Skip to main content

[AUDIO LOGO]

Being a leader in health care today is really hard, there are just so many demands, we’re expected to do more with less. And I thought that 25 years ago, and I’m sitting here today saying, we’re expected to do even more with less.

I do think it pushes though good leaders to challenged themselves to collaborate, work with others to figure out how do we solve this. I do think in my leadership journey, and I’ve worked with some great leaders in my career, I do think more than ever great leaders today recognize that we have to collaborate. We don’t have all the answers.

And the leaders that succeed or win today are those that do open themselves up to saying, I don’t know how to do this but let’s figure it out together. That leadership authenticity, I think is more important than ever today. Where I do think leaders from 30 years ago, we were expected to solve everything and you just suck it up and figured it out.

And I think that is one of the nice things for us, as leaders, is we can be more authentic and say, I just don’t know but let’s figure it out, let’s think about who has this expertise, and let’s get them in a room. And so I think that is something that we should admire and reward and encourage, that the challenges are too big today for any one person to solve.

And so I often equate leadership to being just a great orchestra conductor. I love going to the sympathy. I love listening to orchestras. In a really good orchestra conductor, knows when to bring the right instruments in at the right time, knows when to ask the trumpets to be quiet and when you want them to be louder, and when you need somebody to beat on the drums.

And so that is an analogy I have loved over the last couple of years because good leaders don’t have all the expertise but they know how to make decisions, they are agile, and they bring in the resources that help them solve a problem, make a decision, and move. And that is what we need to do better today in health care.

[AUDIO LOGO]

Author

  • Jill Schwieters

    Jill is dedicated to making a difference in healthcare by fostering innovation and improving the patient and employee experience. As senior managing director of Surgical Directions, she drives organizational strategy, builds strategic client and partner relationships, leads key growth initiatives, and oversees executive leadership development.

    View all posts

At Surgical Directions, We Offer a Variety of Workforce Solutions Services.

Jill Schwieters

Jill is dedicated to making a difference in healthcare by fostering innovation and improving the patient and employee experience. As senior managing director of Surgical Directions, she drives organizational strategy, builds strategic client and partner relationships, leads key growth initiatives, and oversees executive leadership development.