As any athlete knows, the beauty of a team is that it is more than the sum of its parts. And the collective rewards are better and more rewarding than the individual ones.
In healthcare, teamwork is what allows, for example, a cardiovascular team to navigate a full slate of surgical procedures day in and day out by drawing upon the strengths and expertise of each individual and working in a coordinated, collaborative fashion. Physicians and clinicians grasp very early in their training that achieving excellent patient outcomes requires a care team that exhibits collaboration, trust and strong communication.
As physicians take on senior leadership roles, team dynamics change. There are added complexities, broader geographies, larger teams with nonclinician teammates and peers, fewer in-person settings and less just-in-time one-on-one communication. Roles and reporting structures are more matrixed and fluid, and priorities and organizational goals are often not as well defined as in a clinical setting.
As a result, physicians who make the leap into executive roles find themselves in uncharted territory, where their leadership is less expertise-based and more nuanced. The problems to solve can be vague, action plans may be more variable and the successes become harder to quantify.
Physician leaders polled by WittKieffer listed the following as their greatest surprises moving into senior leadership roles:
- It's lonely at the top. I didn't have peers to depend on (46%).
- The importance of gaining partners, allies and supporters to get things done (36%).
- How much I still had to learn about leadership (30%).
Fortunately, what drives a person to excel as a clinician is similar to what motivates an executive leader: the desire to make a difference, to engage with others and support the team, and to find reward through professional success. What makes a physician a great clinician doesn't always make them a great leader. Often significantly different leadership styles are required along with flexibility and humility.
Physician leaders want to understand the secret sauce to being effective leaders. To get there, every physician leader must wrestle with some fundamental questions:
- “How do I empower the team and keep members engaged?”
- “How do I influence without absolute authority?"
- “How can I use data to drive to peak performance?”
- “What is success, legacy, purpose?"
We look forward to exploring the questions posed above, and more, at the 2025 Congress on Healthcare Leadership. Our session, "Healthcare Is Not an Individual Sport: Developing Physicians into Team Leaders," will be held Tuesday, March 25, at 10:45 a.m. Central time. See you in Houston!
Hoda Asmar, MD, is executive vice president/system chief clinical officer, Providence. Monique Butler, MD, is president, Graduate Medical Education, HCA Healthcare. Richard Freeman, MD, is executive vice president/chief physician executive, Wellstar Health System. Linda Komnick is managing partner/practice leader, Physician Integration & Leadership, WittKieffer.