Leadership Lessons They Don't Teach in Medical School
Leadership Lessons They Don't Teach in Medical School
If you're a physician leader who believes in servant leadership, at some point someone in a boardroom will say, "That's nice, but what are the results?" This post gives you the answer. And if you're an executive thinking about physician leadership development, this is why servant leadership isn't a personality trait. It's an operating system you can support or undermine. Which choice you make will determine your organization's culture.
When many physicians hear "servant leadership," a voice in their head says: I already give everything to my patients. Now I'm supposed to give everything to my team too? That voice isn't wrong to worry. Servant leadership, done poorly, will burn you out faster than any 80-hour clinical week ever did. This post is about that trap and how to avoid it.
A new JAMA viewpoint argues that physician well-being needs both comfort and meaning. It's a thoughtful framework, but and an incomplete one. What's missing is agency: the ability of physicians to shape the systems they work in, not just survive them. That requires leadership skills most doctors were never taught, but can learn.