Staff Award for Excellence - Lisa Gilbert

Lisa Gilbert

Administrative Specialist, Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology, and Diabetes

Nominator, Olushola Samuel: "Lisa is an incredibly valuable member to the entire internal medicine department. She leads with humility, vision, kindness, and diligence. You can always count on Lisa to fight for the well being of her staff and the success of the MEND division." 

Work Performance

The most exemplary aspect of Lisa is how she brings out the best in her staff. She figures out what they're most passionate about and creates opportunities for staff to work on projects where they can truly shine. Two weeks ago, she had a staff member present on Microsoft Excel, and it was the most excited I'd ever seen staff member. She's encouraged staff members to pursue passions in mental health, wellness, and project management and they always seem to thrive when she puts them in those positions to succeed. Lisa will not stop until she finds out what that spark is for each of her staff members. She is not afraid to tweak traditional responsibilities even it runs counter to "the way we've always done it."

Leadership

Lisa's leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic has been incredible. Unfortunately we have staff working reduced hours on her team. She was transparent and supportive with them throughout the entire economic recovery process. Furthermore, she reassessed staff roles and responsibilities and ensured their workload matched their new work schedule. She immediately ratcheted up the frequency of her team meetings recognizing that connectedness was critical during the uncertainty and isolation of the pandemic. Interestingly enough, her team members have commented to me that they know each other much better and their chemistry is stronger than it's ever been. It's no easy task to actually boost team morale during an unprecedented global pandemic.

Customer Service

Lisa anticipates faculty and staff needs and is constantly addressing issues before MEND team members even know they exist. Lisa approaches problems with a proactive supportive mindset. Every year, the MEND faculty have a retreat. One year, we learned that the keynote speaker would not be able to fly in from Virginia due to inclement weather. We learned about this less than 48 hours before the presentation, but Lisa quickly dropped what she was doing to help us pivot to a virtual presentation. We had never done a virtual presentation at the venue, and we quickly learned we did not have the necessary audiovisual equipment to make the presentation Lisa obtained all the necessary audio equipment within one days time (we had to borrow different pieces of equipment from at least three different people). Almost as importantly, she provided constant reassurance to the retreat planning committee that everything would be taken care of and it allowed them to remain calm and focus on the rest of their retreat preparation.

Process Improvement

Lisa persuaded her entire team to participate in Lean training in the middle of the pandemic. She did this knowing that staff would be working reduced hours, and she wanted to make sure they optimized their work with the time they did have. During this training, team members learned the foundational principles of Lean and were quickly able to identify opportunities to improve our faculty on-boarding and vacation tracking processes. Most importantly, Lisa's efforts have lead to a continuous improvement culture, where the status quo can be challenged and staff can speak up and share concerns or ideas without fear of how their ideas may perceived.