Physician leadership development at Cleveland Clinic: a brief review

Abstract

Developing leaders is a universal priority to sustain organizational success. In health care, significant challenges of ensuring quality and access and making care affordable are widely shared internationally and demand effective physician leadership. Yet, leadership competencies differ from clinical and scientific competencies and features of selecting and training physicians-who have been called "heroic lone healers" -often conspire against physicians being effective leaders or followers. Thus, developing leadership competencies in physicians is critical.Leadership development programs have been signature features of successful organizations and various Australian organizations offer such training (e.g. The Australian Leadership Foundation and the University of South Australia), but relatively few health care organizations have adopted the practice of offering such training, both in Australia and elsewhere. As a United States example of one such integrated program, the Cleveland Clinic, a large, closed-staff physician-led group practice in Cleveland, Ohio has offered physician leadership training for over 15 years. This paper describes the rationale, structure, and some of the observed impacts associated with this program.

Effectiveness of a Leadership Development Course for Chief Residents: A Longitudinal Evaluation

“…The curriculum was based on longstanding leadership development programs at CCF (eg, Cleveland Clinic Learning Academy, Leading in Health Care, and Samson Global Leadership Academy). 3,27,28 These and the current curriculum are grounded in the emotional intelligence (EI) framework of Goleman et al 29 Goals and topics addressed in the course (TABLE 1) correspond to 4 areas of EI competencies: self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. The 12 course sessions were taught by CCF faculty and selected extramural invited experts.…”

Team development among physician-leaders at the Cleveland Clinic

“…The curriculum focused less on topics such as accounting and finance and delved deeper into organizational development topics such as: emotional intelligence, teambuilding, strategic planning, conflict resolution, and executive presentation skills (Christensen and Stoller, 2016). Participation in this program was limited to nominated physicians and administrators who were seen as emerging leaders within the Cleveland Clinic.…”

Expert leadership – why psychiatrists should lead mental health services

“…11 Historically, academic clinicians led the tripartite mission of research, teaching and clinical excellence, which drove the advances of modern medicine. 4 This vital structure was lost in SA but, in 2015, after the industrial dispute, the Flinders University Professor of Psychiatry, Malcolm Battersby, was appointed as executive leader of the Southern Adelaide mental health service. The return of academic leadership and evidence-based practice have already led to measurable improvements in health services.…”

“…In the current issue, Christensen and Stoller (2016) describe their medical leadership programmes. 4 One specific programme, which emphasises emotional intelligence, is also reviewed by Farver et al (2016). 5 In the UK, the National Health Service has been going through one of the hardest periods in its history.…”