it in order to maintain that relationship. This would work the same way in a health care organization compared to a military/army setting. Sometimes mangers ask individuals to complete tasks that they don't think are important, but finish them anyway because they don't want to anger the boss. Also, having relationships with people that might not be your favorite can be helpful because they might know other health care professionals who could open up better opportunities down the road.
The second point that I took away from this conversation was that an individual should never view a manager or individual with a higher role in the organization as a superior to you. As a team everyone has a role and the right to voice their opinion on a topic that is being discussed. If someone constantly just agrees with the manager than they could be labeled as a follower rather than a leader. Also, depending on the personality of the manager, agreeing all the time could lead to an individual being used by the "superior" boss.
Overall I really enjoyed Chris Armijo's discussion. He had a great personality and background on the topics that we have previously discussed in class. I learned to always keep relationships with people because they could know individuals that could present me better opportunities down the road. Lastly, don't view individuals in an organization as superior because everyone has a role to keep the train moving on the track.
"I personally thought this was very interesting because it shows how careers and interests can spark up out of nowhere and that you never know where you going to be years down the road." I can tell you that I never thought I would be back at UNH as a professor of health management when I was in your shoes. Healthcare wasn't even on my radar at that point. And when I graduated from Keene High, I swore I would never come back to New Hampshire. And yet, here I am. It's a lesson to not burn bridges and never say never. Glad you enjoyed Chris - he is a good friend.
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