Manager’s skills a good fit for clinic, team

When Anthony Gregory isn’t managing the student care clinics at Adams School of Dentistry, he’s most likely dropping a line to fish or relaxing with his family, pastimes he enjoys. But he can also be found behind the lens of a camera or working on a sound engineering project. He doesn’t stay unoccupied for long, and it has paid off for him – personally and professionally.

Gregory originally hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., and ended up in North Carolina after visiting Durham and deciding he could make a home there with his wife and four boys.

He started working at ASOD at the front desk of the clinic, all the while observing how the clinics operated and noting where his strengths might contribute. “Then I saw an opportunity for the supervisor position and within 2.5 years, I was working on the next step. Within the next three years, I’m the clinic manager here. With all those roles I enjoyed meeting people and helping people and being a part of the environment here.

“I really enjoy seeing patients and seeing them come back over the years, having conversations with them,” he said.

Honing his skills

Anthony Gregory has a passion for fishing.

Gregory said his skill-set has grown during the years he’s spent in the clinic, and he knows he’s the right person to solve clinic and patient-related problems that may arise.

“You develop a lot of patience. You develop a skill set of knowing how to adapt to the environment and situations and resolve them,” he said. “Once I started applying the skill-sets I have, it became enjoyable. You start seeing smiles on faces and relief on provider faces knowing they’re getting things resolved and solved.”

His supervisors, coworkers and team members see him as a calm and steady leader, and they often come to him for guidance and knowledge. His reactions to stressful situations tend to be even keeled and his responses are always measured. “I’m attentive to the situation at hand, especially when it comes to patient care and staffing needs. We have to be a psychologist, not a therapist, and we have multiple personalities we deal with. You have to know how to respond appropriately.”

A motivating team

While Gregory sees his share of issues while managing the clinic, he is still able to focus on the best part of his job – the people.

“I want to not look at the faults in people, but I look at people as who they are. My job is to understand how to get you to respond to me in a manner that I need you to respond,” he said. “I engage with people every day.”

And Gregory’s team is another highlight for him. “Our operations team is one of the good parts. We’re like Voltron; we come together and execute. We communicate and keep each other grounded,” he said.

His team works hard, but they also know how to make people feel special. Gregory recalls a birthday when he came to his office and it was filled with balloons, crammed into every available space.

“It put a smile on my face. A couple of days later, I returned the favor to people. We have a good rapport, we can exchange jokes and work well together,” he said.

Gone fishing

Anthony Gregory is the proud owner of Luna, a Cane Corso.

And Gregory is active outside the office, too. His interests are wide and varied – property and real estate, competitive bass fishing, photography and his family all get his undivided attention and focus. He’s been fishing for more than 20 years, and he remembers his father taking him fishing as a child. “I go wherever the fish are biting,” he laughed. He’s not just a dabbler, though, he has his sights set on competitive and tournament bass fishing.

“I want to fish in the major league fishing network. Right now, I do American Bass Association Network, but MLF is a reputable community of fishermen. The pros fish there,” he said.

And spending time with his family is also important to him, but his sons don’t have their dad’s patience out on the water. “My kids dabble. The older ones like it, but younger ones are not ready to be out there. I could spend 15 hours on the water.”

But family is still first for Gregory, and his wife, four sons and his new Cane Corso puppy, Luna, are his top priority. He said he makes sure they have what they need before he focuses on his activities.

“I’m very family oriented. I like to enjoy life. There are too many bumps in the road to hold grudges or be unhappy.”