By Jamie Flannick Potential is what Patrick Colletti, President of Pittsburgh-based Net Health Systems Inc., sees. His smile and demeanor exude it. Standing in an office area traditionally where the receptionist’s desk resides, Colletti paints a concrete vision of a coffee shop for employees that will provide both a perfect communal and personal space within the confines of an office. In fact, the more one talks to Colletti, the more one realizes that the traditional confines and paradigms that can disenfranchise employees from their companies and professions (and, thus, the traditional stumbling blocks for management) don’t apply to him or Net Health. Instead of seeing barriers, Colletti sees potential. As part of a team that helped to bring Net Health Systems to fruition in the mid 1990s, Colletti would often visit local downtown coffee shops for inspiration. “I’d go to coffee shops, get jazzed up, and create ideas - and then come back and implement them,” he admits. This inherent knowledge of how a setting can affect someone’s motivation and mental approach is one aspect of Colletti’s managerial style. Through the use of physical space, he is creating a holistic environment that blends a person’s occupation with his/ her individuality. By designing an in-house café, utilizing lots of natural light, placing a residential-quality kitchen in the center and scattering comfortable, large chairs with plants throughout the office, Colletti has created an environment that resembles a hip urban lounge more than a work space - but it’s part of a larger, creatively humanistic approach that has merely grown the company to national status. “I see us as a Pittsburgh success story. We went through a lot of the dot-com woes of the 1990s, but we’re at a good point now,” he says. Colletti’s statement is supported by an impressive collection of numbers - growing last year by 50 percent in every metric and establishing the information-based software company as one of the premier technology companies within the specialized bio-medical world of chronic wound care. However, Colletti’s statement is further supported by an innovative business and research plan that is ready to co-create a major shift in how pressure ulcers, a debilitating side effect for bed-ridden patients that impacts millions of individuals every year, are treated. This procedural amendment could save the health care industry and its patients hundreds of millions of dollars. “We are on track to develop a detection and prevention solution, and we’ve made a material investment,” Colletti says. Besides research and development, Colletti actively invests in his staff. His managerial style is both cooperative and democratic, helping to create individuality and creative space for his team. “You need to empower people - you need to help get them to that point,” Colletti acknowledges. As mentioned, a well-planned use of physical space that creates community while still allowing for individuality is one aspect of this climate; but, a second aspect is the emotional space that Colletti creates, through trust, support and honesty. “The truth is very empowering,” he says. “You’ve got to be honest and to have other people trust you. Otherwise, you won’t have a company much longer.” Part of Colletti’s managerial philosophy was shaped by Board Chair Anthony Sanzo at the height of Net Health’s growing pains. While at lunch, and amidst growing debt, Sanzo asked Colletti, “What do you think about running a marathon?” Colletti was, naturally at first, taken back. “Obviously, I was shocked, considering how off-topic and inopportune it seemed,” Colletti admits. “Also, in looking back, I probably couldn’t have even run four miles, continuously, at that point. But, I agreed to it, and Anthony and I spent every Saturday morning for the next five months training for this race. “The next thing I knew, I was running eight, 12, 14 miles. I began to see Anthony’s plan. By showing his support and working with me, as a teammate, I was able to run the marathon. That experience, in a very real sense, taught me how to lead. I believe it was sheer genius on his part.” Sanzo’s lesson has paid off big dividends for Net Health Systems and Colletti. The lesson has enabled him to debunk some deeply entrenched notions of managerial leadership and the professional workplace. “I’m trying to design a creative environment in which they can succeed,” says Colletti. But success for Colletti and Net Health is not merely the bottom line - it’s creating a holistic, creative, and supportive environment for a staff that is actively helping to care for and perfect an ailing population and healthcare industry.