IAM657- Refractive Surgeon Performs Vision Correction Procedures

Michael Cornell, M.D. is board-certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology. Dr. Cornell is among the most experienced refractive surgeons in the United States, having performed over 33,000 LASIK vision correction procedures. He is dedicated to giving each patient the very best care and uses caution to ensure each of his patients is comfortable prior to and during the procedure.

Dr. Cornell retired from the US Army as a Colonel after 22 years. Most of his free time is spent with family, playing golf, snow skiing, and biking.

• CEO Hack: Taking good care of our eyes and parents
• CEO Nugget: Working with intellectual honesty
• CEO Defined: Taking ownership of what we do, developing relationships and trust

Website: https://www.lasikplus.com/eye-care-team/lasik-doctor-michael-cornell/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LasikPlus/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lasikplus/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/lasikplus
Twitter: https://twitter.com/lasikplus
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/lca-vision/

Check out one of our favorite CEO Hack’s Audible. Get your free audiobook and check out more of our favorite CEO Hacks HERE

Transcription:

The full transcription is only available to CBNation Library Members. Sign up today!

Intro 0:02

Do you want to learn effective ways to build relationships, generate sales, and grow your business from successful entrepreneurs, startups, and CEOs without listening to a long, long, long interview? If so, you've come to the right place. Gresham Harkless values your time and is ready to share with you precisely the information you're in search of. This is the I AM CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 0:29

Hello. Hello. Hello. This is Gresh from the I AM CEO podcast and I have a very special guest on the show today. I have Dr. Michael Cornell of LasikPlus. Dr. Michael, it's awesome to have you on a show.

Dr. Michael Cornell 0:40

Nice to be here. Thank you very much.

Gresham Harkless 0:42

No problem. Super excited to have you on and before we jump in. I want to read a little bit more about Dr. Michael so you can hear about all the awesome things that he's doing. And Dr. Michael Cornell is board-certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology. Dr. Cornell is among the most experienced refractive surgeons in the United States having performed over 33,000 LASIK vision corrective procedures is dedicated to giving each patient the very best care and uses caution to ensure each of his patients is comfortable prior to enduring the procedure. Dr. Cornell retired from the US Army as a colonel after 22 years, thank you for your service. And most of his free time is spent with family playing golf, snow skiing, or biking. Dr. Michael, are you ready to speak to the I AM CEO community?

[restrict paid=”true”]

Dr. Michael Cornell 1:28

I am. Yes, sir.

Gresham Harkless 1:30

Awesome. Let's do it. So to kick everything off, I want to hear a little bit more about your story what led you to kind of your current spot, and all the awesome things that you're doing.

Dr. Michael Cornell 1:39

Well, after high school, I went to Panhandle State College, which was an A&M college in western Oklahoma. And that was during the Vietnam era. And ROTC was mandatory for the first couple of years. And then got married, went back to start my junior year and one of the recruiters looked me up and said, Cornell, I know you want to go to medical school. And if you sign up for Army ROTC, the army will send you. So I was a poor student at that time. So it sounded like a pretty good deal for me. So 22 years later, after the army trained me, I moved around the country. I was able to retire as a full Colonel, as you said.

Gresham Harkless 2:28

Well, I definitely appreciate that. And I think there's so many times, we have like opportunities that we want to try to take advantage of. And you never know when they come. But I think whenever you have that opportunity to jump on something and jump on that opportunity, you have to be able to kind of eventually be able to see the world and we get of course, your education to be able to be that doctor that you are now is best to kind of take advantage of it when you can right.

Dr. Michael Cornell 2:52

I was really fortunate that Sammy Sosa used to say that baseball was good to me. Certainly, the army was very good to me, it provided excellent training and experience. And I wouldn't trade that time in the army for anything.

Gresham Harkless 3:06

Yeah, absolutely. It makes so much sense it. And so I guess I wanted to hear a little bit more about what you're doing now and how exactly, you're helping people, you know, through the services that you guys provide. But also, even if you want to attach to one like how you might feel like the army has, helped you as a professional as a business leader as well.

