Published in 2009, Olson’s book Don’t Be Such a Scientist invites scientists to become better communicators and storytellers as a means to getting their points across and influencing audiences.
A full day of the course is devoted to leading and managing teams, including how to build a successful hospitalist program by selecting and investing in the right people. Another portion of the day teaches hospitalists skills they can use to build trust within their teams.
The final day focuses on an often-neglected element of leadership: self-investment. An executive coach will work with hospitalists to understand the importance of investing in their own careers, and help them develop tools to make self-investment easier.
The Originals
Years ago, as it became clear that hospitalists would be on the vanguard of changing healthcare in the hospital, it became equally clear that clinical and diagnostic skills alone would not be sufficient to tackle challenges that were as much about the people involved as they were about the technical requirements of healthcare.
The foundational SHM Leadership Academy course was developed to address the interpersonal dynamics of leadership in the hospital. Since its inception, the principles of hospitalist leadership apply equally to physicians and nonphysicians, including hospital administrators, physician assistants, and other hospital-based caregivers.
The allure for many hospitalists, including Dr. Agborbesong, is its particular relevance to the hospital setting.
“I had been to other leadership trainings, but this one was geared right to me. Everything was focused on the practice of HM and was oriented toward a leader at my level, when I was still new in my leadership position,” she says. “Other courses assumed that I was midway through my career or further.”
The real-world basis of the academy is apparent in the teaching model as well as its subject. Because many of the participants are already active and engaged leaders, the academy’s courses are structured to be interactive, hands-on learning experiences. Participants in the first Leadership Academy program walk away with, among other skill sets, the ability to:
- Evaluate personal leadership strengths and weaknesses and apply them to everyday leadership and management challenges;
- Predict and plan for the near-term challenges affecting the viability of their hospitalist programs;
- Improve patient outcomes through successful planning, allocation of resources, collaboration, teamwork, and execution;
- Understand key hospital drivers and examine how hospital performance metrics are derived, as well as how HM practices can influence and impact these metrics; and
- Implement methods of effective change through leadership, shared vision, and managing the organizational culture.
Participants in the second SHM Leadership Academy course build on those skills and learn to:
- Drive culture change through specific leadership behaviors and actions;
- Use financial reports to drive decision-making in clinical and operational practices;
- Recruit and retain the best physicians for their group;
- Build exceptional physician satisfaction; and
- Engage in effective, professional negotiation activities using proven techniques. TH