Is caring the missing ingredient in health care leadership?

As physicians and health care professionals, we are called to care for patients, their families, and trainees. Yet, the health care team is often not cared for by leaders. This has resulted in staggering rates of burnout. It has led to many physicians and nurses leaving the field, creating more stress on an already overworked workforce. The question is: How do we fix this?

The answer may be that we need to lead with the same level of caring as we do when caring for our patients. If we take care of the health care team, this will improve the lives of those who provide the care and ultimately improve patient care. Many health care leaders have claimed that people are their priority, yet they have not led in a manner consistent with that idea.

The book provides a road map for leaders to care for those they lead. The idea, called caring-inspired leadership, is simply that every action a leader takes needs to be centered around the notion of taking care of those we lead. These are not just feel-good concepts but evidence-based leadership strategies.

Here are three ideas from the book and examples of caring acts of leadership that can help us create the cultures in medicine that we want and deserve.

Take care of yourself.

We cannot take care of those we lead if we are burned out and stressed out. Many in medicine have gone above and beyond for patient care. This is our responsibility as health care providers, yet this has resulted in the system abusing the health care team, knowing they will not let patients be harmed. Burnout has been linked to the self-perceived effectiveness of leadership performance among leaders in health care.

If we care about leading effectively, we must make well-being a priority. We cannot fix well-being in health care without changing the system. Leaders need to role model taking care of themselves. Too often, we have considered being busy and overworked as badges of honor in medicine. Leaders can do the following:

1. Set boundaries and take vacation. Take time to recharge our batteries. Unless it is urgent and someone’s life depends on it, wait until you are back at work to communicate with your team. There will be times when we must stay late or miss an important event at home, but that should not be the norm. Protect your own time and respect the time of those you lead with after-hours communication. A recent study reported that taking vacation days and not working while on vacation was associated with decreased rates of burnout.

2. Make well-being an expectation of those we lead. Talk to the people you lead about their well-being. Ask them what they are doing to take care of themselves. Talk about your strategies. Tell them you want and need them to take care of themselves so they can be optimally present at work.

3. Provide support and create systems where well-being is possible. If you tell people their well-being is important, then you need to create a culture where that is possible. Ask how you can better support them. Move an early meeting to later in the day so they can drop off their kids at school or give them time to exercise. We don’t know what they need if we don’t ask. A small study suggests that giving physicians agency around combating burnout might be an important step in addressing systemic issues.

4. Hold ourselves and others accountable for well-being. If you fail to live up to this expectation, tell your team. When you see them not taking care of themselves, give feedback. For example, “I noticed you were here late last night. Why? Let’s figure out what it will take to get you out at a reasonable time.” This investment in their well-being pays off in the long run.

Invest in the professional development of those you lead.

Think about a leader who invested in your professional development and career. I suspect you are smiling! When people take the time to help us personally and professionally, we will move mountains for them.

How can you create career development opportunities for those you lead? Can you send them to a course or help them get a certification to advance their career? How can you create professional development opportunities that support the individuals you lead and your organization? It is a win-win!

Who are you mentoring? Could you mentor more people? Could you encourage leaders whom you supervise to make mentoring a larger part of how they invest in those they lead?

Are you sponsoring people for career development? Are you helping the people you lead get opportunities that will advance their careers, such as positions on important committees, awards, or new job positions?

Impact of gratitude

In my book, I wrote about a colleague who went years without anyone on her leadership team thanking her. We need to do a much better job of helping people feel valued for the life-changing work they do. Make saying thank you a habit. Be specific, and use these messages of thanks as ways to emphasize the value of their work and what is important in your culture. Looking for tangible ways to recognize people and let them know you value their work? Check out this past blog.

The time has come for leaders in health care to prioritize the health care team like we do patients. Start building your legacy as a caring-inspired leader today!

Joshua Hartzell is an internal medicine and infectious diseases physician and author of A Prescription for Caring in Healthcare Leadership: Building a Culture of Compassion and Excellence.