Leadership Skillsfor

Mid CareerFaculty

Douglas A. Girod, MD FACS

What areas do you need help?

• Take 5 minutes

• List 3 areas do feel you need to develop leadership skills

Leadership Career Phases

• Team Leaders (Early career)

• Group Leaders (Mid career)

• Organizational Leaders (Late career)

Medical Leaders

• To practice medicine is to serve in the capacity of leader or team member on multiple teams simultaneously at any given time.

Teams in Medicine(Early Career)

• Physician teams– Fellows– Senior residents– Junior residents– Students

• Clinic teams– Physicians– Front desk staff– Nursing staff– Ancillary staff

• Hospital Teams– Physicians– Nursing staff– Ward staff – Ancillary providers

• Operating Room Teams– Surgeons– Anesthesia– Nursing– Scrub Techs– OR desk staff

Teams in Medicine(Early Career)

Physician – Patient Team

Groups in Medicine(Mid Career)

• Departmental– Section chief– Division head– Vice chair– Clinic director– Lab director

• Hospital– Partnership leader– Medical Staff Committees

• Educational– Student rotation director– Residency director– Fellowship director

• School– Faculty council– Search committees

• Medical Society – committees– Meeting program chairs

• Academy leadership roles

Leadership Skills

• All physicians function as a leader on a daily basis

• Most physicians have some baseline skills

• Some are naturally better at it than others

• Leadership skills can learned, developed and honed

Leadership Skills

• Endless amount of literature, books, courses, seminars, and institutes dedicated to leadership

• Inadequate time to study leadership skills

• Medical curricula do not include an emphasis on leadership

Traditional Leadershipin Medicine

• Hierarchical• Tyrannical• Intimidation• Fear

• Abusive• Malignant• Inflexible• Intolerant

“Never argue with the Chief”

Traditional Leadershipin Medicine

• No longer considered a successful approach

• Not tolerated in clinical settings– Disruptive physician clauses in bylaws of

medical staff and state boards

Successful Leadership Skills

• Leadership skills carry over between different environments (business, military, medicine, etc)

• Successful skill sets have been defined and are in demand

Learning Successful Leadership Skills

• Formal training– Leadership series

• University/School courses

– Seminars• Edwards Campus• Non-medical

– Formal Leadership Courses• Harvard Course: Leadership Development for Physicians in

Academic Health Centers• AAMC – New Manager’s Training Program• ACS – Leadership Skills to Overcome Obstacles• etc

Learning Successful Leadership Skills

Leadership texts• Good to Great

by Jim Collins

• Dealing with Difficult People

by Harvard Press

• Bargaining for Advantage

By G Richard Shell

Learning Successful Leadership Skills

• Reading

– Biographies

of great leaders

Learning Successful Leadership Skills

• Observation– Learn from those around you

Learning Successful Leadership Skills

Endless supply of role models in medicine (good and bad)

Learning Successful Leadership Skills

• Can learn as much from a poor leader as from a good one

Get Involved and Practice

• Volunteer for leadership positions– School– Hospital– Medical Specialty Societies

• Local• Regional• National

Learning Successful Leadership Skills

• Learning from experience

“A little experience upsets a lot of theory.”

S. Parkes Cadman, Cleric

Learning Successful Leadership Skills

• Find a mentor– Someone you respect– Someone you can approach repeatedly and in a crisis– Ask if they will consent to being your mentor– Recognize your mentors efforts– Expect to do the same for others (be a mentor)

Traits of Successful Leaders

Traits of Successful Leaders

• Fair– Can’t play favorites

• Consistent– Inconsistency erodes confidence

• Predictable– Helps people know what to expect

• Avoid the abuse of authority

Traits of Successful Leaders

• Seek input

• Spread authority

• Treat people with respect

• Don’t dictate

• Challenge your team members

Traits of Successful Leaders

• Patience– Not everyone has your agenda, goals or

motivation– That doesn’t mean they aren’t an important

part of the team– Doesn’t mean they are wrong

“Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you,

but not in the one ahead.”

Bill McGlashen

Traits of Successful Leaders

• Sense of humor– Don’t take yourself or the world too seriously– A smiling cheerful leader wins more

cooperation than a grim or gloomy one.

Traits of Successful Leaders

• Sense of humor– Don’t take yourself or the world too seriously– A smiling cheerful leader wins more

cooperation than a grim or gloomy one.

“The happiest people don’t necessarily have the best of everything. They just make

the best of everything.”

Anonymous

Traits of Successful Leaders

• Know yourself

• Have/demonstrate a sense of direction and mission

• Make the hard decision– Part of leadership is making the decision no

one else will or wants to make– Take responsibility for the decision

Decision Making

“When you come to a fork in the road, take it.”

Yogi Berra, Baseball philosopher

Traits of Successful Leaders

“People don’t respond to titles,

they respond to people whom they respect”

Doug Girod, Struggling Chairman

Seven Five Deadly Sins“of a Leader”

• Truth, if it becomes a weapon against persons.

• Beauty, if it becomes a vanity.• Love, if it becomes possessive.• Loyalty, if it becomes blind, careless trust.• Tolerance, if it becomes indifference.• Self-confidence, if it becomes arrogance.• Faith, if it becomes self-righteous.

Ashley Cooper, Writer

Conclusion• You must become a leader to practice

medicine successfully.• Mid Career requires more complex and

sophisticated leadership skills• Make leadership development a part of

your daily routine.• Learn from those around you.• Seek out opportunities for skill

development• Practice at every opportunity.