Diane Poslter-Slattery

Just starting with background knowledge, what is your connection to Wisconsin?  Like, did you grow up here and how long have you been living here?

I grew up in Thorp, Wisconsin.  My dad and mom are from the Wausau area.  My mom is a Ringle native and my Dad is from Birnamwood.  My whole connection, my family, my history, is from Central Wisconsin.

And what are some key memories that you have from growing up here?

I could probably write a book someday on all the memories I have growing up here.  I most recently shared some of those memories at a leadership session I presented at.  One of my fondest memories is growing up in two homes (one in Thorp and one in Wausau).  My father was a high school Chemistry teacher so he worked mainly Monday through Friday.  Every Friday my family would pile in the car and travel to Ringle to help my grandparents on their farm.  The memory I carry with me is how lucky I was to have two sets of friends – one group in Thorp and one in Wausau.  I also have many memories of just plain hard work.  This might sound like a strange memory, however, helping with chores, walking out to the pasture at 4:00 a.m. to bring the cows to the barn, helps build character.  I remember some morning it being so foggy we could not even find the cows!  I also remember, “haying”.  There is something very special about the smell of fresh cut hay.  A final memory I’d like to share is one of riding my bike all over the Wausau area.  A particular spot I would ride to was the Eau Claire Dells.  All my Wausau friends would meet there and some of them would dive off the rocks.  I was never brave enough, but just being there with them was an adventure.  I feel really blessed with the childhood I had. 

And then about your occupation, what path has your career taken over the years.  Can you tell me how you got to be the president of the hospital?

That is a very interesting story.  When I was in high school, women were not given a lot of options for careers.  My guidance counselor said to me, “Diane, you are a very good student and I think a career in teaching or nursing would be good.”  Since I wasn’t given many choices, I thought about it and decided to go into nursing school.  As I reflect back, it really was the best choice for me.  My personality lends itself very well to a job where you help people.  I am not really sure I would have been better suited for any other job.  I did go to nursing school and loved it.  In the field of nursing, a lot of action takes place.  My first job out of nursing school was in a Coronary Care Unit; this was followed with work in areas such as Intensive Care and the Emergency Department.  Being a nurse means you never know what to expect; patients keep you very busy and they can be quite complicated.  I was working as a staff nurse for a couple of years and then was asked if I would consider being a Charge Nurse.  I started working in leadership and engaged in staffing and coordinating care for the department.  I cannot think of one area of leadership I don’t enjoy.  Because of that love of leadership, I decided to go back to school in Nursing Administration in Eau Claire and received my Masters Degree.  My family was here in the Wausau area, therefore, I came to work at Wausau Hospital and immediately found myself in a Director role in the Special Care Unit.  Never quite satisfied with the status quo, I decided to go on for a Ph.D.  I think because of my love of education, I ended up with a Doctorate in Education from Madison.  With my Masters Degree background in Nursing and my Doctorate in Education it opened a lot of doors here at Wausau Hospital.  I became the Director of Education, Director of Human Resources, Vice President of Administration and Chief Nursing Officer, and Chief Operating Officer.  I feel I was at the right place at the right time.  I worked with leaders who saw potential in me.  About six years ago I was offered the position of president of the hospital.  As I reflect back, I never would have believed I would go from a staff nurse position to President.  I think going back to school, working hard, staying positive, and having a good attitude contributed to that success.  Loving what you do also helps.

  So going back to how you loved the leadership position, in high school and elementary school were you a very people smart person?  Were you always like that or did it change when you got a job?

I believe I was always that way.  For example, when I was in youth group in both junior and senior high, I always seemed to be asked to take charge.  I have a personality that is very high in extroversism.  I receive my energy from being with people.  The career I chose, nursing and leadership, has helped develop those skills even more.  Having a nursing background has made me a better leader.

  What are some things you like most about your job?  Do you have any dislikes?

I do like the variety of the job.  There is never a day at work that is the same.  Everyday I have a defined schedule, however, you quickly realize the schedule is just a guideline as many things happen in between.  Part of my job is trying to find solutions to tough problems.  That is an aspect of the job I enjoy.  I try to make rounds and talk to patients about their experience here at Aspirus Wausau Hospital.  I also very much enjoy the people I work with; that isn’t always the case in every organization.  It is a very rare occurrence that I don’t want to go to work.  The staff at Aspirus has a very good work ethic and they have great attitudes.  The entire environment embraces excellence always trying to make things better.  In that light, it truly is wonderful to come to work.  The aspects of my job I do not care for are the problems that have been there for twenty years and we just don’t seem to get them resolved.  Whether it’s a physician concern, staff concern, or parking, we think we have the issue solved and it keeps coming back as a problem.  That is the part of my job I do not enjoy.  I also have difficulty with people who complain all the time.  They never have a positive attitude; when I see them walking towards my office I wish I were someplace else. 

