Anne Eiting Klamar built a culture of learning, growth and philanthropy at Midmark.
Anne Eiting Klamar had zero leadership experience when she stepped into her role as president and CEO of Midmark in 2000. At her urging, a leadership coach interviewed the people at Midmark to assess her skills as a leader. Most said she had work to do.
Not to be discouraged, she transformed that hard truth into a lifelong journey in leadership, teamwork and family governance, as well as advanced medical technology, manufacturing, and sales and marketing. She shepherded Midmark through challenging times and in 2015, confident that the company was in capable hands, stepped away from her role as president and CEO to become chair.
Family doctor
Anne Eiting Klamar received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Michigan and graduated with her M.D. degree from The Ohio State University. She practiced medicine in Urbana, Ohio, before moving to Versailles, Ohio, with her husband, Rob, also a physician, when she was named president and CEO – the fourth-generation Eiting to assume that role since the company’s founding in 1915.
Lacking any experience running a company, she wondered about her qualifications for the job. But her father, Jim Eiting, was retiring, and the company needed leadership. The board felt she could handle the job. “I honestly didn’t have the presence of mind to say ‘no,’” she later told an interviewer.
Speaking to a reporter from a Dayton newspaper, she said, “Physicians don’t necessarily have great leadership skills. They tell people what to do, and people do it or not. That doesn’t work in business.” Being the boss’s daughter didn’t make the job any easier.
She set about working on her leadership skills and completed a three-year program for owners and presidents at Harvard Business School as well as several executive education programs at the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University.
Under her leadership as president and CEO, Midmark implemented advanced manufacturing systems; expanded the company’s presence in the medical, dental and animal health markets, as well as digital diagnostics and digital imaging; and increased Midmark’s philanthropic activities.
Repertoire recently asked Klamar about her professional and personal journey.
The family in business
Repertoire: In an article published by the Northwestern Kellogg School of Business, you made a distinction between a “family business” and a “family in business.” What is the difference, and does that distinction apply to privately owned medical distributors today?
Anne Eiting Klamar: A “family business” tends to be family-owned, but there may not be any family members in the business. A “family in business” implies the family is working together in the business, which is unique. When families work together, there needs to be a coherent set of values, goals and a shared mission and vision of the future.
That distinction could also apply to privately owned medical distributors and other “family in business” models in our industry. One example is the McLaughlin family, the second generation to run IMCO. The family works together to align their values and goals with the mission of the business, preserving core principles from the previous generation.
When I entered the role as president of Midmark, it was an investment in the family in business. It was humbling. We were providing employment to many people, and that motivated me to do my very best.
Repertoire: You completed Kellogg’s “Governing Family Enterprises” program. What are the key points you took away from that?
Anne Eiting Klamar: To establish family governance, you start with a set of principles that the family has agreed to. Once you have established a unified vision, mission and values, a family charter and other governance discussions and documents come into effect. Our family charter outlines the procedures and decisions that must be made to ensure the success of the business long term, providing the next generation with the framework to build their own governance. Our family council is a united front that looks out for the best interests of the business and the family in the business. Our governance is divided into branches that come together to refine our vision, mission and values as we move into the future.
Teammate development
Repertoire: As you look back at your time as president of Midmark and in your current role as chair, what gives you the greatest satisfaction about the current state of the company versus when you became president in 2000?
Anne Eiting Klamar: From the beginning, teammate development was a big priority for me and I am delighted to see it continue beyond my tenure. As we continue to build a culture of learning and growth at Midmark, it is important to recognize the invaluable contributions of each team member. We want to ensure that everyone feels supported, respected and valued. This is essential for creating a positive and productive work environment. With this focus, I am confident that our organization will reach even greater heights in the coming years.
Midmark was participating in philanthropic initiatives back in 2000, but not nearly at the level we do today. We have a great focus on philanthropy and helping others, and it’s more purposeful now. It’s also a big part of our culture. We are proud to make an impact in our communities and the world. Our commitment to giving back is what drives us forward. Our teammates are encouraged to get involved in volunteering and charity activities from blood drives to domestic and mission work to building hygiene kits for refugees. It’s truly inspiring to see how much we can do when we come together to make a positive difference.
