Greetings to the Good People of DaVita!!

It is Saturday am, and I am at home!!  Wow, does that feel good.

A couple quick facts on the Tour DaVita – 585 riders, including 5 from International, the most ever.  3 were from Saudi Arabia, 1 from Germany, and 1 from Poland.  I got to talk to each of them except the teammate from Poland.  Fun!  Also 15 patient riders, the most ever!  Also 17 PCT’s, for whom we provide special financial support, they are each Shining Stars!  I want to have more PCT’s next year.  We move the Tour to a different spot each year, MANY riders are first-timers that are NOT regular bike riders, so please give it some thought.  We have little vans that pick riders up on the course, so you can stop whenever your body says that is the right thing to do.  We also had 96 teammates from local clinics and our big Tacoma neighborhood office at the finish line, cheering teammates on as they triumphantly rode, or walked, across the line.

We also did a Village Service Day right before the Tour,  where we packed and sent 600 Holiday stockings with notes to military folks overseas (part of our Star Troopers Village program), and also 400 packs of essential items for Dignity for Divas, for homeless women transitioning to housing.

Thursday night was a solid sleeping night, man did that feel good. It was only 6 hours, but a step in the right direction.  And last night, Friday I managed to hit the big 7, the rally continues!

I did not gain any weight during my month of almost constant travel, still at 191.  That is good.  I am getting better at the 5 minutes of meditation and deep breathing.  I still would not really call it meditation because my thoughts are so active and scattered, but by the 3^rd or 4^th minute I am taking much deeper breaths and it is quite striking how soothing that is.

There was a preceptor class in the Casa this week, so I got to meet several of them – which is always a treat for me, I get to say thank you to field teammates in person, live.  Always a gratitude moment for me. 

I hope each of you is finding Match the Mayor to be helpful in our shared journey towards healthy and fulfilling lives. 

“Be a person who not only lives the length of your life, but the depth and breadth as well.”

One for All & All for One.  Your Mayor, KT

Leaders from across the Village shared their personal mission statements.

” To value everyone.” Alan Cullop, Chief Information Officer

“To be a competent, confident and compassionate leader in my profession and in my home.” Mandy Hale, VP of Nursing

“I am a bright and playful gift, soaring with love, compassion and enthusiasm!” Dave Hoerman, Chief Wisdom Officer

“Anything is possible.” Barbara Atkins, People Services Manager

“All you need to do is focus on two things in life…improving yourself and improving your relationships.” Jonathan Lujan, Lifeline

“To live with grace and generosity toward others.” Traciee Huff, Facilities Administrator (FA)

Yoda, Senior Vice President & Chief Wisdom Officer, Emeritus

• Love God – Be His Instrument
• Truth
• Do Good (“Love”, “Servant”)
• Family Before Self
• Experience, Discover, Learn, Teach
• Give It Everything (“Leave NOTHING on the field”)
• Be the Enemy of Fear
• Be Happy – See the Best

We would love to hear from you. Share your personal mission statement in the reply section below.

Yo DaVitans!

It is Thursday afternoon, I am in the Casa del Mundo in Colorado.  It has been an eventful week since my last blog which was Monday.  I did get a workout in on Monday afternoon, which brought me fresh energy after the 14 hour flight from Dubai.  I had several conference calls, including prep for our upcoming quarterly earnings call. 

Tuesday morning was Tour DaVita day!  585 DaVita teammates riding many miles over 3 days, to raise money for our Medical Missions, which are run by our Bridges of Life team.  It is a beautiful event, for a wonderful cause.  We raised $1.2 million dollars !

But what I love even more is how it puts us all together, doing something healthy and lively, for a good cause.  Tuesday was Day Three and I joined in for the 58 mile ride.  For the first time ever I missed last year’s Tour because I was recovering from a big surgery – so getting back out there felt amazingly good.  The tradition is that when I finish I stay at the finish line to greet others – me along with a couple hundred other teammates from local DaVita neighborhoods, and other riders.  It makes for a glorious finish, live music, people yelling and clapping, quite special.

On Tuesday night we have a closing ceremony where we see a video of the ride, we have some We Are Here contests, and a number of riders get up and share why they are riding, and what they will remember from the Tour.  An almost spiritual evening, after an event in which hundreds of teammates ride more miles than they ever thought they could, or would.  I hope many of you consider trying it in the future — please know that we provide special support to help Patient Care Tech Shining Stars join in.

Then I flew back to Denver, and got home about 1 am.  It was another terrible sleep night, unfortunately, the jet lag is wreaking a bit of havoc.  So I actually skipped a day of exercise to stay in bed one more hour.  Darn!  Then I was off to the Casa, my first time there since September 28.  I had meetings on forecasting, public policy, and some strategy issues. 

Last night was another terrible sleeping night, but I still got up and got a solid workout in.  I will end up having some extra caffeine today, but fortunately the work is engaging enough to help keep me going.   My morning was filled largely with clinical and financial reviews, as well as getting a wonderful thank you call from a US Congressman.  We let him and others hold a meeting in the Casa a month ago, and he was very impressed by the look and feel of our Casa and the culture within it.  That was awfully nice to hear.

