Research Spotlight

Gentry, L. and J. W. Fleshman (2020). “Leadership and Ethics: Virtue Ethics as a Model for Leadership Development.” Clin Colon Rectal Surg 33(4): 217-220.

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Leaders are held to the highest of standards in both performance and ethics. The same is true for leaders in medicine. Thus, medical leaders must give attention to ethical development as well as performance development. Virtue ethics provide a way for the leader to develop ethically. Virtue ethics is the oldest form of ethics. Although other ethical approaches focus on external considerations, virtue ethics focuses on the inward development of character. Following the examples of virtuous people and developing habits of virtue are critical with this approach. The cardinal virtues of prudence, courage, temperance, and justice are considered the most important. Specific virtue lists have also been developed for medical practitioners. All of these virtues can contribute to the enhancement of leadership skills. The virtue approach is especially helpful for leaders because it motivates one to excel in whatever endeavor pursued, whether medicine, leadership, relationships, or life.

Lawson, D. and J. W. Fleshman (2020). “Informal Leadership in Health Care.” Clin Colon Rectal Surg 33(4): 225-227.

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Informal leaders in nursing, medical specialties, and administration positively impact the success of an institution. Developing all members of the team as leader then becomes important, especially in the area of nursing. The result is less need for management and control and more individual self-motivated participation in quality improvement.

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.