Bloom where you're planted, build as much real estate between listening and speaking, lead from the front — here is the best leadership advice five cardiology leaders have ever received:
Gopi Dandamudi, MD. Executive Medical Director of the Center for Cardiovascular Health at Virginia Mason Franciscan Health (Tacoma, Wash.): It will sound funny when I say it, but building as much real estate between listening and speaking. I tend to talk a lot and formulate strategies and solutions pretty quickly. As a leader, it's incredibly important that you are in tune and focused on what's in front of you. Listening skills, I think, are some of the hardest to learn as physicians; we're always making a diagnosis, treating a patient and moving on to the next one. But leadership is a different skill set. Leaders are managing people, learning to listen, learning to understand what the problem is before you actually come up with solutions.
Secondly, have a little bit of patience. Whereas physicians were trained to do things quickly, administrators need to take a little more time. They have to learn how to have patience, see the long game and resist instant gratification. It's like fine wine — you have to let it mature for a little bit of time.
Alina Joseph. Executive Director of Heart and Vascular Services at Kettering (Ohio) Health Network: Some of the best advice I got early in my career was bloom where you're planted. I think when people are always looking for what's next, they can't blossom and develop the role they're currently in. So I would echo that advice: Look at the role that you're in and expand it, do everything that you can to make your current role as big and impactful as possible, and then future doors will open.
The second piece of advice is leadership is more about serving than leading. Think of the leader that you want to follow; be that person and others will follow you. Inspiring individuals is really what leadership is all about. It's providing clarity, providing a vision, encouraging them and being the support for them, giving them the resources that they need to do their job. It's really about serving them knowing what their needs are and how to best meet those.
Meera Kondapaneni, MD. Chief of Cardiology at MetroHealth (Cleveland): People used to say, "lead from the front," but I believe more in leading together, where you are with your team and you all move together. It's not like I'm ahead of the team and I'm pulling everyone. Leading with the team is more effective and makes me feel like I'm part of the team instead of ahead of them. My team trusts me more and it's not a top-to-bottom approach.
The second thing is the ability to delegate, which was the hardest thing personally for me. Advice that I have received early on: Let go of my desire to control everything and trust that person to do the work. If they need help, then it's an opportunity to teach and for that person to develop into a future leader. Feeling comfortable delegating tasks and guiding people to do it well is the biggest transformation I've seen over the years in my leadership.
Mitchell Weinberg, MD. Chair of the Department of Cardiology at Staten Island University Hospital (New York City): The best advice I received is that a leader can take many forms, but they should always lead from the front. I took that to heart as a young leader, and I've realized one must always be nimble, but you have to be the first one in the room.
Jonathan Weinsaft, MD. Chief of Cardiology at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian (New York City): It's critical to have a vision of where one is going, to have an ability to seek good counsel and to identify sources of good counsel to listen to, while also staying true to one's inner compass and core beliefs.