Dr. Michael Cornell 3:28

Right. Well, certainly the experience that I had, and in ROTC and then in the military was very good to demonstrate how important teamwork was and being able to trust the other individuals that you're working with. And certainly, I've applied that to my experience with medical care, in particular, in the operating room, when we're taking care of patients, patients, there are a lot of people that are involved in getting patients ready for a surgical procedure.

And so we have to rely on each person on that team to provide the best care that we can. Learning how important completing the mission was in the military certainly is carried over with our mission, which is to provide the best care that we can for patients, but in a setting that really allows them to trust us. As you know, many times we come into a medical office, it may be for something that's an urgent need or an emergent need. And we have to trust the system to have the people in place to take care of us. And so for us to be able to reach out to those patients in a few minutes and demonstrate that they can trust us and that they can rely on us to give them the very best care that they need. It's really a neat challenge, but one that we all take very seriously.

Gresham Harkless 5:01

Yeah, that makes so much sense. I definitely appreciate you for breaking that down. Because I think so many times, we kind of forget those pieces and how each of those pieces is integral to being successful. And when I mean pieces, I mean, members of the team and things that are being done. Thanks. Sometimes we see the, I guess the the corrective procedure done. And we kind of said that the end game, but we don't see all the kind of pieces and places and things that were put in place to make that happen.

Dr. Michael Cornell 5:27

That's exactly right.

Gresham Harkless 5:29

Awesome. So I want to ask you now for what I call your secret sauce, and it can be for you personally, or for everything that you guys are doing. But what do you feel kind of sets you apart and makes you unique?

Dr. Michael Cornell 5:42

Well, again, the thing that I kind of touched on is patients get to a point where they're willing to invest some time in research on the choices that they have, as far as getting rid of their glasses or contact lenses. As they check out different offices there are many choices for them. And so as that patient comes into our office, each person on our team really takes it upon themselves to reach out to that person to make them feel comfortable. This is a life-changing decision. That one is elective, it's not something that they have to have. If you go into the emergency room with a tummy ache and you've got appendicitis, you don't have a choice as to whether you're going to have an appendectomy or not we've got those choices with our laser vision correction. And so as they come into the office, then we really want to make them feel comfortable, ensure that any questions that they have that they're answered honestly and fairly, and make them realize that we want the best outcome for them. And so providing that kind of information in developing that relationship, really builds the necessary trust, force them to complete the procedure and get the result that they're looking for.

Gresham Harkless 7:14

Yeah, absolutely. And I love that you guys are able to kind of understand, and you guys execute on the ability to showcase care, obviously during the operation, but even before the operation of being able to kind of put people at peace, as you said it's not something that is necessarily required that people have to do. So you just want to make sure that they're having the best experience. And that experience doesn't start right when they're, you know, starting the procedure starts long before that when I'm sure they're interacting with you guys understanding, asking questions, getting more clarity. And I think understanding that whole process and even the process probably after as well probably helps to make sure it's a better experience for them, but also for everybody else that they might know about to tell as well.

Dr. Michael Cornell 7:54

That's right. And as you know, in our business setting, word of mouth. marketing or advertising is critical. And for someone to come in and have a great experience like that, for them to share that with their family or friends really goes a long way in building your business that also then getting successful outcomes for those patients.

Gresham Harkless 8:23

Yes, absolutely. It's very, very important as well. So I wanted to switch gears a little bit. And I want to ask you for what I call a CEO hack. So that could be like an apple book or habit that you have. But what's something that makes you more effective and efficient?

Dr. Michael Cornell 8:38

One of the stories I'd like to tell is, that when I was growing up, my grandmother used to remind me that I should always wear a good pair of shoes, that they should be clean, and that they should be well polished. Well, by the same token, we really need to take care of ourselves, and in particular, our vision. The first thing when we wake up in the morning, we look at the clock or we look around to find our glasses or our shoes, we need that vision from the beginning of the day to the end of the day. And so taking good care of our eyes, and taking good care of our parents is a big part of what makes us successful in life and business.

Gresham Harkless 9:23

Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you for what I call a CEO nugget. So that could be like a word of wisdom or a piece of advice. Or if you can happen to a time machine. What would you tell your younger Ms. yourself?