Digital world
Repertoire: In a recent Lodis Forum piece, you said, “We’ve become a medical device company through our digital diagnostics and digital imaging. And now, we are moving forward into the real-time locating system hardware/software space to track efficiency in medical office buildings and hospitals.” Have your expectations of distributor reps changed as Midmark has made these changes? If so, how?
Anne Eiting Klamar: The healthcare industry has changed so much over the years, and has therefore changed the expectations of the distributor reps. Our distributors play a prominent role, and their functionality has remained of high value to Midmark. The goal would be for distribution to change along with, or ahead of, the industry. An example of this is our focus on dental health and its impact on overall health, or the evolving role of retail clinics.
Also, GPOs and IDNs have become more prominent in healthcare, creating more complex relationships between manufacturers, distributors and healthcare providers. With this complexity comes an even greater need for distributor reps to be knowledgeable about their product offerings and beyond.
With RTLS, we are continuing our transformation of healthcare experiences through clinical workflow data and analytics. Having the ability to track assets, staff and patients throughout healthcare facilities gives customers insight into how their practice performs. This has never been visible previously and helps create and maintain the most efficient and effective medical facilities, which is good for all involved.
Work as learning opportunity
Repertoire: In the Kellogg School of Business piece, you said about Midmark, “We challenge people to look back at their career in our company as one of the best learning opportunities of their lives.” How does a company instill that kind of culture among the people who work there?
Anne Eiting Klamar: At Midmark, we want to ensure that every single person has the opportunity to reach their greatest potential. That’s why it is so important for us to prioritize education and philanthropy in our core values. We strive to help each of our teammates grow, learn and develop new skills that will enable them to excel inside and outside their jobs.
Our goal is that everyone who works for us has access to the tools and guidance necessary to discover and live out their destiny. We offer tuition reimbursement for teammates and even board members who want to further their professional development.
Repertoire: You also said that succession planning is something “nobody wants to think about, but everyone has to do.” What are the most important keys to successful succession planning?
Anne Eiting Klamar: The worst succession plan is no succession plan. We view succession planning as a critical element of our business success. One component is education, identifying the best person to fill a role when it becomes vacant and preparing today’s teammates to be tomorrow’s leaders. Another component is dialogue. Some conversations are not easy to have when it comes to filling new roles, especially when there is a mismatch in perceived strengths and talents.
Professional Women in Healthcare
Repertoire: You have been active in Professional Women in Healthcare (PWH) since its inception. What makes you optimistic about the role of women in healthcare?
Anne Eiting Klamar: I am proud to be a co-founder and advisor for Professional Women in Healthcare. In the early 2000s, the need for change in the industry was recognized. With over half of medical student and dental student applicants being women, we needed to help the industry reflect our customer base, whether through PWH or another means. With the help of some great female leaders in the industry, we established PWH in 2004, and it has since grown to nearly 800 members, both women and men, creating leaders in our industry.
Watching young women – the next generation of industry leaders – develop their skills is joyful and hopeful. These women are participating on committees, in chair roles, and vice-chair roles. They are genuinely interested in their own leadership development, whereas 20 years ago, it was “heads down.” Women and men, our members and associate members, are leading the industry and continuing to grow both personally and professionally. I am so proud of them.
World view
Repertoire: Are you still an active member the World Economic Forum? Why did you get involved? What has the experience taught you?
Anne Eiting Klamar: I attended the World Economic Forum several years ago but am no longer a member. What I can share is something I’m very passionate about – my commitment to World Vision. My husband, Rob, and I are part of the National Leaders Council of World Vision, because we believe in the sustainability and scalability of the World Vision model. We are also the co-chairs of the Maternal/Child Health Sector at World Vision U.S. Through this organization, I am working with some of the most amazing people I have ever met that are committed to moving people out of extreme poverty.
Companies should know that they can create a greater good serving the needs of the world in different ways, from blood drives to giving back to those who are in extreme poverty. Imagine having no healthcare, no electricity, no access to clean water, and earning 14 cents a day while needing to feed your children. The people we work with at World Vision are passionate about healthcare and clean water because bad water usually means poor healthcare and even death.
