WashingtonExec recently had a chance to interview Michael Whitecar. Whitecar is currently the President & CEO at The Chief Information Group, Inc, a global information management consulting company. Before entering the corporate sector, Whitecar served in the United States Navy as a Medical Service Corps officer retiring as a Lieutenant Commander. He has extensive knowledge of healthcare, government and business. Whitecar spoke to WashingtonExec about his views on ObamaCare, government and cybersecurity.
WashintonExec: What are your thoughts about the controversy surrounding ObamaCare?
Mike Whitecar: Since I have retired from the military I am now able to take a position based on what I believe vice the requirement to follow our Commander in Chief regardless of their party affiliations. Thus, I can proudly say I come from the beliefs and ideologies leaning towards the right. So, if you ask a typical republican about ObamaCare, everything is wrong with it.
To start, the bill is obviously controversial or it wouldn’t be challenged in many state and now supreme courts. For me, I think it is the way the bill was created and the way there are ear marks “hidden” within the bill that have nothing, to do with healthcare. In fact, I understand the bill contains so many pages, not every elected politician who voted on the bill fully understand what its contents are, yet we rushed into passing a law without even reading the fine print. If our politicians and president are not reading the small print, no wonder our Congress has the lowest approval rating ever and the President’s continue to decline as well.
Personally, I don’t think every American should be forced to have medical insurance or be penalized. This is a personal choice and I do feel it is unconstitutional.
WashingtonExec: You have quite an impressive resume, what job throughout your career did you learn the most about yourself at?
Mike Whitecar: The remarkable journey I have been on since I started the company has been the ultimate learning experience about me. For starters, when people see me, they no longer automatically size me up (to a point). They don’t look at my shoulder boards to see how senior of an officer I am, they don’t look at my ribbons on my chest to determine where I have been in the military and what I have learned, and they don’t look at my uniform and automatically make assumptions. This is a big change for me. For twenty years I have been told what to do and how to do it. Now that I am a CEO of my own company, I am free to do whatever I want. This is a little scary but at the same time a wonderful feeling that I never had.
Since I started the company I have been learning more what a manager is, how a leader should lead, and how I show up to my fellow employees, our customers, and the rest of the world. Thus, these past five years have been the most remarkable times for me because I have learned who I am, what makes me tick, and how I think.
WashingtonExec: IT technology systems are essential for government industries to succeed. What do you think is the best strategy to combat cyber security threats to current operating systems?
Mike Whitecar: This question triggers a very passionate side of me; and it is not necessarily directly related to cyber security but what the overall best “strategy” is to execute by our government. The key here is training, experience, and being open to doing things differently.
From my experience in the military, specifically medicine, I believe the essential ingredients of any cyber security strategy is to first position qualified individuals, senior or junior in rank, into a position whereby they have past experience, understand human interaction with IM/IT, and understand how to lead and manage IT troops. I give our government a D+ in this category. While I am sure we can single out some government agencies that have recognized IM/IT as a valuable resource to combating cyber security, for the most part this is not common practice throughout.
Second, we need to start with changing paradigms. For the most part IM/IT is still relatively in its adolescent stages. The “techies” still own the keys to the kingdom and have guided the rest of the world on how to think in their eyes too. When it comes to cyber security, if the techie had complete control they would lock everything down. For example, in military medicine doctors couldn’t search for the word “breast” because someone in the IT department thought that word was derogatory.
Third, I would like to address “openness.” The government insists on staying with operating systems that receive security updates almost daily. Whereby, other known operating systems are proven to be more secure than others. In fact, security software for these operating systems doesn’t exist.
To summarize, in order to initially address our cyber security challenges, we need to fundamentally change the way we think, act, and respond to possible security events. We need to take the IM/IT leadership positions more serious, challenge our beliefs and paradigms, and be able to color outside of the lines. If we don’t, our adversaries will continue to hit us in our blind spots.
WashintonExec: Healthcare in this country has always been a hot-button issue. If you had the power to change anything about our current healthcare system in this country, what would you change?
Mike Whitecar: If I had the power to change anything it would be the medical insurance industry and the incentives they and the government provide to health organizations. This is also true for those incentives provided by government institutions. First, I am not a fan of monetary incentives to improve the delivery of healthcare. It is my understanding as a healthcare provider a Hippocratic Oath is taken and specifically in today’s modern version the contents of such oath include: “I will remember that I remain a member of society with special obligations to all my fellow human beings, those sound of mind and body as well as the infirm.” Based on this oath, I do not understand why the healthcare profession needs to be financially incentivized to practice medicine. The second thing I would change relative to the insurance industry is the standards that everyone is associated with when pursuing healthcare of any magnitude. Let me provide an example.
When I returned to society as a non-military member, I am required to adjust, like every other retiree, to my new surroundings. I found myself in position of not understanding how to balance who I am. I determined it was best for me to seek help. So I turned to a social worker who would provide me a toolbox with new life tools. The social worker provided me with these tools. Since my visits to the social worker, I feel better and learned a great deal more of myself that was covered during my military experience, and have used the tools successfully.
As a company owner, I am required to protect myself and family in the case of unforeseen events such as death. To support this requirement, I executed what is called a “Buy/Sell Agreement” that provides financial aid to my family. To fund the agreement, I turned to a high amount of life insurance.
Based on my submission, to my surprise I was turned down for insurance. Whereas a friend of mine from another company with the same requirements has become increasingly over weight and recently received a call from his doctor stating he is headed for a heart attack. However, he received a $1,000,000 policy in no time. Me on the other hand, because I went to a social worker to balance and understand my life, I was turned down.
So I find it interesting and disturbing that we frown upon members of our society who grossly neglect their bodies or mind, yet for those that do seek the help to improve themselves are denied insurance coverage. Later, I learned next time I apply, I should state I went to a “Life Coach” vice a “Social Worker.”
WashingtonExec: What’s the best advice you have ever received?
Mike Whitecar: I have sought and received so much advice during my career that it’s hard to pull out just one. So I will share with you my life advice and one I received just yesterday. First, I have lived by the following:
- My mother always said “…maybe it’s meant to be.”
- My father always said “…we will always look back and laugh.”
- My step-father always said “…it is always gets better the next day.”
- My grandfather said “…no matter how much it’s HER fault, take the blame.”
- My Captain on the submarine said “…don’t blame, fix.”
And most recently, from a CEO peer, I learned that E + R = O. Whereby E = events, R = response, and O = outcome. I learned that I have no control over life’s events, but I do have control over my response and to some degree I have control over the outcome or at least much more control or less based on my response.