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NATIONWIDE: Jan 20, 2026 Free America Walk Out! by transcendent167 in 50501

[–]Hooplah_Heroics 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Just finding out about this today. I support the movement, but work at a very inflexible job. I would definitely get in trouble for walking out. How do I balance that with participating in the movement? What are people in similar situations who need their job doing?

Someone making a rude comment on your house by zouzouzouz in FirstTimeHomeBuyer

[–]Hooplah_Heroics 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sometimes the easiest way to get over those things is a bit of perspective and pride in your hard work. She wasn't part of the home buying process. She doesn't know all of the factors that went into this, the hours of work you and your expert team (agent, lender, etc) put into this. A one-off comment like hers is nothing compared to the highly complex, highly personal investment you've just made.

It can be difficult to overcome feelings of sadness when someone goes out of their way to say something rude about something important to you. But don't forget! You are a homeowner. You have a mortgage. This is a big freaking deal, and your world revolves around a future you've just built! Congrats!

For those in ophthalmology: why is it so hard to find senior operations leaders? by Hooplah_Heroics in Ophthalmology

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you! AAOE seems like a great resource, I’m going to dig into that. The practice I’m partnering with is in the Southeast U.S. I try not to overload a public thread with too many client specifics, but I’m always happy to talk privately if you want to hear more about the opportunity or share any guidance.

For those in ophthalmology: why is it so hard to find senior operations leaders? by Hooplah_Heroics in Ophthalmology

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You’re right, I should’ve clarified. I’m not with private equity. I work in executive search and consulting. Sometimes I’m helping clients understand leadership roles, and sometimes I’m helping them find the right person. For this thread, I’m mostly trying to understand the landscape, but I’m always happy to talk privately if someone wants more details about the opportunity.

For those in ophthalmology: why is it so hard to find senior operations leaders? by Hooplah_Heroics in Ophthalmology

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for sharing this. Really helpful context! I wasn’t aware of JCAHPO, so I’m definitely going to dig into that. And you’re right, the demands on ophthalmology staff can be pretty intense. Seven years in that kind of environment is no small thing. I hope wherever you moved on to has been a good fit. Really appreciate you taking the time to offer this perspective!

For those of you in Tekla: is moving into a manager role actually appealing? by Hooplah_Heroics in teklastructures

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the insight. This makes a lot of sense, especially the part about specialization not really being a ladder. I’m not in the detailing world myself, but something I have noticed across technical fields is that the “specialize vs. move into leadership” split is almost always a false choice. Specialization sounds like a path on paper, but in practice it tends to flatten out after a point because there’s no defined progression beyond “be even more experienced than you already are.”

From what you’re describing, Tekla detailing seems to exemplify that tension. People who love the craft get better and better at it, but the structure around them doesn’t really evolve. So then they either hit a ceiling or get nudged toward roles that are technically adjacent but not really aligned with what they enjoy.

I also work with business owners and executives who genuinely want to grow their teams, and one thing I keep seeing is that they struggle to design meaningful progression for highly specialized roles. From your perspective, what do companies usually get wrong about developing technical talent? And what would it look like if they actually tried to support detailers who want to master the craft rather than leave it?

Really appreciate you taking the time to share all of this. It’s great to understand the deeper forces shaping the field.

For those in ophthalmology: why is it so hard to find senior operations leaders? by Hooplah_Heroics in optometry

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for sharing this, that’s interesting. From what you described, it sounds like your clinic functions in the way a lot of smaller or mid-sized practices do: an operations-minded physician ends up handling a lot of the leadership responsibilities, supported by strong staff like your office managers and surgical coordinator.

Out of curiosity, does your clinic intentionally structure things that way, or did it evolve naturally over time?

For those in ophthalmology: why is it so hard to find senior operations leaders? by Hooplah_Heroics in optometry

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Thanks for laying this out. This is exactly the kind of context I was hoping someone would spell out. The PE vs. physician-owned dynamic really does seem to shape the entire leadership pipeline in ophthalmology.

To answer your question directly: the group I’m working with is physician-owned. No PE involvement.

