The day I told a world-leading surgeon I could do his job

Back in 2017, I was working with a private hospital on their rebrand. The steering committee had all the usual suspects, CEO, CFO, CMO, a couple of marketing execs, a handful of staff and a few high-profile surgeons and consultants.

And then there was the surgeon. The one everyone warned me about. Brilliant, experienced and a world-class control freak.

Halfway through the creative presentation he started telling us exactly what we “should” be doing and how we “should” be doing it.

The CMO caught my eye and gracefully moved the meeting along. Wise move.

But I already knew what I was going to do.

At lunch, I made sure to catch the surgeon alone. No audience, no audience effect. I casually asked what his afternoon theatre list looked like. “Routine knee arthroscopy,” he said.

“Great,” I replied. “I’ll scrub in and do that.”

He stared at me like I’d just suggested we perform brain surgery with a spoon. “You’ll… what?”

“The knee arthroscopy. I’ve seen them on TV, I can do that for you.”

I watched the steam gathering behind his eyes. “I’ve been a knee surgeon for 40 years,” he began, “the last 30 at the top of my game. What makes you think you could possibly…”

He stopped. He smiled. And then he got it.

I smiled back. “So, no need for me to scrub in this afternoon, is there?”

We both burst out laughing.

And the afternoon session? Smooth. Collaborative. Respectful.

Amazing what a little role reversal can do.

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