On the scores front I am doing pretty well except for the sleeping thing.  My gratitude and connectedness was off the charts on Tour DaVita Day, and I will carry that glow for several more days.

I hope each of you is making good progress towards leading a healthier, more mindful life!   Picture how you are being encouraged by the other 2300 teammates who are in MTM !!   47 states and 9 countries represented.  Let’s do it, together!!!

“Most people go to their graves with their music still inside”.  Don’t do that!

One for All & All for One !      Your Mayor, a most lucky man …….

“Thank you notes and small gifts of appreciation.” Traciee Huff, FA

“I have a reminder on my calendar every Monday morning to “show someone appreciation”.  I do not allow myself to commence my work week until I have planned who to acknowledge and how to do it.  The individuals I recognize are at work and in my home/personal life.  I like to send flowers, thank you notes or pick up fun things at farmers markets and craft shows.” Mandy Hale, VP of Nursing

“My wife recently gifted me a journal in which I can write one sentence daily as an expression for something(s) for which I am grateful.  No matter how difficult of a day I may have, I always find more than one sentence that expresses my gratitude, which helps to keep me in good spirits.” Patrick McKinnon, President of Rx

“Thank you notes, emails. Wrote a thank you note on linkedin recently.” Jonathan Lujan, Lifeline

“For me, gratitude is captured in moments.  I do a LOT to stay present in the moment, half-smile to myself when something wonderful is happening, either on my own in nature, with my kids, wife, or with teammates.” Dave Hoerman, Chief Wisdom Officer

“Consistently thank teammates for a job well done every day.” Tim Greene, ROD

Share how you express gratitude by posting a picture or comment below.

Greetings to the Good People of DaVita,

It is Monday morning, I am on a 14 hour flight back to the US, from Dubai.  I get huge amounts of work done on these flights, so part of me likes them.  Part of me, that is.

I got to bed about midnight, by the time I flew in from Saudi Arabia, had dinner, and did a couple phone calls.  I got up at 5:30 so I could get my workout in, so important before these marathon flights.  I recognize that leaves only about 5 hours of sleep, but I will get more on the flight itself. 

Unfortunately my sleep was terrible the night before.  I had a couple phone calls late that night (because the US was 9 hours earlier), one with bad work news, one with good.  This got my mind going, and so it took me a long time to get to sleep, and then when I woke up at 3 am I was never really able to get back to sleep.  I got up 5 different times to write down some ideas I had, I was worried I would not remember them otherwise.  Finally at 5 am I just got up and started working, despite not getting to bed until midnight.  This is why I let myself sleep in an extra hour the next night, and why I missed a day of exercise.

I had fantastic town halls with one of our clinics in Riyadh, and then with our home office folks in the same city.  We ended both with One for All & All for One, and threw in a bit of Yo DaVita along the way.  

I am getting better at going over some of my gratitudes while I am stretching in the morning, in addition to getting better at thinking of my gratitudes when something bad or stressful happens during the day.  I am also getting better at stretching periodically thru the day, and am quite struck by how good I feel after. 

I am hoping that each of you are hitting your Match the Mayor goals !  MTM is a team sport, just picture a couple thousand teammates standing behind you and cheering for your actions!!

“To affect the quality of the day, that is the art of life”  Henry David Thoreau

One for All, KT

Yo DaVitans !!

Greetings from Saudi Arabia!  I just got up from a 2 hour nap.  I had a terrible night of sleep last night, and after all the recent travel I was just crashing this afternoon, as we were doing an operating review.  I went back to the hotel, collapsed into bed for a nap (which is very rare for me), now I am about to head to dinner with the Minister of Health. Incredibly exciting, and the Minister is very intelligent and action-oriented.

Also exciting in the Kingdom (Saudi is a true Kingdom) is that they recently announced that women will be able to drive, which is a HUGE and wonderful change.  We were a tiny part of provoking this change as we have promoted women into many management spots, and we hired drivers to take them around to make that possible.

I hope you are each on the way towards living a healthier life!  We have 4 weeks together to build new habits, experience new approaches, to care for ourselves with the same intensity we bring to taking care of our patients.  If you review my log you will see:

1. I continue my normal routine of exercise every day, usually in the morning.  In fact I have been getting in a full hour each day on this trip, because with all the jet lag if I do not do more it is hard to keep going
2. I am having a hard time building the 2 minute Timeout muscle.  I think I will do better when I am back in the US in more of a normal routine, and I am in my own office and home for several days a week.  People look at me pretty funny when I start doing big stretches in the middle of a meeting or public place.
3. On Friday I was only with a couple people each day.   I think I was a pretty good human being all day, but I am trying to set a pretty high bar for the connectedness and gratitude scores.  I need to find out if those answers are yes/no or a number.

I also want to find out how many DaVita Village Citizens are in this year’s MTM so far.  With the new and more complicated regiment, it will be interesting to see the sign-ups.

Another highlight of my week is that I did a town hall in our Malaysia home office, with the 40 or so teammates there.  And today I got to visit one of our Saudi centers, and visit with the teammates and the patients.  Wonderful!