Rob and I are looking forward to another trip with World Vision in the summer of 2023, when we’ll go to Zambia with a sense of purpose in an area of extreme poverty, doing what we can through World Vision to make a difference. It is truly a humbling experience, and we are both very passionate about it.
Repertoire: What lessons – if any – can U.S. healthcare providers learn from peers in other countries, even countries that we consider “underdeveloped?”
Anne Eiting Klamar: We can sometimes learn lessons from underdeveloped countries and also be grateful for what we have here in the U.S. For example, Zambia has the most dedicated people in healthcare I’ve ever met. They live in clinics in remote rural areas and care for patients 24 hours a day/ 365 days a year. They have no clean water, they may have an exam table, they may have a few simple diagnostics, yet they work around the clock to provide the best care possible. Imagine trying to deliver a baby on a dirt floor by flashlight.
We have advanced technology but can still learn the importance of good care and education. A group of medical students traveled to Kenya via an Ohio State scholarship to observe and work in a rural medical clinic. While there, the person in charge came down with severe malaria and the internet went down, among other significant challenges. These seven students were forced to take control of the clinic, performing small surgeries and delivering babies. They even had to go out and find bananas for a patient in need of potassium, calculating how often the patient needed to eat a banana to keep his potassium levels high enough.
The students were amazing! They came home saying they would have never had that experience in the U.S. and that they had confidence in themselves now because they had to figure out things on their own. And they did. What a win-win.
Sidebar:
Cindy Juhas on Anne Eiting Klamar
Cindy Juhas, chief strategy officer for CME Corp., met Anne Eiting Klamar at a HIDA Executive Conference the year the latter became president and CEO of Midmark.
- We met at the opening luncheon and had lunch together. This was the infamous day that Anne asked me point-blank, ‘Where are all the women?’ I said that some were there but they all seemed to be in their rooms working! She said that we needed to change the fact that we were underrepresented at these major events, and PWH [Professional Women in Healthcare] was born. She helped make a safe place and a learning place for women executives within our industry.
- Anne is one of the most collaborative leaders I have ever met. She listens, asks great questions, and leads the discussion to bring consensus in the end. Everyone feels like they won at the end of any group session I have had with Anne. She taught me a lot when she led PWH those first few years. I think of Anne all the time when I am leading any team.
- Anne has always harped about planning your future. Too often, we forget to plan that last leg of our career. Figuring out what you love and are passionate about is one aspect when thinking about that last chapter, but also succession planning. That is not always something we businesspeople think about, but in her mind, it is very important. I believe it now myself and am figuring it all out. Anne helped me get there, for sure.
Jon Wells on Anne Eiting Klamar
Midmark President and CEO Jon Wells first met Anne Eiting Klamar in 2000, when he was a product manager and she was recently appointed president and CEO. He offered these observations about her:
- Anne has incredible empathy for the business and our people, which has been reaffirmed since the beginning. She has a keen awareness that for the company to be successful and profitable, people need to be cared for. Anne has reinforced and strengthened our culture to support our teammates. Through her leadership, she created a trusting environment where everyone feels valued and respected, and she encourages teammates to reach their full potential. In her words, to be more than they ever thought they could be.
- Anne never settles. She consistently shows a desire to get better. She is a leader who is not afraid to change to improve. Anne firmly believes that you can’t be complacent and grow the business. Perhaps most important, Anne has focused on building a positive work culture and inspiring others to achieve new heights.
- Anne genuinely cares for and wants to help others. First and foremost, she deeply cares about her family. And she has a tremendous desire to make a positive difference in the world. Her philanthropic work provides a great example of servant leadership. She values the importance of giving back and she does so in a variety of ways. She is actively involved in several organizations that work to support those who are less fortunate, both domestically and abroad, supporting healthcare initiatives that provide access to quality healthcare. Her commitment to philanthropy is an example of what can be achieved when we use our time, energy, and resources for the betterment of others. For that, she will always be admired and respected.
- Anne strongly supports our customers and has been instrumental in building relationships in our industry. Through her leadership as the co-founder of Professional Women in Healthcare (PWH), she is dedicated to helping women further their careers and has been a mentor to many. We are in an exceptional industry, and it didn’t happen by chance. It happened through hard work and deep relationships, always working on getting better, caring for others and building relationships to ensure we have a successful future.