A good leader within a hospital is a “systems-level thinker,” not one focusing on a specific agenda. And, prioritizing important items is crucial to success, he notes.
“We all have a limited amount of energy. If you can pick three to five things that are really important and prioritize them and they turn out to be important, that’s going to facilitate your success,” he says.
He can’t emphasize “clinical credibility” enough. That’s where it all begins, he says.
“Your leadership is facilitated if you’re seen as someone that takes good care of your patients,” being the doctor that other doctors would want themselves and their families to go to. “That’s huge.”
Also, he says, running out and getting a master’s degree in business management and then applying for positions around the country is probably not the best approach to seeking out leadership positions, he says.
“I don’t think many people are put in a position where you’re just asked to pull a sword out of a stone and you’re suddenly chief of something,” he points out. “Leadership is home-grown, and you work your way up.” —TC
I don’t think many people are put in a position where you’re just asked to pull a sword out of a stone and you’re suddenly chief of something. Leadership is home-grown, and you work your way up.
—Patrick Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM, vice president and chief integration officer, St. Tammany Parish Hospital, Covington, La., SHM board member