I wish each of you much happiness, and hope that you are savoring the adventure of life.  A man I have never heard of, Ralph Gardner, originated one of my other favorite quotes in the world “There is a calmness to a life lived in gratitude, a quiet joy. “   I try to remember to say this every day when I am stretching in my normal workout.

I am grateful. For my family, my health, my friends, my job.

All the best to you, Your Mayor, KT

“Sunday dinner with my family.” Tim Greene, ROD

“I make sure I put into my todo list, and/or calendar, phone calls to my parents or friends.  As soon as I think of someone that I haven’t spoken with in a while, I add them to my “Call List”.  When I’m able, like driving to/from work, I make those calls to just say “hello”.  It’s another way I stay healthy – through my connections.” Dave Hoerman, Chief Wisdom Officer

“I love traditions.  We have traditions for holidays and events, for all sorts of things.  This way, I always have something to look forward to my friends and family with.” Mandy Hale, VP of Nursing

“My family lives overseas and in a different time zone; each Saturday morning, before the kids are up, I find time to talk to them while I prepare breakfast for the family. Not glamorous, but we always find time to talk.” Elise Duke, GVP, Titan

“Personal, face-to-face visiting, and telephone.” Yoda, Senior Vice President & Chief Wisdom Officer, Emeritus

“Weekly phone chats, shared meals, reunions, texting, and photo sharing.” Allan Cullop, Chief Information Officer

Share how you stay connected by sharing a picture or comment below.

Yo DaVitans!!

I hope you are well, and I look forward to locking arms and getting some good stuff done for each other during MTM X !!  The healthier we get, the better able we will be to help others – not to mention we will be more fun to be around!

 I am off to a good start.  The 30 minutes of exercise is an easy one for me, as many of you MTM veterans know – as I exercise almost every day all year round.   Even when I travel my assistant knows to figure out when in the day I will exercise, before it gets filled up.  The stretching timeouts will be harder for me – I am used to getting some good stretching in as part of my morning workout, but not as good as doing it later in the day.  MTM is already helping, as I have done better on this front already.

 Last Monday-Tuesday I had a 36 hour journey from Rwanda, Africa to Denver.   I was home for 56 hours, and then had a 26 hour journey from Denver to Kuala Lumpur, in Malaysia.  So the body is a bit stressed.  We have had some great meetings with our Malaysian partners, Khazanah … and our Japanese partners, Mitsui.  I have been getting a strong workout each morning, which has really helped me get thru the day.  I have had a business dinner each night, two of them with DaVita teammates which is work but so pleasant it does not feel like hard work.   Not too much, anyway.

 Today we had some important meetings with a potential Chinese partners, that we have been talking to off and on for three years.  It is pretty cool that for years they had used DaVita as a role model for building their company before we ever met them.  They were introduced at a recent large nephrology conference in China as “the DaVita of China,” .. which was a compliment for them, and it is the same for us!

 I am eating too much on this trip – when you are jet lagged and there is food all over the conference, as well as huge buffets with lots of great Asian food, it is a temptation I need to do better with.  After dinner each night is the time to do phone calls back to the states, because it is 14 hours later here than Denver. 

I hope each of you is off to a good start in Match the Mayor !  I wish a healthier life for you …
I was in a small village in Viet Nam, and talked to a Buddhist monk … he said one thing I will never forget …. Namely “one cannot pour from an empty cup”

Take care of yourself!

 Your Mayor, KT

“Planning ahead for me is key.  And I’ll add that I’m not necessarily “good” at this, but I can at least share my intentions and practices.  There are nights where I know I have a mix of work and family activities, and early morning meetings/calls where my sleep will be limited to maybe 5, or even less, hours.  That’s when I’ll purposely plan for following nights to ensure I can finish up work early evening and get some downtime with family, clear my head, and get to bed earlier, or allow myself to sleep in a little later.  I look more at trends than every single night, since there are so many variables to manage.” Dave Hoerman, Chief Wisdom Officer

“I go to bed early and stop using all electronics 30 minutes before I turn in.” Traciee Huff, FA

“Be efficient during the day. Conveniently fall asleep next to my daughter when she falls asleep.” Jonathan Lujan, Lifeline

“I have a rigid bed time of 10 pm.” Tim Greene, ROD

“My husband and I cut out the TV show that we watched each night! Instead we talk over a meal and a glass of wine and go to bed quite a bit earlier.” Elise Duke, GVP- Titan

“I schedule my days carefully, including a bed time.  I have placed a high priority and value on sleep as it is a fundamental component of good health.” Mandy Hale, VP of Nursing

Share how you get 7-9 hours of sleep in the reply section below. Happy sleeping!

Greetings to the Good People of DaVita,

KT here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  Sorry I missed day one, but I had 3 flights totaling 28 hours of travel to get here on Sunday, and I am still a bit jet-lagged as it is 14 hours later than Denver and I began a full work schedule within a few hours of arriving here.  It is exciting to be with our Asia-Pacific team!

I worked out when I arrived Sunday afternoon, as well as both Monday and Tuesday mornings.  I am excited about re-checking my goals – but right now I can barely keep my eyes open.  I look forward to catching up with all of you tomorrow!

One for All, KT