The surgeon had several 3×5 cards taped to the file cabinet in his office. The typed quote on one card struck me: “Never sacrifice family on the altar of medicine.” I was an impressionable 27 year old intern. Like all Walter Reed house staff, I was dazzled with this remarkable pediatric surgeon who labored to maintain balance in his life despite his tremendous work ethic. I scribbled the words on my notes, then wrote them on a 3×5 card and posted it on my desk when I got home. It was the beginning of my quote collection.
Around the same time, I began to read with a pencil and scratch paper in hand, and jotted things down things that were insightful or inspiring. I typed them into my old Apple IIe computer in 1989. The practice and the collection continues (>100 pages!) and has become one element of a lifelong study of truth, of life and of leadership.
Sharing the quotes began after my final deployment to JRTC at Ft. Polk in February 1999. LTC (later Brigadier General) Becky Halstead, the Battalion Commander of the 325 FSB, 25th Infantry Division, wrote a quote every day on a white board outside the mess tent. I borrowed the idea and when I got back started a “quote of the day” (qd or quaque die) on our white board at Tripler Pediatrics morning report. When I was on leave or out of town, staff and residents continued the tradition (although with good-humored irreverence!) At the annual awards dinner in June, each graduating resident was honored with a specifically selected quote. I later learned that the residents looked forward each year to see which quote I would choose and read for them.
The tradition continued with a white board outside my office door when I was a new hospital commander and then as daily e-mails while serving as Chief of Staff at Walter Reed Bethesda and in my final tour as Commander of the Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. Members of the team have often provided feedback on the quotes and have used them in other settings themselves. As it turns out, I am not alone this pursuit of truth.
Today I find that many of the quotes speak like old friends whispering from the shadows of my memory; reminders of books or lectures, lessons learned in times of pain and times of joy. They are some of the voices that have shaped me as a leader and that motivate me to continue as a student.
For several years I used the Latin medical phrase “qd” (quaque die) or “every day” for the practice of sharing the quotes. It was also conveniently short for “Quote of the Day.” Unfortunately but with good reason, “qd” became one of The Joint Commission’s banned abbreviations several years back. So it has been used with some trepidation.
In light of the ban (wanting to be a good example of TJC standards adherence!) and since these quotes are not quite daily on Twitter anyway, the name “qv: quaecumque vera” is probably better (Motto of the University of Alberta and reference to Philippians 4:8). It reflects our responsibility to regularly and with discipline pursue truth as leaders on behalf of those we have the honor of leading. And it reminds us that we have much to learn from others and from the voices of history regarding “quaecumque vera:” “Whatever is true.”
Chuck Callahan Henry V 4.3 – Lead from the Front https://henryv43.wordpress.com/
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Henry V 4.3 