In the book Leaders Eat Last Simon Sinek explores the peril of abstraction by leaders.Abstraction separates leaders from the impact that words and actions have on others and leads us down a potentially dangerous path.
The same holds true for leaders in healthcare. When patients are seen us units of throughput (admissions/discharges), physicians are valued by clinical RVUs and safety events are summarized as numbers on a spreadsheet, abstraction occurs.
Physician leaders in healthcare should remain clinically engaged, they should walk the walk and talk the talk, as I have previously explored here.
To not do so separates us from our patients, colleagues and the impact of our leadership decisions.