Dr. Michael Cornell 9:38

Well, one of the things that I touched on a little bit was my military career. In the military, we talk about having a mission, we have an assignment. And to carry out that mission. We have to have good communication and teamwork to succeed at that mission and in our patient environment. We have to have a team that is focused on working together and looking after one another One of the things that really has been an important aspect of that, to me, is what I call intellectual honesty. When we're in the operating room, we're working with sterile instruments, we're performing a procedure that we want to see come to a successful end, without any complications. And so one of the things that's involved with that process is, if something happens, drop an instrument

Gresham Harkless 10:29

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. So now I wanted to ask you my absolute favorite question, which is the definition of what it means to be a quote-unquote, CEO. And we're all gonna have different “CEOs on the show.” So as a doctor, and, as a colonel as well, too, I wanted to ask you, Dr. Michael, what does being a CEO mean to you?

Dr. Michael Cornell 10:51

I'm not an owner. But one of the mantras that the company really embraces is for each employee to act as though they're an owner, and take ownership and what we do and how we do that, for me, I treat each patient, as you mentioned early on, is there a close family member or a close friend, and I demonstrate that with, as I shared earlier that, taking care of them, showing them personal attention, and concern. And then, as we're through the procedure, literally giving them my cell phone, my personal cell phone, and telling them that they have full ability to call or contact me by phone or text anytime they have an issue or question.

And for me, that encourages me, and some satisfaction, that if they do need to get in touch with me, they don't have to go around the bend, so to speak, but they can come directly to me. And I'd say, over many years of providing my cell phone number like that, I've never had anyone to abuse it, or take advantage of that opportunity. But they really know that they can reach out and get a hold of me if they need to. And that's really served me well. And developing relationships and trust that I mentioned to you earlier.

Gresham Harkless 12:28

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Well, Dr. Cornell truly appreciates that perspective. And I appreciate your time, even more. What I wanted to do was passionate the mic so to speak, just to see if there's anything additional, you want to let our readers and listeners know. And then of course, how best they can get a hold of you and find out about your team and all the awesome things you guys are working on.

Dr. Michael Cornell 12:45

Well, one of the things that that being a part of lazy classes allowed me to do, I retire from my private practice, oh, it's been three years ago now. So most of my professional time is dedicated to helping patients and lasikplus with their laser vision care. But with the spare time, I'll say that I have my wife and I have been able to give something back to the community so to speak. And part of that has been making a trip to the Yucatan, in particular, to a community called Vital Lead, which is just west of Cancun, two hours to provide medical care and surgical care for the mind, people are uninsured or have no access to health care whatsoever.

And that's been incredibly rewarding. over all these years of being an ophthalmologist, being in the military, and in private practice, I could develop lots of wonderful skills and abilities and be able to offer that back to a community that really has no access to care. And for many of the patients that we've seen this past year, it's not only blurred vision, that they have no vision, they are unable to do the work that they need to do, and if they're farmers or the women, if they're seamstress, or they weave or carve and to be able to do daily life. And so for us to be able to go into that community and to give back and provide some usable vision for these patients. It's really been a very neat experience and a very rewarding experience.

Gresham Harkless 14:45

Absolutely. If people want to get in touch with you, what's the best way for them to do that?

Dr. Michael Cornell 14:50

The easiest way is my cell phone 5035775 400 And then the office number is 5035987616 And then I still got an AOL account. So that's FMichael cornell@aol.com.

Gresham Harkless 15:12

Awesome. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you so much again, Dr. Cornell, we will have the links and information in the show notes and everybody can follow up with you. But I definitely appreciate, you know, all the awesome things that you guys are doing as well too, and being able to kind of travel and I feel like a true sign of impact is when you're able to kind of give your gifts, for the betterment of society and as you talked about how important no vision is and to be able to give that to people and be able to provide that as a truly phenomenal and a great reminder for us as well too. So definitely appreciate that and appreciate your time again, and hope you have a great rest of the day.

Outro 15:44

Thank you for listening to the I AM CEO Podcast powered by Blue 16 Media. Tune in next time and visit us at iamceo.co I AM CEO is not just a phrase, it's a community. Be sure to follow us on social media and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes Google Play and everywhere you listen to podcasts, SUBSCRIBE, and leave us a five-star rating grab CEO gear at www.ceogear.co. This has been the I AM CEO Podcast with Gresham Harkless. Thank you for listening.

[/restrict]