Rushing to Resolution is The Leadership Mistake Physicians Are Trained to Make
Last time, we talked about holding uncertainty.
Now, let’s look at how physicians respond to uncertainty.
They try to fix it.
Doctors are praised for having the right answers.
Not for being almost right.
Not for getting there eventually.
Only for being right.
This mindset becomes deeply ingrained.
So when doctors move into leadership roles, many feel a hidden pressure:
If I don’t know the answer, I must be failing.
That’s an understandable thought.
But it is also harmful.
What Being Right Means in Leadership
In medicine, being right signals competence.
In leadership, being right too quickly often sends a different message:
You don’t listen long enough.
You make decisions before fully understanding.
You value answers more than people.
That’s probably not what you mean to do.
But that’s often how it comes across.
A Scenario You’ve Lived As A Physician Leader
A colleague says, “This option feels unsafe.”
But you hear:
Policy implications.
Regulatory safeguards.
Risk mitigation steps.
So you respond, “Here’s why it’s actually okay.”
You might be technically correct.
But it can hurt the relationship.
Because what your colleague really meant was:
“I don’t trust where this is going.”
You answered the wrong question.
Why Physicians Default to Correction
Medicine teaches us:
Mistakes need to be fixed right away.
Ambiguity and uncertainty invite harm.
Precision keeps people safe.
But leadership teaches something else:
Correcting before understanding can create pushback.
People’s emotions matter.
Being precise without showing empathy can feel dismissive.
Doctors don’t struggle in leadership because they lack empathy.
They struggle because they use empathy after solving the problem, not before.
Meaning Before Mechanics
People are rarely arguing about the decision itself.
They’re really arguing about what the decision means.
A productivity metric isn’t just about RVUs.
It’s about whether quality still matters.
A staffing change isn’t only about coverage.
It’s about whether people feel valued or expendable.
When you defend the policy, others may question the values behind it.
You’re actually having two different conversations.
The Leadership Diagnostic Pause for Understanding
In medicine, you might pause and ask, “What diagnosis explains this?”
In leadership, pause and ask, “What does this mean to them?”
Try reflecting before jumping to solutions:
“It sounds like you’re worried this decision signals something bigger.”
Saying that often helps more than having a perfect plan.
What This Looks Like in Practice
Imagine your team is upset about a new on-call schedule. Your instinct is to explain the coverage gaps, the fairness of your approach, and the department’s needs.
Try this instead:
“I’m hearing a lot of frustration about the new schedule. Before we talk about whether we can change it, help me understand what feels most broken about it.”
Then just listen.
Don’t explain.
Don’t defend.
Just listen.
You might hear:
“It feels like our input doesn’t matter.”
“I’m worried about seeing my kids.”
“This seems like we’re being punished for someone else’s mess.”
Those are the real concerns. And none of them would be addressed by explaining how you made the schedule.
Letting go of the need to always quickly solve a problem doesn’t make you less credible.
It actually builds trust.
The Courage to Not Know
Leadership is different than management.
Managers give answers. Leaders ask questions.
Saying, “I don’t know yet. Let’s figure this out together,” isn’t showing weakness.
It’s signaling the exact strength leadership requires.
That sentence is harder to say than any diagnosis.
But it’s often the one that changes everything.
This is Part 2 of a four-part series exploring how physicians can navigate the manager-leader tension in healthcare. The series draws on Abraham Zaleznik’s “Managers and Leaders: Are They Different?” (Harvard Business Review, 1977), reinterpreted for modern healthcare leadership. The article was republished in 2004.
Next: Why avoiding power means surrendering your values instead of protecting them.
