The Teamwork Advantage a Gregg Gregory Podcast
Oct 8, 2026 · 1 hr 3 min · 12 segments
Brad Chambers is the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for MedStar Health. Brad brings more than 30 years of healthcare leadership experience to our conversation, but his leadership journey began long…
Brad ChambersGuest
Gregg GregoryHost
I, I was very fortunate, um, in the early years of my career to be, uh, as I like to say, being exposed to what actually goes on, you know, in the meeting room.
And I was very fortunate that I had leaders who were comfortable bringing in this 20-year-old kid to observe the dynamics.
And so observing how you carry yourself in a room with your peers, observing the importance of being prepared and knowing your material, uh, when presenting, the importance of knowing your audience and who you're, you're, you're talking to.
But also, more importantly, the importance of what you and I are doing today, verbal communication, interacting with, uh, people.
Face-to-face communication and dialogue is better than, you know, what we have today of texting and emailing and, and chatting.
And learning the discipline that it's okay to get up from your cube, walk down two cubes, and talk to your colleague when you have a question, when you, when you wanna bounce an idea off of someone.
And I, I was given the opportunity early in my career to really start to work on those skills because remember, I literally came right out of college and jumped right into this setting.
Uh, a gentleman by the name of Jerry Bowen, who was the, uh, controller, uh, there at, um, University of Maryland Hospital, really, um, you know, had an open door for me to ask questions.
And, and they said to me constantly, "Brad, it is okay to raise your hand and ask questions." And, you know, one of the things that I use today, Greg, that I tell particularly, uh, young people coming up was, um, you know, "Have you ever seen the movie Big?" And of course, you know, with today's generation, some of them are like, "Big, what, what is that?" I said, "Well, it's a-"
I, w- what are you talking about?" And I said, "I love that scene," because I said, "It's, it's okay to raise your hand and to simply say, 'Um, I'm not following this.
I'm not trying to be difficult, but I, I'm, I just need help and understanding so that I can be more productive.'" And, you know, I learned early on that it's okay to ask for help.
To raise your hand and not be viewed as a sign of weakness or you don't know.
And it was very helpful for me, Greg, to have that early on so that when I then, a few years later, came to Helix, I had some of that experience and grounding.
I, I was very fortunate, um, in the early years of my career to be, uh, as I like to say, being exposed to what actually goes on, you know, in the meeting room.
And I was very fortunate that I had leaders who were comfortable bringing in this 20-year-old kid to observe the dynamics.
And so observing how you carry yourself in a room with your peers, observing the importance of being prepared and knowing your material, uh, when presenting, the importance of knowing your audience and who you're, you're, you're talking to.
But also, more importantly, the importance of what you and I are doing today, verbal communication, interacting with, uh, people.
Face-to-face communication and dialogue is better than, you know, what we have today of texting and emailing and, and chatting.
And learning the discipline that it's okay to get up from your cube, walk down two cubes, and talk to your colleague when you have a question, when you, when you wanna bounce an idea off of someone.
And I, I was given the opportunity early in my career to really start to work on those skills because remember, I literally came right out of college and jumped right into this setting.
Uh, a gentleman by the name of Jerry Bowen, who was the, uh, controller, uh, there at, um, University of Maryland Hospital, really, um, you know, had an open door for me to ask questions.
And, and they said to me constantly, "Brad, it is okay to raise your hand and ask questions." And, you know, one of the things that I use today, Greg, that I tell particularly, uh, young people coming up was, um, you know, "Have you ever seen the movie Big?" And of course, you know, with today's generation, some of them are like, "Big, what, what is that?" I said, "Well, it's a-"
I, w- what are you talking about?" And I said, "I love that scene," because I said, "It's, it's okay to raise your hand and to simply say, 'Um, I'm not following this.
I'm not trying to be difficult, but I, I'm, I just need help and understanding so that I can be more productive.'" And, you know, I learned early on that it's okay to ask for help.
To raise your hand and not be viewed as a sign of weakness or you don't know.
And it was very helpful for me, Greg, to have that early on so that when I then, a few years later, came to Helix, I had some of that experience and grounding.
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