James W. Fleshman M.D.

Onaca, N. and J. W. Fleshman (2020). “Types of Leadership and How to Use Them in Surgical Areas.” Clin Colon Rectal Surg 33(4): 228-232.

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Surgery is a very complex, changing, and, sometimes, threatening environment. Emotional intelligence is a key skill for surgical leaders. Authoritarian, hierarchical, transactional, transformational, adaptive, situational, and servant-shepherd leadership can all be used in surgical leadership. Patient care must be the priority for surgical leaders.

Peters, W., A. Picchioni and J. W. Fleshman (2020). “Surgical Leadership.” Clin Colon Rectal Surg 33(4): 233-237.

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There are few topics of more importance in health care today than surgical leadership. The surgical leader will need to organize and maintain a collective effort if the organization is going to be effective. Health care teams work in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous ecosystem. Therefore, surgeons must develop skills beyond the operating room. The facilitative leader will lead from the middle, not the top. They will empower coworkers to participate in creating a vision by building consensus, developing teams, clarifying roles, and earning the loyalty and trust of their colleagues. Surgical leaders will use communication as the vehicle for their success, including intentional listening, asking open-ended questions, and creating dialog instead of argumentative exchanges. The future of health care belongs to the physicians who are investing the time and effort today to become leaders.

Kostka, R. and J. W. Fleshman (2020). “Leadership in Surgical Residency.” Clin Colon Rectal Surg 33(4): 221-224.

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Surgical training can be compared with a functioning military unit with chain of command, responsibility/accountability relationship, and graduated leadership assignments. Proficiency, commitment, communication, consistency, ownership, relationships, confidence, humility, feedback and evaluation, exemplary behavior, empathy, and humanity are all aspects of leadership. Leadership skills developed in the protected environment of residency are the basis for a successful career.

Wells, K. and J. W. Fleshman (2020). “Women in Leadership.” Clin Colon Rectal Surg 33(4): 238-242.

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The role of a surgeon is inherently that of a leader and as women become a larger minority in surgical specialties, the next step becomes greater representation of women in positions of surgical leadership. Leadership is a relationship of granting and claiming wherein society must accept that women are deserving of leadership and women must realize their rightfulness to lead. Implicit gender bias undermines this relationship by perpetuating traditional gender norms of women as followers and not as leaders. Though female representation in academia and leadership has increased over the past few decades, this process is unacceptably slow, in part due to manifestations of implicit bias including discrimination within academia, pay inequality, and lack of societal support for childbearing and childcare. The women who have achieved leadership roles are testament to woman’s rightfulness to lead and their presence serves to encourage other young professional women that success is possible despite these challenges.

Cavaness, K., A. Picchioni and J. W. Fleshman (2020). “Linking Emotional Intelligence to Successful Health Care Leadership: The Big Five Model of Personality.” Clin Colon Rectal Surg 33(4): 195-203.

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Research has identified emotional intelligence as the ability to understand and manage emotions. This is especially important for surgical leaders who must interact constructively with teams, administrators, patients, colleagues, and the community. Conventional intelligence emphasizes the rational and analytical brain. When one becomes aware of emotional intelligence, it adds to the repertoire of the surgical leader. It gives them insight into the dynamics of interpersonal relationships. This will allow the surgeon to control the emotional side of communication. Specifically, emotional intelligence focuses on self-awareness, self-management, social skills, and resiliency. With these skills, they are able to modulate their leadership style, allowing for increased conflict management and persuasiveness, more effective change management, and consensus-building. Emotional intelligence is not innate; these are learned skills. With practice and attention, it is possible to acquire the skills to enhance relationships.