The 10 Most Inspiring CEOs in Business
Healthcare and technology service providers now have to consider every aspect of the business, from new business models to changing buyer behavior to rapidly evolving digital technology. Technology expenditure is becoming more widely distributed, and company executives looking to advance digital initiatives are driving it more and more. Technology vendors must alter to meet the demands of the market. Although he holds these positions, Brent Kruel, the founder and CEO of BioFunctional Health Solutions, spends the majority of his time developing and implementing technology-enabled health and wellness solutions. Brent readily admits that his official training and work in healthcare management have given him a special aptitude for finding the best health and wellness goods and services. Brent is passionate about technology, has extensive experience in it over the past three decades, and knows how to operationalize solutions into the lives of just about anyone.
The Journey of Transformation
Brent was a standout wrestler and track athlete in high school and declined college scholarships to join the Air Force. Brent served in the military as a combat communications specialist and finished his first combat deployment during Operation Uphold Freedom in Haiti. Brent has a foundation for success when using technology to improve health and wellness because to his exposure to the most cutting-edge computer and communications technology while he was in the military. He was chosen to attend the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) in Colorado Springs, where he distinguished himself by winning the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Student Athlete of the Year award three times and becoming a “Distinguished Graduate,” the highest honor given to students who graduate from service academies. During jump qualification training, Brent broke his spine, which served as a formative event in the growth of his love for health and wellness. His injuries put his Air Force career as well as his performance on the track, where he was rated nationally in the 800 meters, in jeopardy. Being selected as the top Information Systems Officer of the Year out of 23,000 officers after being commissioned as an Air Force medical officer, Brent furthered his accomplishments. Brent was also chosen to serve as the largest VA/DoD hospital in Las Vegas, Nevada, as the youngest and lowest ranking Chief Information Officer (CIO) in the Air Force. He was also selected to manage the largest hospital in Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom, his second combat tour. Brent separated from the Air Force in 2007 and embarked on his commercial health and wellness career as a corporate executive in a variety of healthcare and technology settings.
Empowering Health and Wellness Sector
BHS is a pioneer in using health and wellness to develop the most productive workforce possible. By doing this, it fosters unrivaled commitment from workers, improving retention and fostering more vibrant business cultures.
BHS uses a tried-and-true, patented strategy to integrate the top health and wellness solutions, enabling a tailored (customized) approach to meet each employee where they are. Its highly skilled and motivated registered nurses are BHS’ secret weapon. BHS nurses are specialists in health and wellness, and they build relationships with the employees of its clients, leading to successful lifestyle modifications that make the staff members healthier and happier.
An Organized Management Approach
BHS is and will always be a flat organization of seasoned and successful healthcare professionals. The company fosters a culture that values each individual’s contributions and recognizes that each person has different talents and motivations. The leadership model Brent uses personally is one he learned at the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA):
- Expectations – clearly define success in a role;
- Skills – assure that employees have the skills (hard and soft) to succeed at the expectations;
- Feedback – provide timely feedback when things go well and when they don’t;
- Consequences – both positive and negative to reinforce meeting and exceeding expectations; and
- Growth – be deliberate about creating opportunities for growth that match an individual’s personal goals.
Challenges of Success Road
With all the challenges he has encountered throughout his career, Brent could write a book. However, he believes that, in general, it is crucial how one responds to challenges that decides the future of one’s career and organization. Brent’s career was derailed personally by a problematic partnership, a poisonous work environment created by superiors, and CEO nepotism. He asserts, “I have learned what not to do or be as a result of many bad players and poor leadership examples in my career. In regards to BHS, we were hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and State-level quarantines and onsite employer shutdowns.”
The onsite approach for BHS’ services is where they work best, and in just three months in 2020, 80% of its clients had stopped services due to government required shutdowns. To ensure their future sustainability and production, many have returned, and a large number have relocated operations close to or offshore. The management at BHS discovered how to adjust and concentrate on its primary competitive advantage: forging strategic alliances with top suppliers of health and wellness technology. Brent states, “We then did what nobody else has done and tied the best technology-enabled solutions together into a TOTAL health and wellness solution.” This has stimulated unprecedented growth for the company and propelled us way beyond our pre-pandemic customer base. We now serve tens of thousands of U.S. employees in over 15 States and growing exponentially. At the time of writing this article BHS is onboarding seven new nurses in four states to service three new Fortune 500 customers.
Books for Self Growth
Brent considers that he was fortunate to be a direct student of Dr. Stephen Covey on the 7 Habits of Effective People and although he has read well over a hundred healthcare and business leadership books, this has by far been the most impactful. On healthcare, The Way Out of This Mess: Transparent Price Competition in U.S. Health Care by Sam Kellerhals is an insightful book highlighting the challenge of value shopping for healthcare in the U.S. without price or quality transparency.
Vision for Future
According to Brent, the health of the musculoskeletal system (MSK) will have the greatest impact. In the United States, MSKs account for almost 50% of healthcare spending, and the outcomes are unacceptably poor. The bulk of MSK care is intrusive, costly, and ineffective (surgeries). According to him, the focus on technology-enabled wellness solutions to develop better lifestyles and prevent MSKs from creating chronic pain is the most significant advancement in the healthcare process, not a reliance on innovation in healthcare.
BHS is a pioneer in its approach to wellness, seeing each person as a unique individual in need of a personal health and wellbeing plan to achieve their objectives. At a high level, the TOTAL wellness approach is:
- Resolve pain – acute and chronic pain is caused by MSKs or cancer. BHS can resolve MSKs through a combination of its proprietary hands-on functional occupational massage, patented 3D mobility health assessment, and customized self-treatment options;
- Establish the mindset for wellness – a preventative and restorative process for creating a sound foundation for mental and physical health.
- Nutrition – BHS doesn’t suggest dieting; it educates and operationalizes healthy choices leading to metabolic flexibility and achieving goals.
- Activity – this looks different for all ages, skill levels, and personalities. BHS helps everyone achieve more than they were and more than they thought possible.
Message
“If I were to pick just one attribute, I believe critical of a successful leader it would be empathy. Leaders are only successful through the efforts and accomplishments of their teams and if a leader is unable to care for and nurture that team than any individual success will be temporary.”– Brent Kruel
Website: www.biofunctionalhealth.com
