This week we return to the interview with executive recruiter John Self, who is the founder and president of JohnGSelf Partners, an executive search firm specializing in the healthcare sector. In today’s featured interview segments, Self reflects on his long and varied healthcare background, and also talks about the rewards of giving back.
John Self has been in healthcare for over 38 years, first starting out in Public Relations at Memorial Hermann in Houston, TX, later drawn into healthcare aviation, and eventually ending up in the executive recruitment business. He notes that he was very lucky as a young leader to have the opportunity to learn from some of the legends of American healthcare, quickly listing off 7 names of senior healthcare leaders who impacted his early career.
In the next segment Self talks about the rewards of giving back, saying,
“I’m a big believer in giving back. If you ask people why they want to get into healthcare, [they say] ‘Oh, I want to help people!’ Okay. But me doing my job isn’t necessarily helping people, that’s my job… so what I try to do every week is reserve some time to talk to people who are in transition, who just want to talk… for me, I don’t get paid for that—that’s the giving back part.”
He went on to note, “I always, always get more out of it than I think I give to the other person… sometimes, when you help somebody out, the dividend is just so breathtaking in return.” An excellent perspective from a seasoned healthcare leader!
Click above to watch these video segments.