Ruth D. Williams, MD, on the value of listening to those with whom we disagree

Editor’s note: This is an automatically generated transcript, which has been slightly edited for clarity. Please notify editor@healio.com if there are concerns regarding accuracy of the transcription.

Welcome to our Women in Ophthalmology and Healio Vlog. I'm Femida Kherani.

And I'm Cynthia Matossian.

Thank you, Dr. Williams, to launch our first vlog episode. So Dr. Williams, can you please share your three leadership pearls?

Sure, one of the most important things we do as leaders is listen to the voices that disagree with us, because often in the person who doesn't like what we're trying to do is the nidus of an idea that can make things better. So, always listen to the people who disagree with you. Second, make a decision and don't try to please everybody, because you never will, and people respect that. And the third thing, really, is to enjoy what you're doing, which I think we all do, but when we get into leadership, really really enjoy that too. Just like it takes a long time to learn the skills of cataract surgery and you keep getting better, you keep getting better as a leader too.

Ruth, those were really wonderful pearls. I wish I had those when I was younger. So I wanna pivot to, what advice would you have given to your younger self?

I would tell my younger self that the arc of a career is long, and we don't have to have all our successes in our 30s or our 40s or even our 50s. That there are stages to a career, and we can do different things, and just because you're not being super successful in one area at this time, doesn't mean that you won't have the opportunity later. The second thing is, I'll add two, the second thing is that people talk about having your passion. Well, a lot of times, we don't really know what it is. So when you're given an opportunity, take it, even if it's something you're not good at, and learn. And the most important thing is just do a really good job.

Ruth, those were great pearls to your younger self. I wish I had heard those when I was younger. One last question: Can you share a story with us that would resonate with our audience?

I'll tell a fun story. When my son was about 10 years old, he came into the kitchen one day with his hands on his hips and said, "Mom, I've made up my mind. I'm not gonna change my name when I get married." And I said, "Great, Charles, you can have any name you want. That's your choice." But what I realized is how much influence a successful, hardworking, full of life mom can have on the lives of our children. And it really made me feel happy that it never occurred to him that women have to have certain kinds of roles, never entered his mind.

That's lovely. Thank you so much, Ruth, for helping launch our Healio Women in Ophthalmology Vlog, and I love the message to lead with passion.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

All right, love you all.