#19 Michael Novakavich

Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast with Paul Casey

A couple fun facts about Michael is that he hates the sound of quitting and he’s a rock n roll drummer, being in a band since he was 15. He started working when he was 10 yrs old for his father’s family business. He was the only 10-year-old that he knew that had a paycheck and business cards. Early on in life his father instilled in him a strong work ethic and imparted to him that no one is going to hand you anything; you must go out and get it. He worked all positions in the family’s communications support company. He later went on to manage all positions and then became CEO of the company. He transitioned the company before leaving to a marketing company. He then took a position at the Tri-Cities Cancer Center that he was qualified for, but it wasn’t what he wanted to do. He requested a position be created for him on the senior leadership team, and, given his past performance, it came to fruition. His marketing background was a huge asset to TCCC, and as a result there was a 54% growth in patients in a 4-month period. His advice to the listeners is be bold, be confident, be courageous, do the work and make your way! Why not you? His advice to his 20-year-old self would be 3 things: invest early, surround yourself with influencers and network and volunteer in your community. Through his volunteerism he met Tim Doyle and Jennifer Tuttle. Both of these relationships were built through volunteerism, and when he was vetting the TCCC, he called upon Tim Doyle who was a board member and was already in his network. Jennifer had just left her position as the foundation director and Michael was able to reach out to her as well. Relationship building is a strength of his as well as vision, looking at the big picture and strategizing. He is not afraid of risk and often surrounds himself with people who challenge him. As a TC Influencer he errs on the side of action to avoid analysis paralysis. He is an early morning guy! He and his wife, Shannon, start out their day every morning at 4:00am. They have 2 boxers that they walk with every morning after having their Americanos, it’s a great time for them to pray, talk,and envision goals. He then makes another Americano, starts answering and sending emails. He will also find the most challenging thing he has for the day and does that first. He stays out of ruts by utilizing the energy God has blessed him with. In a conversation with the interim CEO of the TCCC he learned how to stay out of ruts, which is to always be innovating and creating. Michael believes his greatest challenges as a leader are finding ways to stay fresh while innovating and managing expectations. The challenge is getting staff to remember the yes’s to projects and not just hearing the no’s. Managing expectations takes good communication. Failure is just an opportunity to grow your skill set and add tools to your tool box. There are two ways he explains failure to his team: it’s either an expense that he and the team member are frustrated with, or they can look at it as an investment in their future. As a leader in the Tri Cities we are uniquely positioned in authority and in our networks. We have access to resources that other people don’t. He volunteers for the Kennewick School District, Tri-tech, church, Back the Blue law enforcement appreciation and he plugs into a lot of one on one endeavors. You can reach Michael on LinkedIn or email him at [e-mail]