Physician Leadership: The 11 Skills Every Doctor Needs to be an Effective Leader

Why didn’t Michael Jordan make it in baseball?How do we get Kanye West to shut up?Have you ever felt like past successes have made future success harder?The answers to these questions and more are in this book.I’m convinced if Jordan would have read “Physician Leadership,” he would have won the world series. I’m not Jordan, but I have had my share of accomplishments, I’ve run marathons, triathlons, published books, started businesses, quickly accelerated my career, earned degrees and I know some of those successes and achievements have led to future failures. In my struggle to learn and grow and achieve I learned a lot, but I didn’t learn – everything. I was fighting the last battle. I was moving forward using tools I had learned from the past. I felt like I was taking two steps forward and two or three or nine steps backwards. I’ve been looking for answers two why that happens? Why is it so rare to see someone succeed at two or three disciplines? When it does happen, it is remarkable. Bo Jackson played baseball and football. Elon Musk created PayPay and Tesla. Why is that rare? (Bo and Elon may have read this book). How does success happen? This was the question I was trying to answer when I read Malcom Gladwell’s, “Outliers,” and 500 other books. Physician Leadership has the answers I was looking for. I wish I would have started with this book, I wouldn’t have needed so many other books. Yes, it is written for Physicians, but the lessons in this book apply to your profession, your life, your goals and every noble pursuit. If you have ever done anything successfully, this book is for you. If you have ever felt like past successes have worked against you, this book is for you. If you have ever succeeded in one area and wanted to surpass that success in another field, this book if for you. This book is the science of second success. This book is for the restaurant owner who wants to be a day trader. It’s for the college athlete who wants to be an entrepreneur. It’s for the mortgage loan officer who wants to be a broker. It’s for the real estate agent who wants to be a screen writer. It’s for the business person who wants to be an artist. It’s for the hourly employee who wants to be the VP. It’s for the ambitious, the talented, the hard working, the diligent. This book is for anyone with heart and a dream. This books if for Physicians who want to be leaders. Someone please give a copy of this book to Kanye West.

I bought this book for my physician daughter, and bought an extra copy for myself. I am so glad I did. It holds great wisdom and advice for leaders, whether they are in the medical world or not. The book fills a niche for doctors, because leadership skills are different than patient-doctor skills, even though they are related. The content is solid, and it is still very readable. While it helps to read each chapter successively, you could choose one chapter at a time, a nod to respecting busy professionals' time. Dr. Nichols includes a wide variety of background resources - that are in themselves a sign of how well-read and well-researched she is on this topic. The book is a definite recommend for any physician, and for anyone else as a complement to their collection of leadership and self-improvement books.

Dr. Nichols provides a comprehensive review of key concepts in leadership, building on personal examples from her illustrious career as a physician leader. At the end of each well-researched chapter is a list of reflection questions followed by exercises to reinforce the material covered. An especially meaningful quote was, "What I had to learn was, there is more to leadership than telling people what to do." This exceptional guide should be incorporated into every medical school and residency program curriculum. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in leadership, from budding leaders to highly seasoned executives. There is something for everyone!

This was well organized and introduced leadership principle with articulation of how well practiced skill sets of the physician translate into leadership - or not. The author has significant experience with medical practice and healthcare leadership. I found this very readable and helpful.

Although this book is titled Physician Leadership, the principles discussed will apply to anyone who is in a leadership role or is seeking to obtain one. It is refreshing in its frank discussion of lessons learned by mistakes made, and is a reminder that it is humans, just like us, who become leaders. The sage wisdom shared about how to build relationships will help the reader appreciate both the humanity and the value of those they work with. Physicians who aspire to become leaders have some special characteristics, well formed in training, that can make leadership roles more challenging, like the need to make decisions very quickly. Nichols shares advice on how to make sure these ingrained habits do not impede forward progress. This work will join the other classics on my bookshelves that I refer to when I need inspiration to lead and excel.