In this 6‑question, 7‑minute interview, Professor Pete Alexander talks with Dr. Michael Lalor, the Chief Medical Officer of Trellis Supportive Care in Winston‑Salem, NC. Dr. Lalor describes his role as a physician‑leader who combines scientific expertise with compassionate hospice and palliative care, helping patients and families navigate the most difficult moments of the healthcare system. He emphasizes that effective leadership is the foundation of any successful organization and argues that leaders must possess deep self‑knowledge and commit to continual learning to adapt to evolving environments. He recommends Dr. Elsie Ko as a fellow physician leader worth featuring on the podcast. Dr. Lalor also shares a personal anecdote about his first job as a lifeguard, noting how it shaped his service‑oriented mindset. The episode concludes with his LinkedIn profile as the primary way for listeners to connect with him.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Good evening. Thank you so much for having me today. My name is Michael Laler. I am the chief medical officer of an organization called Trellis Supportive Care in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. And the two things that I think, even though that's my job, I am a voracious learner and I help healthcare agencies thrive.
Michael, it's so great to have you on the show. Question number 2, what's the best thing about working in your industry?
Oh, it's a combination of two things. One, my passion for science gets to be displayed in what I do every day as a physician, but then it's paired with the ability of really providing compassionate care to patients and families at a time that they need it the most. So frequently, by the time I'm helping a patient or a family out, they've been through the worst of the healthcare system and have had questions and are confused. And that, you know, my team and I get to come in and help bring a little bit of comfort to a foggy situation is fantastic.
And I actually can really appreciate it myself because my dad many years ago was in hospice and it was— the hospice staff was just wonderful compared to what was happening when he was in the hospital. So I can really appreciate what you do. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
Leadership is everything. Uh, there needs to be a good understanding of what leadership is, what it's not, but the overall importance to the success of an organization, uh, your team, All comes down to leadership. Mm-hmm.
Very insightful. Question number 4, other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
Uh, I think it's a combination of self-knowledge is everything and continual learning is really required to have that. It's a combination Reference to my previous question about the importance of leadership. It would be so hard to be an effective leader for an agency if you don't have a good understanding of who you are, your biases, your strengths, and what you have to do to get better at that. And then the complexity of the environment of how much it requires a continual learning. No one person is the same individual they were when they were a teenager. So if you're not continuously learning about both yourself, your agency, state-of-the-art things of what you do, I think you get stuck.
Yeah, and it's one of the great things that we have in life is that continuous learning. So you learn new things and you expand yourself. I love what you're talking about there is, you know, versus, you know, being stuck in a, you know, let's say in a dead-end job and not really learning anything. I would think that that would just be very stressful. For someone.
Yeah, I completely agree. I, like I say, I use the comment of I'm a voracious learner. I think it has to continuously be going on in order to, you know, even be happy. I think it's a big part of it. So I'm driven towards that way.
I love it. Question number 5, what other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast?
Dr. Elsie Ko. She is a physician leader herself who runs multiple fantastic initiatives, but also aligns strongly in the world of physician leadership. So I think she would be a fantastic guest for—
Wonderful. I'll reach out to her. I appreciate that, uh, role. And our last question, question number 6, please tell me about your first job.
I was a lifeguard. I was a lifeguard in a large pool. I was probably 15 or 16 years old when I got the first job, and then I ended up remaining a lifeguard until my 20s. So it really set me on a different path. It was a fantastic experience.
I love it. Your, your face lit up on camera when you talked about it, going back to that memory. So that's great. So Michael, thank you so much for being on the show. How could people find you?
So you can go to my LinkedIn profile, Michael Laylor. The custom URL will be provided to you and connect through me there. DM.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. For more insights and ideas, please go to LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, or iTunes and search for the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Thanks for listening.
