I’ve been watching physician leaders over the years and have seen some excellent leaders and some weak ones. I think there is one trait that separates these two camps - humility.

Humility Isn’t Being Weak

Webster’s defines humility as “freedom from pride or arrogance.” It comes from the word humble which means being free of haughtiness. Throughout history, when we examine the lives of good leaders there is a common problem which contributes to their fall. It is pride that gets many leaders into trouble. They display an attitude of superiority and contempt for people they perceived to be inferior to them.

Humility isn’t thinking less of yourself. Humility is knowing your strengths and weaknesses. It’s understanding that you don’t have all the answers and may need to rely on others to provide you that information. Humility isn’t being weak; it’s having the right mindset to lead.

Humility is a Mindset that Sets the Direction...

This last summer my family and I went to a water park while on vacation. It was fun and relaxing. One of their favorite rides was the lazy river. When I asked my daughter why it was her favorite, she replied, “Because I can just drift along. It doesn’t take any effort at all.”

In the lazy river, the water doesn’t move that fast. You can easily walk against it if you want, but it's strong enough to push you past you might want to go such as an exit. The point of the ride is to drift along and let the current take you where it will. Over time, I’ve noticed that some leaders tend to drift in their duties. They might be rushed, trying to juggle clinical and administrative duties and set the administrative functions on the proverbial back burner. To be honest, I’ve probably drifted myself at one time or another. Drifting in your leadership is dangerous because you don’t know where you’ll end up and that might be an unwelcome surprise, and...

The other day I flew from my hometown to Denver. I was taking my daughter out there to visit her friends. There were a few isolated thunderstorms around, but we thought they would be gone by the time we arrived in the area. At least that’s what the experts were telling us. Using the data provided by meteorologists, we took off and headed to Denver. As we approached Denver, it became quite clear the storms were still present. The experts’ predictions didn’t come true. We landed at a small airport and waited. Eventually, the storms passed, and we made it to Denver. We accomplished our mission, going to Denver, for a specific purpose, my daughter seeing old friends.

Managing change is very similar to flying a small plane. You collect the opinions of experts, plan your trip and head out. You’ll have bumps along the way and may even face severe thunderstorms at times. Things might be delayed, and your trip doesn’t go as planned, but if you stay focused you...

Everyone makes mistakes, even leaders. I’ve made more mistakes than I want to admit as a leader. Mistakes can be costly, but nothing is more expensive than not learning from your mistakes. Do not waste the tuition costs of your mistakes.

I've seen people from all walks of life fail to maximize the tuition their mistakes cost them. Mistakes, missteps, and errors provide us an opportunity to learn. If we fail to realize the teaching point, we will be worse off because we will likely make the same mistake again.

How to Learn From Your Mistakes

Learning from your mistakes isn't always easy and straightforward. Sometimes it can be straightforward, yet other times, the water is a bit murky. The best way to analyze the learning experience is to ask yourself some questions. Here are a few questions that can help you begin your trek down the learning path.

• What happened?

  Ask yourself what really happened? Do you understand the gravity of the situation? Write down on a piece of paper...

I remember the first time I was handed the financial reports of my group practice. I asked myself, “What am I looking at?” I felt confused. I didn't know what all the line items were. I didn’t know what the numbers really meant. I acted like I knew what I was reading and let my pride get in the way of my performance.

Then a little voice inside my head said I needed to learn and master the knowledge. I wanted to be able to contribute and not only understand but affect the numbers on the page. I've always been someone who is continuously looking to improve myself. Never stop learning has been my motto. I also discovered understanding financial statements isn’t hard or complicated. It’s merely a different set of rules, concepts, and words to be learned.

I'm Not Alone, and Neither are You

I’ve spoken with many groups and physicians across this country. The most common thread I’ve seen in our conversations is a deficit in financial intelligence....

A few nights ago I worked with a surgeon that was running behind schedule. Somehow his office double booked his schedule, and he had additional cases to do that day. This gentleman is a typical type-A personality, and this situation seemed to kick those traits up a notch. I arrived to help with his second to the last case. He was rushing around and very impatient with everyone, even the patient. He was snapping at the operating room nurses and his resident. His behavior was making everyone else in the anxious and uncomfortable. For some reason, the laparoscopic camera monitor wasn’t working. He barked some orders to get it fixed and decided to proceed with placing the laparoscopic ports the old fashion way. He just couldn’t wait for the problem to fixed. He decided to continue without a working monitor and then got into some bleeding. The mess that followed was a direct result of his actions and impatience. A positive trait of wanting to get things done coupled with an...

I recently met with an old friend over a cup of coffee. He still works at our old place of employment. During our conversation, he shared a story of one of his supervisors. During a meeting about resources and the need for newer equipment, his boss said to his team, "I'm not your advocate. Your lucky to have your job so deal with it." Suffice it to say, he and his fellow team members were not happy. They felt uncared for and abandoned. Many are now looking for a new place of employment. His boss was quite successful in communicating her lack of desire to assist them to do their best work for the company. As a leader, you need to be very careful about the message you send out to your people.

Five Things Leaders Do

1. They inspire others. Leaders influence others to help move the company towards its goals and objectives. They do this be effectively communicating the mission and purpose of the organization. The mission is what the organization does, and the purpose is why they do it....

Physicians use various types of metrics to determine how healthy their patients are. We track and monitor diabetes with regular blood sugar checks and HbgA1Cs. Each time our patient comes into our clinic we record their weight, blood pressure and other vitals. In pediatrics, we use growth charts to track and monitor the child’s growth. In operating a financially healthy clinic, we should use similar metrics, and some of the easiest to use are financial ratios. There are many different types of ratios - productivity, liquidity, profitability, and financial strength. Each different type of ratio looks at a different aspect of your practice’s financial health. Here are a few of the ratios I use on a regular basis.

Working Capital

Working capital looks at your ability to pay your bills on time. If we subtract your current liabilities from your current assets, we find your working capital. The word current here means any asset that can be converted quickly into cash,...