Changing the way we think about and define physician leadership is a passion of mine, and it’s why I wrote All Physicians Lead. Over the past two decades of observation, research, and practical experience in leadership positions, I have become convinced that better physician leadership leads to better healthcare team performance and better patient outcomes.
When I talk about redefining “physician leadership,” I refer to our current connotation of the term. Most often, when we think of physician leaders, we picture doctors who have been promoted into administrative or executive positions.
They have officially become “leaders.” However, I believe this take on physician leadership is overly constrained because it fails to acknowledge the leadership required of every doctor, every day.
Leadership as a Fundamental Competency
I propose we recognize leadership as a fundamental competency of every practicing physician. If we use a simple, generally acceptable definition of leadership—influencing thought and behavior to achieve a desired result—it becomes obvious that the day-to-day work life of a physician is a series of leadership events.
Whether you are preparing a team for a surgical procedure, trying to convince a patient to lose weight, persuading an insurance company to cover a procedure, or mentoring a new resident, you are attempting to influence thought and behavior to achieve a desired result – you are leading.
However, because we don’t explicitly recognize that all physicians are leading, we lose an opportunity for study and reflection with the intent to improve this core competency.
Physicians are trained in many aspects of leadership, no doubt. If we look at the core competencies required by the accrediting agencies that oversee medical education, we see skills such as professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, and patient care.
All these skills, and many others currently taught, are part of the leadership toolbelt. But by failing to name leadership as the meta-skill we’re building, we leave gaps in our leadership training, and we lose an opportunity to encourage doctors to learn leadership in an intentional and comprehensive way.
A Leadership Analogy
Have you ever moved to an unfamiliar area? You probably learned to navigate the terrain in a piecemeal way. You quickly learned the route to the grocery store, the hospital, and other important stops, but you were a bit slower in learning how to get to secondary locations.
There may have been whole areas you never learned about because you had no business there.
Now, imagine you’re an Uber driver moving to the same place. Your approach will be different. You’ll study maps and traffic patterns, and you’ll learn shortcuts. You’ll try to gain mastery of the whole region because it’s your job to know your way around.
Similarly, if as physicians, we know it’s our job to be leaders and we regard ourselves as such, we become intentional about improving our full range of leadership skills.
Physicians Must Lead With Intention
Let’s say you have an uncomfortable interaction with a nurse or colleague. Suppose you are not aware of your impact as a leader and are not intentional about opportunities for improvement. In that case, you might just walk away from the encounter, shaking your head in frustration.
However, if you view the interaction through the lens of the leader that you are, you will undoubtedly handle the situation differently. You will reflect on your behavior and think about how the leadership theory you’ve studied might impart some knowledge about the interaction.
Most importantly, you’ll strive to rectify the situation, learn from it, do better the next time, and serve as an example to others. You’ll take responsibility for what happened in the past and what will happen in the future.
Leadership Should Be Integral to Medical Education
As physicians, we lead every day, many times per day. If we accept that premise, then leadership education, training, feedback, and self-reflection should be an integral part of medical education—and of lifelong learning.
Why does it matter? Because better leadership leads to better healthcare team performance. It can result in improved work environments, recruitment, and retention. Better leadership skills, such as empathy, clarity of communication, and cultural competency, can enhance the patient experience and commitment to the healthcare plan.
Ultimately, better physician leadership can make a difference in the most important thing we do: positively impacting healthcare outcomes for our patients.