What have been some of your biggest struggles, even bigger than some of the negative people?  Has there been anything that has been really hard for you?

This year has been tough.  The reason it has been difficult is the national economy.  The fact that we are in a recession has hit every work place that I know of.  In the local area we have had many stable, solid companies having to lay off people.  We, at Aspirus, have also implemented cost savings initiatives like we have never had to do before.  For the first time in my career we have not given our employees raises.  This is extremely hard on people.  They put in long hours, we ask them to work harder than ever, and in return we cannot reward them with a raise.  We have had to eliminate some positions and as people have left Aspirus we have not filled their positions.  The hardest aspect of my job is knowing that some decisions, which are best for Aspirus, may affect someone’s job.  They have families and bills to pay, and if their job is eliminated how are they gong to pay rent, house payments or bills in general.  Many people probably do not realize it, but many leaders do take these things personally.  I will go home and think about decisions that have been made: no raises, benefit changes, elimination of jobs; knowing that I have affected people’s lives.  This bothers me immensely, so it is tough.  People have said its just part of the job and you should not take it personally.  I think as a compassionate leader, if I don’t reflect on decisions from the heart then I’m not going to be the best leader. 

  Have you ever had to personally go up to someone that they no longer have a job?  How does that work?

Yes.  In the role I have today most of those action take place at the Vice President or Director level.  At one time, I was the Director of Human Resources here and I certainly was involved in terminations.  Firing somebody is never easy, however, if they are not performing the job it does need to happen.  With this years economy we have had to tell people their job was being eliminated.

  So what is the process of that?  Do they just get up and leave and never come back or is there like a whole big process to it?

There is definitely a process to the elimination of jobs.  First we work with our Human Resource Specialists so that all the steps in the process are followed.  Employees whose jobs are eliminated are eligible for some benefits and we want to make sure that is all done correctly.  We also try to be as compassionate as possible given the circumstances so many times staff are given options on leaving that day or working 3-4 more weeks.  I think this year almost everyone we talked to decided to stay and work until his or her last day.  I think it helped prepare them better for the last day.  There is quite a long process that is followed before a position is eliminated.

  If you observe people in the office, do you see any discrimination against women or are people treated quite equally?

When I first started my career in senior leadership (probably ten years ago or so) there was probably a lack of understanding women as senior leaders as I was really the first.  I do not feel any discrimination today.  In fact, here at Aspirus we have as many women in senior leadership positions as we do men.  This is pretty remarkable as it is not the industry norm.  I do understand how perceptions between men and women could be viewed differently.  Women and men think differently from each other, and may react differently to a situation.  In health care, 80% of the work force is women.  Many jobs historically have been primarily female including nursing and Respiratory Therapists.  We are fortunate at Aspirus to have many women and many in leadership positions.

   Do you think from a patient’s perspective, would a male or female doctor be better?  Or are they pretty much equal?

There is no difference in their abilities.  On a rare occasion we will have a patient ask for a female caregiver.  This may come from a long-standing perspective that females are/were the caregivers.  This certainly has changed in today’s society; many men are caregivers also. 

  If someone did ask for a female provider, what would be his or her reasoning for asking that?

From a modesty perspective, it is typically an elderly woman.  The generational issues that they have grown up with makes it easier to be cared for by a female.  Again, this is most likely due to tradition and modesty.

  And also some additional questions, is there anything in your life that you wish you could do over again?  From maybe an educational perspective?

My initial thought is that nursing was truly the best option for me.  However, I do wish my guidance counselor would have researched more options.  I am fairly confident I would have still chosen nursing, but I do not know for sure.  I also believe I could have been an excellent physician, but was deterred early by the number of years of schooling.  Having completed a Masters and Doctorate degree, I went to school as long as it takes physicians.  I do reflect on what my life would be like as an MD, but I am happy with my current career choice. 

  If your guidance counselor still would have had those two options, did you ever think about being independent and going your own way like not a teacher or a nurse, but something no one would expect a woman to do?

I do hope that all of you in school are thinking about that now.  I never really did think about going independently.  I have a daughter who is a junior at D.C. Everest High School and I tell her she can be anything she wants to be.  I tell her there is nothing on this planet she is not capable of doing.  If she told me she wants to be the next President of the United States, I would say, “You can do it!”  I never really thought in those terms when I was growing up.  My dad was a teacher, my mom a homemaker, and I thought I would be a teacher or a nurse.  I do wish I would have gotten a little wild and crazy in my thinking.

