Editor’s corner: What the military can teach physician leaders

Like me, the national political conventions taking place these last two weeks might have you thinking more about leadership and the kind of leader the country so desperately needs right now.

But it’s not just the country that needs great leaders, it’s also healthcare. As decisions are made that will determine how our healthcare system will work in the future, it’s important the voices of doctors are heard in the discussion.

But too often, that’s not happening. Doctors don’t have a seat at the table and there’s agreement that competent, effective physician leaders are in short supply. To ensure physicians selected for leadership positions are successful, organizations must develop and support them, a message that was made loud and clear at the American College of Healthcare Executives earlier this year.

And that’s something healthcare can learn from the military: how to produce good leaders, according to Mark Hertling, a retired lieutenant general in the U.S. Army.

Healthcare provides little opportunity for physicians to learn how to lead, while the military formally educates and trains soldiers in the art of leadership, says Hertling, pictured, who described how that can happen in his book “Growing Physician Leaders: Empowering Doctors to Improve Our Healthcare.”

When he retired from the military after almost four decades of service, Hertling writes in the book that he had no idea what he was going to do next. But he soon found himself working for Florida Hospital, the lead facility in the largest Protestant healthcare system in America, where the chief operating officer wanted to bring someone on board from outside the industry who would be innovative and help solve difficult challenges.

It wasn’t long before Hertling was asked to take on the issue of how to create physician leaders who could help improve the healthcare system. Using what he learned as a leader in the Army, he helped create the Physician Leader Development program at Florida Hospital to help physicians master the art of leading people.

“…While doctors certainly know how to care for their patients, and while a growing nationwide chorus of voices is pleading for physicians to become better leaders, we have a huge problem to overcome. From my perspective as a military veteran and a relative newbie to healthcare, I see little opportunity for physicians to learn how to lead,” writes Hertling, in the book’s introduction. Medical schools don’t teach leadership skills and most healthcare organizations don’t provide training opportunities to help physicians become effective leaders, he says.

Organizations usually choose physicians for top positions based on their medical skills and credentials. However, what’s even more important is demonstrated success in how they analyze human dynamics, communicate with patients, engage teams, build consensus, communicate vision and influence others to achieve an organization’s goals, Hertling says. Those skills can be taught and used by physicians.

While many believe that leaders are born, not made, Hertling does not agree. While a person may have more natural gifts, really good leaders are made, not born, he writes.

Leadership, he says, is the art of understanding motivations, influencing people and teams, and communicating purpose and direction to accomplish stated goals while improving the organization.

While physicians have many talents, their skills do not automatically translate to strong leadership. The process of growing leaders begins by physicians learning about themselves.

Hertling gives them one task: to talk to one subordinate, one peer and one supervisor and ask them, “What are some things I do that make it a challenge for you to deal with me?” as well as providing suggestions on how to improve those interactions. Physicians typically find out that they don’t delegate enough, they think they are smarter than others on the team, and that they are not open to take advice from others. But most physicians don’t realize they are acting that way in their interactions with others and are surprised by the feedback, Hertling says.

It’s a worthwhile effort for healthcare organizations to help physicians become good leaders, he says. Physicians need to take a seat at the table as decisions are made by healthcare organizations, but as one physician told him, doctors need to learn the “table manners” to take that seat.