Most people who go into medicine aspire to be doctors, nurses or therapists not leaders. But as their careers progress, they find that they are unwillingly placed into a leadership role or it becomes an enticing prospect. As individuals who wish to make a positive change to the lives of others, they want to shape the organizations they represent and deliver better care. If you’re a doctor who’s working toward a role in medical leadership, you’re probably encountering multiple personal and organizational challenges already. In this post, I’ll discuss some of the challenges of medical leadership and how you can overcome them.
You can’t find the time to become a medical leader because of your current commitments
As you grow closer to the phase of your career where becoming a medical leader is possible, it’s easy to feel as though your current commitments won’t allow you to progress. Amidst your clinical responsibilities, you’re tackling budgets, managing revenue, and constantly searching for new ways to improve cash flow.
When you’re constantly putting out fires at work, your personal goals can fall to one side. Unfortunately, a lack of focus/ direction can further harm your medical leadership career aspirations. One way to overcome this is to re-organize your schedule and set limits so that it’s conducive to better personal development. With coaching services from Curis, you’ll learn new ways to free up time for your aspirations and wellbeing.
Transitioning from your role as a physician to a leader doesn’t feel comfortable
It’s rare that transitioning from the role of a physician to a leader feels seamless. Instead, you may start to feel a pull between the two roles. This becomes incredibly challenging when you find yourself becoming a leader of those who you once worked alongside, especially if they’re resistant to the changes you want to effect.
As you move between your physician and leadership role, it’s difficult to spot the personality traits that lend themselves well to both arenas. Using my services, you can identify the elements of your character that make you both an effective physician and an effective leader. You’ll also develop ways of using those habits to produce your best work in both roles. With enough practice, you’ll become so competent and efficient in both domains that you’ll slip between the two roles with ease.
Time appears to stand still when working on projects as a medical leader
Depending on the type of specialty you’re in, progress is often rapid in the medical world. You can form a diagnosis and initiate a treatment plan over a course of a few minutes, hours, or days. You see small-yet-significant changes within your patients as they overcome their physical hurdles. As a result of this, your job leaves you feeling as though you’re making consistent progress.
Unfortunately, life as a leader doesn’t generate results that are as instant. If you’re working on a large-scale project, you may not see progress for months on end. You may start to find this frustrating, and if your frustrations settle in, their presence can negatively impact your work.
Envisioning projects as large efforts with smaller goals can make them easier to tackle. As a medical leadership coach, I often work with my clients to help them focus their attention on smaller goals as a leader. In doing so, they can witness progress and take pride in their work, which then prevents their efforts from suffering due to frustration.
Many of the challenges you’ll face as a medical leader have the ability to negatively impact your work and life. If you’re ready to find another way of doing things, I’m ready to help. Call me at 516 712 6880 to discuss coaching sessions.
