WHAT IS LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE?

What is the difference between a decentralized and centralized MD? Centralized MDs are told by their bosses to just treat the symptom of things and not reach for the cause.  Above was my TED talk that was banned over a decade ago because the decentralized ideas it contained were too controversial for the medical community at that time.  I am hoping showing it here lights a fuse in some of you to help you today.  

The people of today would rather stand next to a man with no substance but covered in gold, rather than the man with substance whose ideas contain the wisdom of gold. They'll tell you they thirsted for wisdom, but when they hear how it comes from Nature exclusively you find that their interest in the truth was only a mirage.

Some minds are a desert you can die wandering in. It appears to the short-sighted, through their fog of misunderstanding taught to them by centralized healthcare.

The centralized power base in academic medicine tells them the sun is toxic = Nature is a monster to avoid. They'd rather physicians default to the prescription pad because studies have been done to show efficacy.  They rarely tell the public about the people creating those solutions and also fund the studies on efficacy.  It is a good gig if you can tolerate its implications.

9 truths every healer leader, no matter your title, need to embrace:

1. Not everyone who needs your help wants your help.

2. Not everyone who wants your help is ready for that help.  Early on you will find this idea incredulous.

3. You’re not here to help everyone you want to help. This lesson will come from friends and family most often.

4. You’re not here to help everyone who asks for (or will pay for) your help. You can help them but you cannot devote most of your time to them or you will burn out.

5. There are people you want to help who want your help and are also ready for that help.  These are the people you go all in for.  They make your professional life a joy.

6. There are people you really don’t want to help who you’ll still help.  Many times you'll do it without them even knowing how you did it.  There will be no reward for you on this path, but you did what needed to be done.  I do this most frequently on social media.

7. You’ll help people you have no idea wanted, needed, or could use your help.

8. You’ll help people you will never meet or even hear of or know exist.  This one will astonish you over the years when they reach out to tell you what you did.

9. You actually have very little idea how many people you can, have already, or will help.  The reach of social media has changed this metric for leaders in healthcare.  

Your work, once you say “Yes” to the calling of being a healer,  is to focus on the healing you offer and to develop your skills, not on the “who.“

Only in and through engaging and practicing your craft do you develop awareness, discernment, and trust to align with who or what is a “yes,” and release who or what is a “no” or a “not right now.”

SUMMARY

In my opinion, a good leader requires, first and foremost, a personal motivation that is genuinely centered on the success of those you lead.  Your vibe needs to resonate with your tribe.  There’s very little room for self-interest in real leadership. All too often, people aspire to leadership roles because they want to advance their own career, agenda, or power. If that is the underlying motivation, one’s leadership experience will be filled with frustration. They will inevitably begin to view their followers as obstacles, or worse, as tools to leverage for their own advancement. This is the antithesis of true leadership, but it exists all around us in healthcare.

At its core, leadership is about helping others. Those who give themselves over to the sincere desire to support the development, accomplishments, and well-being of others are ultimately the ones who find success in their own leadership, and who position themselves for expanded influence. Genuine leaders don’t have to demand the spotlight. They earn it through being worthy of others’ attention and appreciation.

Centralized medicine has become a luxury trade. We now trade human futures like pork bellies in healthcare.  I abhor this aspect of my profession. Today, centralized healthcare is selling bread at the price of jewels.  We need to decentralize our practices.  Patients need to embrace decentralization in their lives.

Few leaders in healthcare are capable of expressing with equanimity opinions that differ from the prejudices of their social environment. Become one of the few today who can to help others.  That is real leadership.