66: A Surgical Approach to Military Leadership, with Lt. General Ronald J. Place, Director, Defense Health Agency
Meet Lieutenant General Ronald J. Place:
Lieutenant General Ronald J. Place is the Director of the Defense Health Agency (DHA), a joint integrated Combat Support Agency enabling the medical service to provide a medically ready force and ready medical force to Combatant Commands in both peacetime and wartime. Previously, LTG Place was the Director of the National Capital Medical Directorate of the Defense Health Agency. He received a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from the University of South Dakota and received his medical degree from Creighton University School of Medicine.
Key Insights:
Lieutenant General Ronald J. Place has established a career as both a surgeon and military leader.
- Becoming an Army Doctor. LTG Place initially joined the military as a means to pay for medical school. However, after a deployment with a unit of soldiers dedicated to caring for each other and defending American freedoms, he changed his mindset. He went from being a doctor who happened to be in the Army, to an Army doctor. (10:57)
- Leadership Philosophy. If you have a leadership philosophy, write it down. Writing it down makes it real, and creates a starting point for the philosophy to be further refined. LTG Place updates his leadership philosophy at least once a year, inspired by what he learns from books, mentors, or his own experiences. (17:19)
- Mentorship. As a mentor, LTG Place actually refrains from giving advice. For him, the most important part of being a mentor is asking questions, pulling out insightful information so that ultimately the mentee can make their own decision. (21:31)
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