According to a recent report, 84 percent of organizations expect a shortage of leaders in the next five years across all fields. While we often hear about leaders in business, finance, and culture; what about healthcare leaders? In recent months, pandemic, healthcare workers have been asked to take on greater leadership roles to help with the growing number of patients suffering from the coronavirus. making it more important than ever for healthcare professionals to think about what it takes to be a truly great leader. Read on to explore why doctors need leadership training, who is creating new leadership resources, and what kinds of traits make for a great healthcare leader.
Empathy and Mentorship in Healthcare
Empathetic and Patient First Oriented: Doctors are expected to gain knowledge in a wide array of technical aspects; but what about improving their empathy level? Empathy isn’t just about being a nice person; it involves understanding the perspectives and experiences of others through active listening. While technical knowledge is highly important in healthcare, this kind of social intelligence is also essential in improving the patient-doctor relationship and leading others.
While many doctors go into healthcare because they want to help people, Helen Riess, MD, an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, found that physicians’ empathy levels decrease after the doctor’s third year of medical school.
Physicians have to take on a leadership responsibilities role during their career, but unlike in other fields like finance and business, physicians are rarely taught how to lead.
To combat this worrisome trend, Reiss developed an empathy training program called Empathetics. Reiss found that trained physicians received higher patient satisfaction scores than their untrained colleagues. Empathy helps healthcare professionals forge better relationships with their patients, gain a deep understanding of their team, and as a result build trust within their practice.
Healthcare Leaders and Humility
They mentor others: Great leaders don’t just keep their knowledge to themselves; they train the next generation of leaders as well. A doctor leads care teams, departments, and sometimes their entire practice. To lead a group of people, doctors must be able to give their team members the support and motivation they need to do their best work. This could include encouraging group discussions, creating forums for feedback, and involving team members in decisions as much as possible for a more democratic approach. While mentorship can be a formal, company-sponsored initiative, it can also be more casual.
More informal examples of mentorship in the healthcare field could look like having an informative lunch with someone interested in healthcare, reaching out to prospective healthcare professionals through social platforms, and providing mentees with online and social resources.
They educate others: Even before the coronavirus pandemic, finding reliable healthcare resources could be difficult. Great healthcare leaders have a responsibility to make sure they provide educational resources to their patients and raise awareness of important health issues.
Just think of Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, who helped us navigate the covid by teaching us how to protect ourselves and others. Instead of sharing his findings within exclusive circles, Fauci made it a priority to educate the public. It’s important to remember, however, that even though great leaders teach others, it still doesn’t mean they have all the answers.
They practice humility: Arnold Glasow once said, “a good leader takes little more than his share of the blame and little less than his share of the credit.” While Arnold Glasow is a famous figure in the business world, his viewpoint can be applied to healthcare as well.Strong healthcare leaders remain accountable for their team’s results and are in a constant state of learning and flexibility.
Healthcare and medicine is a rapidly developing field full of trial and error; for example, the knowledge leaders had of the coronavirus in January and February of 2020 is very different from the knowledge they have now. Great healthcare leaders are not only able to share what they do know, but they are also able to accept that they don’t know everything.
Healthcare Leaders Think Outside of the Box
They take risks: Great leaders are not only focused and deliberate, but they are also willing to try new solutions and learn from their peers; this is where medical innovation happens. Healthcare leader David Shulkin recently stated at a healthcare summit that:
Healthcare Leaders Saving Lives
Healthcare is a fast-paced, complicated world that needs great leaders,and even the best healthcare leaders today have room to improve their leadership skills. What kinds of leadership programs would you like to see for healthcare leaders, and how do you think they could help? Share your thoughts and opinions with us at WeLearn, because together, we learn.
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