AAMI Leader Paves the Way for Consensus, Growth
If you get an e-mail from Mike Miller in the middle of the night, don’t assume he’s several time zones away. Chances are he’s burning the midnight oil, unable to break away from the job he has dedicated himself to for nearly 40 years.
Miller, who has served as AAMI’s CEO since 1969, honed his famous work ethic in his early days at AAMI, when he essentially ran the organization as a one-man band.
“My first couple of years on the job, I had a secretary and a part-time bookkeeper, and that was it,” Miller recalls. “A typical day for me was working on the AAMI newsletter, developing legislative and regulatory communications, planning the AAMI Annual Conference, planning and managing electrical safety workshops, and doing some standards work. I also engaged in some financial management, but since AAMI didn’t have much money back then, it didn’t take up much of my time.”
Have times changed. Over the last four decades, under Miller’s leadership, AAMI has grown into a thriving association a successful alliance of nearly 6,000 diverse members united by a common goal to increase the understanding and beneficial use of medical instrumentation.
Today, Miller oversees a staff of 35 who manage AAMI programs and membership services that have blossomed under his leadership. He also enjoys the support of an 18-member Board of Directors, and the commitment of dozens of dedicated professionals in the medical technology industry who volunteer their time and resources.
Miller is quick to deflect the credit for AAMI’s success away from himself and toward AAMI’s staff, leadership, and volunteers.“The truth is, he really enjoys operating in the background,” says Marcy Petrini, PhD, associate professor with the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s Division of Pulmonary and Critical Care and member of AAMI’s Board of Directors.
As Miller puts it, “my role has often been just getting out of the way of talented staff and leadership, and helping to provide the resources and processes they need to get their work done.” But don’t let his self-effacing character fool you.
“Mike is quietly, and justifiably, proud of his accomplishments,” says Bob Stiefel, CCE, clinical engineering director at the University of Maryland Medical Center and chair of AAMI Board of Directors.
“I remember Mike telling me when he was growing up in West Virginia, he had to take violin lessons. An uncle made him a violin. Mike was so embarrassed by this that he made his kid sister carry the violin to school. So we’re not talking about a guy who has no pride,” Stiefel jokes.
Decision Day
When Miller interviewed for the position with AAMI in 1969, he had some association management work under his belt, as well as a law degree.
“I applied for the position and was interviewed by a very prestigious committee of AAMI founders,” he recalls.“The funny thing is, I had actually already accepted another position, but Dr. Dwight Harken called and talked me into taking the AAMI position. He was just such a dynamic person, I just couldn’t say no.
“And the experience over the years has been amazing. It has brought me into contact with legendary leaders in medicine, nursing, industry, and government. Where else could I have helped make important things happen and make contacts with people like that?”
But just how does someone remain in a position like Miller’s—and remain so effective in it—for so many years?
Boston Scientific founder John Abele — one of the AAMI pioneers who interviewed Miller for the AAMI position — has an idea. “Mike is a professional. Being able to deal with world-famous surgeons; and then switch to pathologists, gynecologists, anesthesiologists, bioengineers, BMETs, and many others, required the humble confidence that only true statesmen have. Mike has always been able to connect across these many different, and sometimes feuding, factions.”
Abele jokes that he and Miller are the “Dick Clarks” of AAMI, sharing the distinction of being with the organization for nearly 40 years.
Ed Duffie, a retired pediatric cardiologist who spent 12 years on AAMI’s Board of Directors, adds that Miller has always had a steady hand in dealing with people. “In observing Mike during my time as a part of AAMI’s leadership, I would call him ‘unflappable.’ He was always steady. Even if beneath the surface he was boiling mad, he wouldn’t show it.”
Betsy Bridgman, a longtime executive vice president at AAMI, attributes Miller’s longevity to his skills as a consensus builder. “Mike always finds the bright side of any apparent calamity. And he has avoided becoming a lightning rod, which can bring about the downfall of a CEO. AAMI is founded on principles of consensus, and Mike is the consummate consensus builder.”
And while Bridgman acknowledges that Miller prefers to operate in the background, she notes that he is “a strong, respected leader for staff — someone we all rely on as a compass to make sure we’re moving in the right direction.”
But in traditional fashion, Miller deflects AAMI’s success back on others. “AAMI has been blessed with great staff and volunteer leaders who have contributed greatly to medical device standards development; standards-based educational programs; and medical technology management forums, education, and recognition programs,” he says. “I only stick my head up when there is some good reason to. Rarely is there something I need to say that a staff person or an AAMI leader can’t say better.”
When not focused on AAMI business, Miller likes to spend time with his five grandchildren and three great grandchildren. And despite his crowded schedule, he somehow finds time to maintain an extensive genealogy record system — tracing several lines of his family back to the 12th century — and to dabble in both the real estate and oil industries. And if that weren’t enough, Miller is an avid reader, polishing off at least a book or two per week.
Burt Dodson, a pioneer in the BMET field who wrote the first BMET certification exam, sums up Miller’s career by reminding us “just how unique Mike’s track record with AAMI is in our world full of change.”
However Mike Miller has managed to remain the heartbeat of AAMI for nearly 40 years and one thing is clear. Had Dwight Harken not been successful in convincing him to take the position back in 1969, AAMI would be a very different organization today.
AAMI News: March 2007, Vol. 42, No. 3