My Leadership Journey
Physician leadership development driven by character, connection, and 25 years of clinical reality
Jon Zlabek (JZ), MD, MBA, FSVM, FACP
When addressing medical staff friction or defending a clinical project to a finance-focused board, you need a coach who has actually survived a punishing call night. You want a fellow physician—a trusted sounding board—who has stood where you stand today and can help you navigate the transition from expert physician to exceptional leader.
I watched great physicians enthusiastically accept leadership roles, only to discover that the skills that made them outstanding clinicians weren't the skills their new role required. That realization became the foundation for The JZ Way™: helping physicians navigate this transition with greater confidence, self-awareness, and success.
This lesson is personal for me. I was focused on getting things done, and I was good at it. If there was a problem, I solved it. If something was stuck, I pushed it forward. Those instincts mostly served me well as a physician, but not as a leader.
It first caught up with me in my Chief Resident year. Our board pass rate was bad. Really bad. I knew a big part of the solution was to start a board review class. I got the diagnosis right. I got the plan right. But I badly underestimated what it would take to actually lead it. The rollout was a mess. My leadership skills simply weren't ready for the job. Decades later, that failure still sticks with me.
That experience started my journey of leadership development. I didn't become less driven. I learned that how you lead matters as much as what you accomplish. Along the way, I mostly figured leadership out the hard way. That's why I coach: to be the colleague I wish had been there for me.
Leading with Character and Connection
True leadership isn't your title. It's whether people choose to follow you even when they could walk away. For me, that comes down to two simple things: character and connection.
Character is your foundation. It means having the moral courage to live in integrity, take accountability, and build institutional trust—especially when you are backed into a high-stakes corner and doing the right thing isn't easy.
Connection is how we bring people with us. It means seeing your clinicians, nurses, and administrative partners as people who deserve to be shepherded, not managed. You do not have to be abrasive or authoritative to get outstanding results.
A Transformational Approach
I believe in transformational servant leadership—because I've watched it outperform command-and-control in hard environments. Failing programs, a short-staffed unit, physicians in open conflict—I've led through all of it. But I didn’t always lead this way. Early in my career, I thought pushing harder was how you got results. After some hard lessons, it became clear that it never worked as well as slowing down, listening, and building trust. I eventually learned that slower is faster—and that taking the time to establish character and genuine connection is what provides the best outcomes.
You don't have to choose between getting outstanding results and keeping your people whole. High-performance teams are built on trust, mutual respect, and genuine care.
Experience That Shapes My Approach
As I reflect over my career, I’ve sat on both sides of the table, as a practicing physician and as a physician executive in healthcare leadership across multi-state integrated health systems. My medical training and MBA give me a perspective that bridges the clinical and business sides of healthcare. I bring that experience to my work with physicians, combining what I’ve learned firsthand with evidence-based leadership development.
The titles matter less than what they taught me: how to influence without authority, work through conflict, balance clinical and business priorities, build trust through change, and lead people who don’t always agree with you. Those are the real leadership challenges I help physicians with today.
Executive & Governance Seats
Chief Medical Officer: Guided a clinical and cultural turnaround at the flagship hospital of a multi-hospital, multi-state healthcare system.
Medical Vice President: Provided strategic and operational oversight for more than 240 clinicians in 18 distinct medical specialties—from Orthopedic Surgery to Behavioral Health.
System Board of Trustees Member: Provided fiscal, compliance, and governance oversight for over 11 years at the highest level of a multi-state health system.
Chief of Staff: Formally elected by peer medical staff to govern medical staff affairs.
Department Chair: Selected by executive leadership to align clinical workflows and lead department operations.
System Transformation & Cultural Impact
Physician Leadership Developer: Created and instructed the signature "Foundations of Leadership" curriculum, training more than 150 physicians. Several went on to successfully assume medical director and executive leadership roles.
Eight-Time "Teacher of the Year" Winner: Honored eight times as "Teacher of the Year" by residents and students for creating high-performance educational cultures. Led GME programs as an Associate Program Director in two different health systems.
Deep Clinical Roots: Practiced across the healthcare spectrum as a double-board-certified primary care internist, vascular medicine specialist, hospital teaching attending, and clinical researcher. Founded and led a multidisciplinary Vascular Institute.
Medical Informatics Innovation: Directed an enterprise-wide transition from paper records to Epic. Spearheaded an Epic Optimization CME course for clinicians that measurably reduced after-hours charting, boosted daily clinical efficiency, and directly improved professional quality of life.
Community Leadership & Civic Footprint
For me, true leadership extends beyond healthcare. For nearly three decades, I have loved serving in church, community, educational, and civic organizations, with a particular focus on financial stewardship, mentorship, team development, and service to underserved populations.
When you lead in these settings, people can walk away at any time. It's a revealing test of your leadership, and it's where I developed many of the relational skills that shape how I lead today.
For more details about both my professional and community involvement, please review my CV linked below.
What Others Are Saying
Dr. Zlabek genuinely sees and values every person he interacts with, regardless of role or title. He combines that ability to build trust and meaningful relationships with deep clinical expertise and years of experience leading clinicians and teams through complex healthcare improvement work. He understands the realities clinicians face, what it takes to translate evidence and good intentions into meaningful change for patients, and the complexities of navigating healthcare systems.
Dr. Zlabek leads with the heart of a servant leader and the courage of a change agent—calm and thoughtful, yet willing to challenge the status quo, have hard conversations, and hold people accountable to do what is right. He doesn’t lead through title or authority; he influences through relationships, authenticity, clinical credibility, enthusiasm, and a deep belief in people. He will support you, challenge you, and tell you what you need to hear—not simply what you want to hear—making him exactly the kind of person you want in your corner as your leadership coach.
Director of Quality
That’s my story. I’d love to hear yours.
A Leadership Connection Conversation is a chance for us to talk through where you are, what you're facing, and whether The JZ Way™ is actually the right fit. If it's not, I'll tell you that too. No obligation, just a conversation.
Let’s talk.
Click to request your Leadership Connection Conversation.
Duration: 30 Minutes | Investment: Complimentary
