Tackling health care challenges through “servant” leadership

By: Diana Mirel , Contributing AMA News Writer

As the president of American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and a physician leader at Northwest Permanente , ob-gyn Stella Dantas, MD, describes herself as a “servant leader” on a mission to support her peers and improve well-being.

"It’s about how can I help my colleagues? How can I help my patients? How can I be of service?"

When Stella Dantas, MD, and her husband traveled to the Taiwan Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology conference, many attendees eagerly greeted her husband.

“People were coming up and shaking his hand, likely because they thought he was the president. But then I got up to the stage to give my presidential address and surprised people,” said Dr. Dantas, president of the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) and ob-gyn at Northwest Permanente in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Northwest Permanente is a member of the AMA Health System Program, which provides enterprise solutions to equip leadership, physicians and care teams with resources to help drive the future of medicine.

“Afterward, a number of young physicians came up to talk to me because they had never seen someone who looked like me in a position like that—and a light bulb just went on for them,” she said.

This is just one reason Dr. Dantas takes her role as a woman leader in medicine so seriously.?

“It’s really important for us to have people that we see in ourselves in different positions of leadership,” Dr. Dantas said. “It inspires people, and they feel like they can do it too.”

As the president of ACOG and a physician leader at Northwest Permanente, Dr. Dantas describes herself as a “servant leader” on a mission to support and serve her peers.

On a recent episode of “PermanenteDocs Chat,” Dr. Dantas offered up valuable insights to help other leaders navigate the often rocky health care landscape and how to guide their teams with strong, steady and compassionate leadership.

Building community and culture

In her role as ACOG president, Dr. Dantas is helping to tackle some of the biggest challenges facing physicians today. This includes legislative interference in health care, payment issues, administrative burdens, medical misinformation and physician burnout.

“My focus is about community, connection and belonging,” she said. “I can't solve reimbursement issues, legislative interference or administrative burdens tomorrow—we are always working on those things.

“But what I can do is provide the community, culture and team to help us stick together and get through it,” Dr. Dantas added.

In fact, she started building and nurturing this community at her very first ACOG board meeting. To ensure that everyone had a voice, Dr. Dantas intentionally created a space for people to ask questions, push back and be heard.?

“I started my first board meeting saying that I need to hear from everybody in the room,” she explained. “I told them if I ever do something where you feel like I’m cutting you off or I haven’t [heard you], I want you to let me know [because] it’s going to take all of us in the room to accomplish the work ahead.”

Her goal is to create connections by giving people a place where they feel like they belong and where their voice is heard and trusted—even if some people are reluctant.?

“When I’m leading a meeting and I see people who are quiet, I’m going to create space for them and ask them their thoughts,” Dr. Dantas said.

Giving people an opportunity to engage establishes a culture of collaboration where everyone has a stake in the agenda and initiatives. Of course, that doesn’t mean everyone has to agree all the time. Instead, it fosters respectful debate, compromise, collaboration and clear communication.

“Sometimes we’re not all on the same page, but if you can understand the why and effectively communicate the why, we can all wrap our minds around the same thing and still be rowing in the same direction,” said Dr. Dantas.?

It starts with leadership

As a leader, Dr. Dantas is committed to creating psychological safety. This serves as the foundation on which to build a strong culture. Naturally, establishing that psychological safety starts at the top with strong, diverse leadership.

To do this, Dr. Dantas suggests that effective leaders often have to be all things to all people. That means it’s a constant balancing act—they need to be driven yet flexible, analytical yet open-minded, tough yet amiable.

“It's also about listening, being vulnerable and relating to people,” said Dr. Dantas. “You have to be able to build relationships and build connections to have the hard conversations. That is all critical to creating psychological safety.”

Once that foundation is set, leaders can build a team to drive toward their vision—always being mindful of their own blind spots along the way. ?

“As a leader, you don't have to know everything,” said Dr. Dantas. “You just have to get the right people around you.”

To ensure that you’re bringing together the right team, it’s crucial to invest in taking the time to get to know everyone on your team—their strengths, weaknesses and potential.

“It’s about understanding where people's real talents are, and then giving them something to do that lets them use those skills,” Dr. Dantas said. “You have to recognize what their gifts are. And then let them have autonomy … by getting out of their way and letting them work to their skillset.”

?? Read the full article ?? to learn more about the role of:

• Addressing administrative burden
• Fostering a sense of belonging

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