Meet Michael Alvarez | Business Strategist, Founder, Educator, Executive Leader, Innovator/Originator, and Personal Advisor/Coach.

We had the good fortune of connecting with Michael Alvarez and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Michael, we’d love to hear about how you approach risk and risk-taking

There is song by Kenny Rogers, called “The Gambler”. I heard this as a teenager, and have loved song-writers throughout my life. One refrain says “You’ve got to know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, know when to run. You never count your money, when your sitting at the table, there will be time enough to count up, when the dealing is done”. I love its succinctness and clarity – explaining (metaphorically) that in life, we all have to assess our ‘hand’ (situation), and do the best we can with the situation we are in to try to make it a winner. The proper amount of investment (i.e., time, money, and/or energy) that is worth expending must be carefully calculated.

“Risk tolerance” is a phrase all will hear in business school, typically in a class called “Decision Analysis” (or similar). This mathematical approach and methodology to filter for the (statistically) most likely outcome offers a decent guide but is not fool-proof. Personal tolerance for risk varies, based on numerous factors. I believe it is good to delve into and understand with keen self-awareness one’s own degree of risk tolerance, and base decisions accordingly. I have taken calculated risks throughout my life, ranging from financial investments to career decisions. Risk taking has played a significant role in my life. Sourcing input from wise persons is the best way to mitigate risk.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

I got interested in playing guitar and singing when I was about 17. At times throughout my life I’ve played regularly, and there have been long stretches where I haven’t played
at all. Sports and music have been passions of mine since an early age and were both
nurturing and formative activities in my early career. Teaching, educating, sharing
knowledge, enjoying the process of imparting skills as a coach in athletics, as a
consultant in business, encouraging and supporting people and organizations as they
grow into new levels of capability. These are the things that have been consistently at

the core as I have advanced progressively through different jobs and roles throughout
my career. It stands to reason, since these are things that ultimately provide for me the
greatest sense of satisfaction and reward. When devoted to this and applying
this type of effort, it always feels worth it.
As a relevant case in point of calculating risk in my life and career, I left NYC in 1997 to
found and direct the first-of-its-kind center for professional development and industry
relations at a top-flight academic medical center (i.e. no other institution had such a
center). My task was to develop and install this new Center, designing, developing, and
launching a new model for academic medical institutions to improve their approach to
training such that trainees and faculty would become more exposed and better prepared
to enter careers in industry, consulting, finance, banking, media and journalism,
government, and entrepreneurship. I did so successfully, and this University of
California San Francisco model remains the 'gold standard' to this day.
I have adapted and translated this model to other institutions and find it rewarding to
advise and consult on the processes and strategies for institutions to do so successfully.
I am very glad for my decision to depart from a lucrative career with a top consulting
firm in NYC for this UCSF opportunity, largely for the degree of personal reward and
satisfaction that I (correctly) anticipated would come from this unique opportunity to lead
and direct such a meaningful transformation in medical education. Seeing the way that
these centers are positively impacting the biomedical training experience, increasing
innovation and entrepreneurial outputs from academic medical institutions, and
enhancing the continual career progression of physicians and researchers is truly
gratifying.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
SF Bay Area is magnificent, and I have hosted many historical and life-science focused tours for visiting cohorts from abroad. No matter the time of the year, I would take them to the Top of the Mark restaurant (atop the Mark Hopkins Hotel) for a ‘birds eye view’. Depending on the season (time of the year), I would arrange a trek on the Bay by boat, with several ports of call. And/or design a more terrestrial trip through the multiple (a) cultural, (b) gastronomical, (c) technological, and (d) historical points of interest.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
At Boston College I had many great teachers. One in particular I would like to recognize is Rod Buttry, a hall of fame wrestling coach who was a great mentor to me and many others in sports and life. Early in my business career I had tremendous support from Marty Borell, (at Accenture) a great business strategist who always provided those on his teams and our clients the guidance and support necessary to exceed expectations for ourselves. Clifford Attkisson recruited me from Accenture to University of California San Francisco, and I probably learned more from him in three years than many people might ordinarily learn in ten.  This is a credit to him and his wise and generous nature. John Pringle (School of Medicine at Stanford), Nandini Tandon (venture capitalist), Jeff Peterson (CEO, various companies), Nola Masterson (biotech investor and maven), many college classmates and friends, my family, and countless others have all helped me immeasurably along the way.  They are all greatly appreciated and deserve a whole lot of credit.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikealvarez1/

Image Credits
Michael Alvarez