LEADERS IN MEDICINE
Anyone Can Lead , Physicians Must
by DYLAN ADAMSON , MD
It would be unreasonable to expect trainees to pick up pharmacology or anatomy from observation and experience alone without explicit , purposeful training . Yet , that is typically what we do with leadership in medicine . Physicians are looked to as leaders in patient care and the community , and as such , our profession leads in trustworthiness . 1 It is expected that physicians will have the capacity to lead without any formal leadership training , but are those leaders effective ? To prepare physicians to navigate the challenges of a career in medicine , we must do better as a profession to formalize some degree of leadership training into the education and training pathway .
Medicine has historically ascribed — intentionally or not — to the trait theory of leadership , wherein some individuals demonstrate inherent traits and behaviors that predestine to leadership . You either have it or you don ’ t in this so-called “ Great Man ” theory of leadership where leaders are born , not raised . 2 On the surface , this leads to the sidelining of individuals and really only fits narrow personality traits like extroversion to the explicit exclusion of other characteristics .
It is important to consider who is being left behind when we think of leadership as some inherent trait instead of a learned skill . In academic surgery , for example , leadership diversity has not appreciably changed in the past decade with regard to those who identify as underrepresented in medicine populations , 3 and representation certainly does not reflect the diversity of current medical school graduates or the population at large . It undermines the ability to enact any meaningful change for those lacking a seat at the table . Without expanded perceptions of leadership , those in power will stay in power , and those on the outside will continue looking in .
There are frameworks that contrast the historic trait-based perceptions of leadership . My first experience with these expanded concepts was during formal leadership education in the Masters in Business Administration ( MBA ) program at the University of Louisville . This program revealed how leadership should not and cannot be viewed as only our inherent traits , but rather it encompasses a set of learned skills that can and should be cultivated . Thus , the need for leadership is not isolated to only those in the C-suite or hierarchal academic positions . We are all presented with daily opportunities to lead . In this more expansive understanding , anyone can embody and develop a leadership skill set to maximize those
10 LOUISVILLE MEDICINE