  Do you have a role model or someone that has inspired you?

I do in a couple of ways.  First of all my parents, who are still living, and secondly my Grandmother, who is also still living at age 96.  As I stated before, my mother was a homemaker and my dad was a teacher.  Their view on life was very positive; they gave me encouragement all through my childhood.  They often repeated, “Diane, you can do that, you are very smart, you excel in school, and you can do it.”  When I look back, those values, as simple as they are, were passed on to me.  They valued education, and I admire them for their attributes.  I also had a chemistry teacher in college that saw something special in me.  He would always encourage me when schoolwork in college got overwhelming.  He noticed when I was home sick.  He told me once. “You are one of the best students I’ve ever had.  Look to the future, don’t get discouraged by events of today.”  The fact that this college professor would take the time to get to know me at a personal level was amazing.  I have met many people along my journey and these are the ones that influenced me the most. 

  It seems that you’ve had a positive attitude throughout your whole life.  What is one of the most important aspects to have when you’re looking for a job, or looking for colleges?

I interview many people and I have also hired many people.  In my opinion, it is the people skills that will help them get ahead in life.  I define people skills or soft skills as demonstrating compassion, empathy, energy, and motivation.  These are not always skills you can teach.  However, the person with these attributes is the person I want to hire.  This sounds simplistic, I can train a monkey to do many jobs, I cannot train a monkey to be a compassionate leader.  It is absolutely critical that you have a positive attitude in life.  People will get better jobs and will be more successful if they keep a positive outlook.

  What are some important life lessons that you would give to a younger generation of women?

The one thing I would say is, first of all be true to yourself.  Don’t try to mold yourself into a role that you think people want you to play.  If you become a leader, don’t think you have to be like all the other leaders in the organization just to fit in.  So be true to yourself, number one.  Number two, learn from your mistakes, and celebrate your mistakes.  Every person, in their job, will make mistakes.  Sometimes there will be big mistakes.  If you can say, “Oh my goodness, I’m not going to do that again, what have I learned”, that is invaluable.  But if it becomes “Oh my goodness, that’s just terrible, it will never get better, I’m a failure”, then you will become a failure because you cannot get past the mistakes you’ve made.  So what you learn from your mistake is a lesson in itself.  Laughing at yourself is also good, it’s okay to be human and laugh at ourselves.

  What are some of your hobbies?  Is there something you like to do in your free time?

I love to play piano, and I have five horses and enjoy horseback riding.  I also find peace in walking in the woods, singing, and reading.

  If you ever thought that you would get laid off what would be your second choice to do?  What do you think you would go after next?

I would be a motivational speaker.  I would either create my own consulting company, or I would research a company that does motivational speaking across the United States and become an employee.

  Is there a certain topic that you would talk about or would you just be positive and be yourself?

Well, I probably would gravitate to the positive aspect.  I would take some timely topics about things like “leading through turbulent times.”  Given our bad economy, I could talk about how to motivate people when morale is down and people are sad.  I could talk about leadership and change; how to adapt when people ask you to change and you don’t know how.  I could do some lectures on attitude accountability reflecting on many of the “soft skills” things.  I could also go into some organizations and talk about being a chief operating officer.  I could talk to other health care facilities, or other leaders, about how it is to lead their organizations through change and tough times; talk to them about how to get high customer satisfaction scores and how to have high employee morale.

    Is there anything you would like to tell us about your family members, your horses, or something of the sort?

Sure, I have a wonderful husband, Don.  This is my second marriage and we have been married for almost 19 years.  I have three children (two from my first marriage) Michael,who is 25 and lives in Eau Claire with his wife Liz.  Michelle, who is 23, and getting married in June 2010.  I also have a 17 year old, Melissa, who is a junior at D.C. Everest.  My children consume a lot of my time, and I love my family.  We like to play board games and do a lot of other things together as a family.  I have five horses; their names are Sheba, Billy, Tuff, Willaby, and Elmer.  My horse, Sheba, is the boss.  She is the only female horse and of all the other guys she is the boss, so I like that!

  Do your family members do any sports?

All of my kids were in activities.  My son was in high school football, skiing, wrestling, and band.  My daughter Michelle was into band and all the more musical things.  Melissa also finds her passion in theater and music.  Both Michelle and Melissa took lessons at the Conservatory of music. 

Thank you very much.

Yes, thank you too.

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