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Excellus BlueCross BlueShield was ranked No. 2 on the Forbes 2023 list of America’s Best Midsize Employers. remind myself of:

1,000 employers have been awarded, 500 large employers and 500 midsize employers. Midsize employers are companies with 1,000 to 5,000 employees.

Experts say, to learn to be less controlling, first figure out the reasons that drive it. When I admit to myself the reasons why, I don’t much like the answers. I’m not proud of myself.

Offering my advice to others makes me feel needed. It makes me feel important.

And I suppose I do have a need for perfectionism. Nobody else can get it right. I can only rely on myself. I can’t trust others to get it right.

Next, I need to become aware and accept that I’m not really helping others with my interfering behaviors. I need to ask myself “Is what I’m doing helping them? Or it is only confusing them more, not really helping to solve the problem?”

Then —and this is probably the key thing —I need to change the words I use. Learning to be less controlling requires different language. For example, when I met with a client who was reacting in incredibly wrong ways to her situation, I might say “Have you ever thought about other things you could do instead?” and get her to think through better ways to deal with it. And I would never say a word that was critical or judgmental about her poor judgment.

Or, I might say “What goes through your mind now, thinking about what you’ve just said?” to get her to think about a different perspective on her situation.

I haven’t been doing that lately. I need to change the words I use, to more gentle, caring words that get the other person to think about their as regional sales manager focused on retention and growth of key and strategic commercial accounts. situation and come up with ways of handling it differently.

I also need to change my own internal self-talk. I need to ask myself: “If I don’t give my advice, what’s the worst that could happen?” “What am I afraid will happen if I don’t control this situation or this person?” “Am I expecting the worst?” “What are the chances that the worst will really happen?” oratively with the entire orthopedic surgical team providing services at Community Memorial.”

I need to understand what it is I’m afraid of and determine if it’s realistic. Because often we exaggerate both how bad the outcome will be and how likely it is to happen. Sometimes bad things will happen and there’s little I can do about it. I need to frequently remind myself that controlling doesn’t work. That no one wants my advice. They have to figure it out for themselves. And I need to stay focused on the problems that are truly mine to solve. I need to remind myself I can only control myself and my behaviors. And that my way isn’t the only way. I will respect other people’s choices.

Barbara Pierce is a retired licensed clinical social worker with many years of experience helping people. If you would like to purchase a copy of her book, “When You Come to the Edge: Aging” or if you have questions for her, contact her at barbarapierce06@yahoo.com.

“We’re a top employer in America thanks to our employees, who take great pride in our culture of passionately serving our customers and fulfilling our mission of improving access, affordability and the quality of healthcare in the communities we serve,” said Excellus BCBS President and CEO Jim Reed.

The evaluation was based on direct and indirect recommendations from employees who were asked to rate their willingness to recommend their own employers to friends and family. Employee evaluations also included other employers in their respective industries that stood out either positively or negatively.

Lasher earned her Bachelor of Science degree in business administration from Utica College of Syracuse University and is a recognized certified community leader graduate from Leadership Greater Syracuse. Lasher also sits on the regional advisory board for Junior Achievement of Central Upstate New York. She and her family currently reside in Central New York.

Orthopedic surgeon Richelle

Jim Reed

Excellus BlueCross BlueShield

“We’re proud of this recognition and are committed to supporting our employees with our inclusive culture, comprehensive employee benefits, flexible work environment and more,” Reed added.

This award is presented by Forbes and Statista Inc., a world-leading statistics portal and industry-ranking provider.

Forbes and Statista selected the America’s Best Employers 2023 through an independent survey applied to a vast sample of about 45,000 American employees working for companies with more than 1,000 employees. Across 25 industry sectors,

Kelli Lasher has named Kelli Lasher regional director of sales in the company’s Central New York and Utica/ North Country regions. In this new role, she will be responsible for sales and retention efforts for key and strategic commercial accounts.

Lasher has been with the health plan for 26 years. She began her career in 1997 as an account executive. Since that time, she has held a variety of sales and leadership positions in areas including commercial sales and government programs divisions. Most recently, Lasher served

Takemoto has recently joined Community Memorial (CMH) in Hamilton. Previously with a local orthopedic surgical practice, Takemoto decided to seek out other opportunities to serve the community. Endeared by Hamilton and the surrounding region and the supportive team of nurses and staff, Takemoto saw the potential to build on the orthopedic legacy at CMH.

“I am very committed to serving the patients of our community and believe that partnering with the hospital will help to better support patient care. My goal is to provide efficient, high-quality care for our community that will remain in place long after my career. I am dedicated to providing excellent, quality orthopedic services and working collab-

“We welcome Dr. Takemoto to the CMH family and thank her for the advanced services she has brought to us in the last year,” said Jeff Coakley, president and CEO of Community Memorial. “We look forward to growing orthopedic services for the community in collaboration with all CMH-affiliated orthopedic surgeons.”

Takemoto is a board-certified orthopedic surgeon who completed fellowship training in orthopedic trauma. She specializes in comprehensive fracture care, post-traumatic reconstruction, and total joint arthroplasty of the shoulder, knee and hip.

In February 2022, after completing extensive training and certification, Takemoto became the first female surgeon in the world to use the VELYSTM Robotic-Assisted Solution and developed a successful robotic surgery program at CMH. Takemoto will continue to expand this service as part of the CMH team.

Takemoto is originally from Honolulu, Hawaii, and is a graduate of the Punahou School. She earned her undergraduate degree from Bryn Mawr College in 1999 and is a graduate of Temple University School of Medicine, where she earned her MD in 2002. She completed a residency in orthopedic surgery from NYU Hospital for Joint Diseases in New York City under the tutelage of renowned surgeon Joseph Zuckerman. Following her residency, she completed the Altman Fellowship in Orthopedic Trauma at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. She is an active member of the Orthopaedic Trauma Association, AO North America and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery.