POST: Doctor’s Orders Are Not Enough
Physicians generally enter management roles in their forties or fifties. Our management skills are compared with non-physician managers of the same age, but physicians haven’t had two decades to make management mistakes. We’ve been too busy learning medicine and seeing patients. We make the same mistakes non-physicians make early in their careers. We’re developmentally delayed. What we’ve been taught in medical school and residency is 180 degrees from many of the skills needed to be an effective manager.
Likewise, listening to alternate views is a critical leadership skill. Unfortunately, many physicians become so vested in their careers, in diagnosing illness and being healers that they find it difficult to listen to alternate views. As I was, many of my physician clients are proud of the fact that they are straightforward, pull no punches, and ask directly for what they want.
Managers and leaders need to be collaborative communicators. Some of those strengths we have as solo clinicians can keep us from developing other skills we need as managers and leaders. As an executive and leadership coach for physicians, I hold a mirror in front of them and ask questions to guide them in developing their own solutions.
[mashshare]CATEGORIES:Recent Blog Articles
In Medicine, The “Soft” Skills Are Essential
Michael’s Story: The Beginning “I’m straightforward, to the point,” said Michael, the CEO at a large inner-city hospital. “The people I work with—they may not like me, but they know I’m right.” “What else?” I said to Michael, whom I had just been retained to coach. “I just wish they understood me. I do what’s […]
CATEGORIES: Coaching Emotional Intelligence Physician Leadership
Dr. Margaret Cary spoke at the American Society of Hematologists
December 3, 2018 Dr. Cary delivered an interactive presentation on Women’s Leadership at the Women in Hematology reception at the ASH’s annual meeting of nearly 28,000 attendees in San Diego.
CATEGORY: Coaching
What We Can Learn About Leadership from The Boss
A Bruce (The Boss) Springsteen fan reflects on what her coaching clients can learn about leadership from him.
CATEGORY: The Doctor Weighs In
Develop a Coaching Culture
What might you do to develop a coaching culture in your office, in your organization? “I know I blow up and get angry. I am protective about my patients and the physicians in my department and I can’t help myself.” Dr. Leonard was one of my coaching clients, a surgeon who had left a trail […]
CATEGORIES: Coaching Physician Leadership
The Value of Coaching in Medicine
With Jack Penner Jack and I recently joined Dave Etler, Administrative Services Coordinator for Student Affairs and Curriculum with Carver College of Medicine at the University of Iowa, and Carver medical students Amy Young, Aline Sandouk, and Mark Moubarek at The Short Coat Podcast for “weird news, fresh views, helpful blues, and interviews by students, for students” […]
CATEGORY: Medical Education
The Value of Presence in Medicine
When an American doctor is asked to examine her friend’s mother in a Chinese hospital, she realized it was her presence and caring that really mattered. Zhuo came with a self-assured attitude, lots of stories, and several films under her belt. I had volunteered to host a film director during the Denver International Film Festival. […]
CATEGORIES: Emotional Intelligence Quality of Care
