Jim Souza MD, Senior Vice President, Chief Physician Executive at St. Luke's Health System shares a recent perspective on navigating "Servant Leadership" in today’s health care.
I had an accidental light bulb moment this past week that might apply to my clinical colleagues in leadership roles.?Read on if you’re interested. Jen Wilkin is one of our St. Luke’s Clinic Directors, who works with our Adult Hospital Medicine team.?Jen previously worked in our patient relations department.?Earlier in the day, I needed to connect with patient relations, and was trying to remember who to connect with, and Jen kept coming to mind.?Later that same day, I walked by her office, noticed she was in, and stopped to say hello. I mentioned that I was thinking about her time in patient relations earlier in the day, and I acknowledged the difficulty of that work.?She responded by telling me, “I still use those skills every day in my work.”?I asked her what she meant. She said when she worked in patient relations there were three key skills she applied in the service to the patients and families she encountered: 1)?????Listen: I learned that taking the time up front to really listen and not try to apply my own solution, ended up saving me so much time in the long run. 2)?????Admit when you made a mistake. It’s OK to acknowledge it and move on. 3)?????Make them know that you actually care about them. She went on to say that these are the same skills she uses in her leadership job.?She said, “If you think about it, your leadership is service, and you need to use these same skills.” And that was the lightbulb moment for me.?In leadership circles, we often talk about “Servant Leadership.” Much has been written about it. When working with patients and families in our clinical roles, the “service” part comes so naturally.?Maybe it’s because of the roots of our profession, the fiduciary relationships we have with our patients, and the obvious power gradients. When we move from clinician to leader, these skills can atrophy. We can find ourselves needing to learn a lot of new skills and competencies, and we may find ourselves working closely with non-clinical colleagues who view leadership through a different lens. Jen provides such a refreshing reminder for us clinical leaders: the things that make us great clinicians will also make us great leaders—leaders who listen, are emotionally intelligent, and authentic. Thank you, Jen Wilkin, for your excellent leadership and for your leadership lesson! What are your thoughts on clinicians in leadership?