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28 | EYEWORLD DAILY NEWS | APRIL 7, 2024 ASCRS ANNUAL MEETING DAILY NEWS T he ASOA Opening General Session included awards, honors, and inspiring speech- es. Megan Odell, in her first meeting as Executive Director of ASOA, shared information about the Annual Meeting's program, new additions, and some tips to get the most out of your experience. These included: 1) Lean in. Meet five new people— really meet them. 2) Try to disconnect from outside dis- tractions so you can learn as much as you can from your colleagues. Identify five new things that will help you improve your practice operations. 3) Laugh. "Every chuckle brings with it a host of business benefits," Ms. Odell said. She then introduced Hayley Boling, MBA, COE, as the 2024–2025 ASOA President. Ms. Boling fo- cused her speech on the beauty and importance of the duality of life's experiences—the highs and the lows. Ms. Boling said she was chosen to be the CEO of her family's legacy, their practice, at a young age and many didn't believe in her. But her family did and she did. Ms. Boling said she has an "unwavering belief in myself." "Even in the face of naysayers and negativity, I believed in myself too much to give up," she said. Ten years ago, at this meeting, in this building, Ms. Boling said she first established her goal of some- day becoming president of ASOA. "I believed I had unique gifts that could make a difference," she said. In the time since, she said she has written more than 20 articles, presented more than 100 times, and devoted thousands of hours volunteering and helping others. "Knowing that I've inspired or motivated somebody … that's truly what excites and energizes me. That's my 'why' for doing what I do," she said. 'Leading Through Uncertainty and Change' The session's keynote speaker Anne Grady told the audience that we live in a time of uncertainty and change, a time that requires a specific set of skills: resilience. "It's your resilience that is going to affect your ability to be a leader," she said. And no one is immune to chal- lenge, change, or uncertainty, she continued, sharing a personal story. When she was pregnant with her son Evan, she knew something was different about him. He would kick so hard in the womb she would fall to the ground. When he was born, the nurse said she had never seen a baby so angry. As an infant he cried day and night. At 11 months old, she sought early intervention therapy for him. By 18 months old, his father left, leaving Ms. Grady a single mother. By the time Evan was 3, Ms. Grady shared that Evan tried to kill her with scissors. By age 4 he was on his first anti-psychotic medication and by age 7 hospitalized for psychiatric treatment. She would share toward the end of her talk that Evan, now almost 21, graduated high school and has good days and bad but receives the help he needs. It's her experience with her son that led her to focus her talks on mental health. "Here's what I've learned: Resil- ience is nothing more than a muscle, and just like any muscle, it needs to be tested in order to grow. Every person in this room has an Evan, something that has pushed you be- yond where you think you could go," Ms. Grady said. Until psychological needs are met, we cannot effectively change, Ms. Grady said, going on to provide her tips for practice leaders to help meet their own and their group's psychological needs. First, she talked about mindset. "The story we tell ourselves is more indicative of our experience than the actual experiences you have yourself," she said. With your brain's number one job being to protect you, it is constantly scanning the environ- ment for anything it perceives as a threat, magnifying negative experi- ences and minimizing positive. To create an environment where people can thrive, leaders need to foster psychological safety. This, Ms. Grady explained, is a safe place for interpersonal risk-taking. The number one way to build psycholog- ical safety as a leader is for you to be vulnerable. "Your number one job as a leader is to intentionally create an environment that helps create the ideal emotional state for the team. … Focus on the team, not just work," she said, noting that successful teams spend up to 25% of their time talking about things not related to work. Next, she talked about changing your story if it's not serving you. "Your brain can go from 'this sucks' to 'it is what it is.' … We need to be deliberate about what we tell our- selves because it shifts how we deal with stress." ASOA Opening General Session and keynote Ms. Grady speaks about how to change one's mindset, improve one's skillset, and how to reset in order to be an effective leader. Source: ASCRS

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