Surgeons seeking leadership roles may have to rethink their communication styles, according to Steven Barnett, MD, CMO of Hoag Orthopedic Institute in Orange County, California.
Dr. Barnett joined the Becker's Spine & Orthopedic podcast April 15 to discuss the migration of orthopedic surgeries to outpatient centers, practice consolidation and leadership advice.
This is an excerpt of the podcast. Listen to the full episode here.
Question: What advice do you have for aspiring surgeon leaders?
Dr. Steven Barnett: I believe that when it comes to young orthopedic surgeons who are interested in future leadership, a couple of things are important when it comes to orthopedic surgery. Typically in the operating room, you're the person with all the answers, and this kind of trait is not something that transitions easily into a leadership role. I think for aspiring young leaders, you need to be able to foster an environment around you where you encourage open communication, and you want to avoid stifling opinions and communication from those around you. That's one of the things I've learned being an orthopedic surgeon first, and then migrating through this process to become a chief medical officer of the hospital. The important thing is to realize that you don't have all the answers, and there's people that work with you that are smarter than you with respect to certain aspects of day-to-day management of the hospital. So you need to be open to listening to them and utilizing all of the strengths of the people around you.