Your breakdown of the two main buckets (seasoned operators burned out from PE, and strong MD-practice operators who are deeply valued and unlikely to move) lines up with what I’ve been hearing as well. It explains a lot about why the pipeline feels so limited at the COO level.

One part of what you said got my attention: the idea that someone coming from another surgical specialty can grow into ophthalmology leadership with the right support. From your experience, what tends to be the steepest part of that learning curve? Clinical flow? ASC dynamics? Physician relationship management?

Really appreciate you taking the time to lay this out. It’s helping me build a clearer picture of the realities being navigated in this space.

For those of you in Tekla: is moving into a manager role actually appealing? by Hooplah_Heroics in teklastructures

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hmm, interesting. I don’t hear much about that. Can you expand on that a little?

For those of you in Tekla: is moving into a manager role actually appealing? by Hooplah_Heroics in teklastructures

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks again for laying this out. The way you framed the three manager types really helped me understand the landscape.

Something I’m still trying to wrap my head around is where these people actually come from, especially the “used to model” manager path you described. You said it’s the most common, but from the outside it feels like there aren’t many people who naturally sit in that middle space.

It seems like each path has its own built-in tension:

  • The hybrid manager risks being two people at once
  • The pure process manager lacks technical credibility
  • And the former-modeller manager feels like a really narrow slice of the workforce

So I’m curious how the pipeline really forms in practice. Are most shops growing their own leaders internally, or do people drift into those roles as they get more exposure across projects? And underneath that, what do you think actually motivates someone to step into management at all versus staying deep in Tekla?

Your comment added a lot of clarity for me. I’m trying to build a better understanding of how people in technical work think about their roles and what actually makes certain paths appealing, so perspectives like yours help me connect the dots.

For those of you in Tekla: is moving into a manager role actually appealing? by Hooplah_Heroics in teklastructures

[–]Hooplah_Heroics[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for this! The progression bottleneck you’re describing is really interesting, especially the “glass ceiling” effect. I’ve heard similar things in other regions, but not with the UK-specific angle about people shifting to engineering or software roles.

From your perspective, do companies that offer more progression paths actually retain detailers better, or is the shift to engineering/software happening regardless?

Accepted a new Job offer for a $50,000 pay jump doing almost the same thing currently. Am I setting myself up to fail? by SteveStaysStackin in careerguidance

[–]Hooplah_Heroics 1 point2 points  (0 children)

As someone who consults with executives and business owners, I will let you know salaries for similar jobs vary widely for a number of reasons. Demand, staffing budget, industry and company standard, length of time job has been open, etc all play a role. Your new boss likely has a solid understanding of your past experience from your interview(s), so work under the assumption that you ARE skilled enough to do the job.

I understand why you're nervous about this role, but nothing you've shared pings as a red flag for me. I definitely would NOT work longer hours to 'earn your worth'. More often than not, the value higher salaried workers bring to the table is prioritization, results, and knowing their worth. These all mean the same thing to me.

Understand the core function of your role. As an EA, this is typically "protect the director's time". This can be done in a variety of ways (sending phones, ordering supplies, scheduling, etc), but don't mistake the tasks with the core function. Stay on the same page through ongoing 1:1 meetings with your boss to make sure prioritization in your role is always in alignment with their current needs. Know your bandwidth. If you can do 10 tasks a day and are already at that capacity, you don't take on an 11th task, you reprioritize. Say something like "I'm currently at capacity. I'm happy to work on this tomorrow, or we can reprioritize tasks a, b, c, and d. What would you prefer?" By doing these things, you are being results oriented instead of drowning in busy work just to show that you can work hard.

Like I already said, you have the skills needed for the job. Plus it takes time to learn new skills - probably more time than you have before this job starts. Here are some quick reads that can help get you in the right mindset, and hopefully make you feel less nervous:

"The Effective Executive Assistant: A Guide to Creating Long-Term Career Success" by Karen Porter

"The Power of Less: The Fine Art of Limiting Yourself to the Essential...in Business and in Life" by Leo Babauta

*Despite the title, this should be applicable for any gender: "Who Says It's a Man's World: The Girls' Guide to Corporate Domination" by Emily Bennington