For years numerous books and articles were written about the art of management, but over the past few years, the pendulum has swung toward a plea for leaders rather than managers. As a layer upon layer of management has been applied to the practice of medicine, it has become clear that managers have not created the smoothly running systems that we desperately need.
In a sense, a shift towards leadership is vital; however, as with most aspects of human endeavors, the pendulum may be swinging too far. Reactionary answers and clever commentary have not solved our problems, but extremely important pieces of the puzzle are embedded in these articles.
What we need is leaders who know how to manage.
Management without leadership is virtually worthless, yet the role of a manager remains extremely important. This combination of talents can come in many different packages. Although a single person can fulfill these roles, it is also reasonable to combine the talents of several individuals. The exact form is not as important as ensuring the qualities of positive leadership and effective management be woven into the overall administration of the practice.
A brief web search reveals thousands of quotes regarding managers, management, leaders, and leadership. Some quotes are insightful; others miss the mark altogether. What is true about all is that they provide either a glimpse of at least part of what is needed or reveal an element of the problem. We need an honest appraisal of our strengths and challenges before we can decide what to do with either. Good management does not just happen, and excellent leadership doesn’t arise from simply talking about it.
Somehow, we have reached a point where being a manager implies micromanagement that is unkind, not nice, or potentially evil, and leadership implies the opposite. This is, of course, insane. There are numerous examples of people in high leadership roles who are unkind, not nice, and potentially worse, just as there are kind and equitable managers in the world.
Perhaps we need a different word to describe this—at Smart Business Great Medicine we liken current leadership/management in medicine to ringleaders and would like to see leaders/managers who are pioneers in making things better. Because the word manager now has a loaded negative connotation, and leadershipa positive connotation, we use leader preferentially, understanding that great leaders do far more than what is typically discussed.
We advocate finding an honest, hard-working, fair, kind, and intelligent leader to be the boss. These people do not just grow on trees, so begin by filling this role yourself. Always remember that you will be looked at as the leader of the leaders who you select (See our blog post Leaders Are Role Models). Your good leadership will not allow them to shirk their responsibilities or to take on the negative connotations of a manager.
Priority one in office administration, leadership, and management is to make sure that you are a role model for the high-level administrators, mid-level managers, and the rank and file employees. Excellent leadership can and often does arise from every one of these levels of an organization. Do not lull yourself into a belief that a mere title or position on an organizational chart has the same impact as an individual’s actual abilities to help lead your practice and fulfill its promise.
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