Lejla Vajzovic, MD, FASRS: 'Fight the big battles, leave the small ones for another day'

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Hello, everybody. My name is Lejla Vajzovic. I am an associate professor of ophthalmology at Duke University with a primary role in retina, specifically, pediatric and adult surgical and medical care. I also direct and lead our fellowship program in surgical retina, as well as our Duke Eye Center Medical Education efforts. Thank you so much for having me tonight.

Wonderful, Lejla. Welcome to our Women in Ophthalmology Healio video blog series. And I'd like to start off by asking you to share one or two examples of leadership pearls that you can share with us and share with the audience.

Well, thank you. Thanks so much again for having me tonight. A couple of pearls I would like to share: I think we all choose to do things in life that we enjoy, but I really like surrounding myself with people that I enjoy working with. We spend so much time at work in our leadership positions and such and really picking the people that you very much enjoy working with, I think it's a treasure. I've been fortunate to have many mentors throughout my life and guide my education through career and now leadership opportunities, and I've learned tremendously from them. And I always like to turn back to my mentors and ask what, for example, in this challenging situation, especially leadership situation, would you do and how would you approach it? And I find that very helpful hearing from them as well because all of us struggle in certain ways, and hearing opinions, especially from people who you trust and have worked very closely with, I think is important. So, surround yourself with people you enjoy working with and turn back to your colleagues, your mentors, and friends for advice.

That's wonderful.

Lejla, those are really fantastic pearls, and I think we've all experienced a little bit of what you're sharing. Thank you for sharing those pearls. My question to you is, you've succeeded, you've come this far, you've encountered I'm sure some hurdles along the way. Can you share with us a leadership hurdle that you encountered and how you were able to get around it or find a resolution for it?

Well, thank you for asking the tough questions. You know, I think we're all in day-to-day life, be it in leadership or just our routine life, encounter challenges for certain. And I always like to start with a challenge by hearing both sides of the story, understanding what exactly the predicament in case and really hearing both sides. And at the end of the day, I like to think of it as really … fight the big battles that you want to fight in your life or solve the big challenges. And maybe underneath, the smaller ones you may want to leave for the time being and really address the bigger ones. So, I like to kind of live my life in motto of that: fight the big ones, leave those small ones for another time because there's just so much effort in day-to-day life to give, and focusing on the big things are apriority for me.

Well, great. And now Priyanka is going to ask you the last question.

The last question, but those pearls are wonderful, just like you said, making sure that you're focused on the big things because the small things are always going to be there when picking and choosing your battles. So, thank you for that. My question is advice to your 20-year younger self.

I think in life we're dealt with certain cards and sometimes those cards are not exactly what you had hoped for. And we may be very disappointed at that time point and such. But I think, I feel like throughout my life, even in those moments of disappointment, I've realized that those moments actually opened up some other doors for me that very much have led me to the roles, or the life that I currently live. So, I tell myself, well, things happen in life for a reason, and while that reason may not make perfect sense or may not be exactly what you wanted in that moment, I'm sure it has happened for a specific reason, as I mentioned, and it will open up some other doors that you will not be expecting. So, looking back, I wouldn't really change much in my life, but I would tell myself to take the time to spend more time with family, friends, and kind of enjoy those aspects outside of your day-to-day work as well.

I love that. Yeah, the resilience, the grit, right? Taking those opportunities for growth, that's fantastic. But also spending more time with family and loved ones to keep that mental health and joy in check. Thank you so much for those pearls.

Well, thank you, Priyanka.

Thank you so much for joining us in this series. We really appreciated your pearls and, of course, all the lessons in our school of life here and our school of ophthalmology.

Well, thank you so much. Thank you for having me. I look forward to hearing more from other colleagues and leaders and hearing your insights as well.

Lejla, Thank you so much. And you will get an opportunity to listen to all the different pearls from colleagues and industry friends.

Wonderful. Thank you.