How do you lead? That’s the question that drew rising stars from across the HMS medical community to the ninth conference of HMS Leadership Development for Physicians and Scientists, as 57 instructors, assistant professors and associate professors convened April 5-8 for lessons in institutional organization, finance, legal and regulatory issues, and communication. Among the highlights of the event was a panel session that convened leaders of five Boston teaching hospitals. Moderator Jean Emans, faculty director of the Office of Faculty Development at Children’s Hospital Boston, invited them to share insights from their careers. Excerpts follow.
Serve
“Leadership is about serving. It’s about serving the families and patients that come to us; it’s about serving our faculty; it’s about serving the academic mission; it’s about serving all of the things that we in the medical community do to play a role for a short period of time.”
— James Mandell, chief executive officer, Children’s Hospital Boston, and Robert and Dana Smith Professor at HMS
“It’s hard for scientists and for physicians, who are extremely data-driven, to be able to take a leap into the dark without knowing exactly what the outcome is going to be. But my 95½-year-old father taught me: If you don’t take risks, you can be very, very good. But you will never be great.”
— Ellen Zane, president and chief executive officer, Tufts Medical Center
“The best managers I see are people comfortable in their own skin. They don’t try to put on a personality in their management role that’s different from who they are when they’re seeing patients or at home. Adopt a management style that fits your personality. Don’t try to be someone else.”
—Peter Slavin, president, Massachusetts General Hospital, and professor of health care policy at HMS
“You’re all extraordinarily talented, but a difficult decision at this stage of your career is where to focus. Success there is what will define you, so develop an area of excellence or expertise. Often, it’s what you’re passionate about. It can be research, it can be in the clinical arena, it can be teaching.”
— Elizabeth Nabel, president, Brigham and Women’s/Faulkner Hospitals, and professor of medicine at HMS
“It’s amazing what a leader can accomplish when you don’t take credit. Your mission as leader is to help other people achieve things that advance the mission of the organization, and in a sense to bask in their reflected glory. Your ego and the ego of the institution must be very much in alignment.”
— Edward Benz, Jr., president and chief executive officer, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and Richard and Susan Smith Professor of Medicine at HMS
