The Spartan Shield: Spartan Medical’s Secret Weapon

What is the Spartan Shield and how does it spur employee engagement and success?

We asked six members of the Spartan team for their interpretation of the Spartan Shield.

Nick Goebel - Director of Communications (7 Months with Spartan)

"I believe the Spartan Shield symbolizes protection, meaning each and every member of the Spartan Medical® team has each other’s back. We support and protect each other to move forward as a unified team. For example, the Proffitt Brothers Foundation®, which is the charitable arm of Spartan Medical®, is currently organizing a two-day event in Annapolis, Maryland to honor and raise money for veterans. We compressed ten months of planning and organizing into 40 days. Then, with two days to go, a 7-year storm hit Annapolis, flooding the event location. Instead of cancelling the event, we persisted and postponed the event to the following weekend. We are days away from having an extraordinary event that would not be occurring if not for the Spartan Shield. The Spartan team stepped up and we are going to achieve our mission as a team. That is just one example of many that happen each and every day.

The Spartan Shield was spawned by the leadership of Vince Proffitt, Founder and President of Spartan Medical®. Vince goes above and beyond every day to support and protect his team. His benevolent leadership guides and motivates the Spartan team. They want to reciprocate the support he provides and they don’t want to let him down. The result is a level of employee engagement I’ve never witnessed before. I honestly believe a business journal like the Harvard Business Review should do a case study on employee engagement at Spartan Medical®. That’s how unique and impressive it is. And it’s all because of the Spartan Shield and the example shown at the top of the company."

Nathan Hooker – Chief, Customer Service (80 Months with Spartan)

"The Spartan Shield represents how the Spartans were able to earn the notoriety of being the most powerful fighting force in existence due to the fact that if 1 shield fell, they all fell. The concept of Teamwork, pales in comparison to the idea of the Shield. The Shield was the first and last line of defense, and in our industry, there are so many who don’t have the whole team behind them. We, as Spartans, know unequivocally that our team, and our leadership, will always fight with us for the betterment of the Mission. It shows that if we see any cracks in the Phalanx, we are willing and able to pivot to help our team. Lastly, it represents that when one member of our team wins, we all win."

Rachel Helton – Associate Sales Consultant

(13 Months with Spartan)

"Spartan Medical® is a company that not only helps patients but helps Veterans; the women and men who have put their lives on the line for our country. For our customers, we not only seek out the most advanced medical technologies, but we also try to better our community and better the lives of their patients. We talk a lot about our Spartan Story. How my coworkers and the people who came before me made this company into what it is today. By not just saying we are the best but proving that we are. By earning the trust of our clients and not expecting it. By going above and beyond whether someone is there to witness it or not. By adapting, changing, developing in whatever way they need. You ask what does the Spartan Shield mean to me? It means honor, commitment, and teamwork throughout every aspect of our company and nothing less."

Sophia Morales – Government Sales Administrator (37 Months with Spartan)

"The Spartan Shield means using every opportunity to leave something better than how it was found. Not just to provide the latest clinically vetted product portfolio, but to accompany it with an unprecedented level of community compassion. I have found the strength of the Spartan Shield comes from no single point in our company, but from our commitment to one another, our customers, and our community."

William Powell – Sales Consultant (44 Months with Spartan)

"A shield was designed to protect yourself, but the Spartan Shield was designed to protect everyone that carried it. By working together, and carrying the shield each and every day, we make sure that everyone is covered. When everyone’s standards are exceptionally high, you need to have an accountability partner. That accountability ensures that you are always maintaining the Core Spartan principles. Accountability works both ways, when your partner is having a rough time, pick him up and get them back in the fight."

Steve Gordon – Sales Consultant

(41 Months with Spartan)

"The Spartan Shield represents something higher. Something bigger than ourselves we have all been privileged to become part of. To me it represents trust, strength, protection, family, unity and fighting for a common cause/belief. You must be willing to trust the person to your left and right with your life if using the shield for protection. Everyone being on the same page working to accomplish common goals leads to strength. Family is a big part of Spartan, and we really are a family. Not only because we spend more time with our Spartan counterparts than our maternal family but because we genuinely like, respect, depend, nurture, and hold each other accountable. We are all united in the fight to raise the bar and standards of practice within the medical device industry. Making things that matter, matter again."