What Leadership Books Do Not Tell You

By Brian J. Bolwell, MD, FACP

When I was first appointed to another key leadership job over a decade ago, I realized I had never really been trained about the subject, and I knew very little about different leadership styles. So I did what I frequently do when I want to know more about something—I started to read books. I have now read over 40 books about leadership. These books are generally geared toward business and industry, but most of the lessons I have learned are universal and applicable to leadership in academic medicine. I also have participated in several intensive executive coaching sessions to examine my leadership strengths and opportunities for improvement.

In general, I believe the principles of a leadership style called “serving leadership” make sense. Briefly, this means I need to set the vision for our organization; recruit excellent people, both physicians and non-physicians; remove obstacles that are obstructing success (these are frequently political challenges with which I need to be directly involved); develop a culture of excellence, empathy, and importantly, accountability; and give credit to others when success is achieved. There are many excellent books about serving leadership.

While most leadership principles are valid across industries, academic medicine does have its own set of quirks, challenges, and principles rarely discussed in generic leadership books. The following is a list of lessons I have learned about leading a large academic cancer center. Many of these can apply to a range of leadership roles, no matter how large or small.

Read the full article and Dr. Bolwell’s eight leadership principles in the Jan. 10 issue of Oncology Times. Dr. Bolwell is Chair of Physician Leadership and Development and former Chair of Taussig Cancer Institute and Professor of Medicine at the Cleveland Clinic Lerner School of Medicine.