“The most important thing is getting the right people on the bus.”
—Jim Collins (paraphrased) from Good to Great.
They check their agendas at the door and come together, often after spirited debate, to do their very best to make decisions for the good of the whole College.
In my first column, I commented on what a tremendous honor it is to be president of the ACR, and how humbling it is. The ACR is special in many ways, but one of the most important ways is that, unlike most subspecialty organizations, we are the only organization in the U.S. that represents our subspecialists, rheumatologists. Therefore, our members—whether they come from private practice or academics, basic or clinical research, are in solo practice or from huge multispecialty groups, are teachers or administrators or any combination of the above—come together for the good of the organization and our leadership, regardless of background or career path, sits around one table as the ACR board of directors (BOD). Obviously, this makes the BOD very diverse in many respects, but very single minded in that they are all there to “Advance Rheumatology.”
A very big part of the reason why it is so humbling to be president is that you get to work with this amazing group of individuals. This group is amazing for at least two critically important reasons, in addition to their diversity: first, they are extremely talented, and second—and probably more important—they all understand that it is not about them. Other attributes include having a general awareness and understanding of the ACR programs and strategic issues, being forward thinking, and having demonstrated involvement with the College. Your board is willing to give their time to prepare for and attend the meetings, have frank discussions, occasionally agree to disagree on certain issues, and at the end of the day work together for the good of all rheumatology health professionals. They truly are the right people to have on the bus.
Meet Your BOD
I’m writing this column for two major reasons—so you will know about this special group of people so they get the recognition that they deserve, but also so you can communicate your concerns and ideas to them. The BOD represents you and we continue to need your input. The BOD is made up of the Executive Committee (a topic for another day), 12 voting At-Large members, one young member, and two nonvoting ex-officio members. In addition to this group of 21 individuals, the committee chairs (another group of amazing people) sit around the board table and very actively participate by adding their wisdom to all discussions. Without further ado, I’d like to introduce the BOD members.