They were building full-time leadership careers.
You were still learning medicine. 🩺
Your administrative and nursing colleagues had a HUGE head start on you in leadership experience.
Think about it. A nurse in his/her mid 20s can become a charge nurse. In a few years, they can be leading dozens of nurses in a full time leadership role. At the same age, you are in your second year of residency.
An administrator majors in administrative leadership, then gets a fellowship in administrative leadership, and can be in the C-suite in his/her 30s. At the same age, you are in your first few years of practice struggling to figure out how to efficiently take care of patients.
While you mastered medicine, they mastered leadership.
Physicians rarely step into significant leadership roles before their late 30s or 40s. ⌛ And when they do, leadership is frequently part-time, layered on top of clinical responsibilities.
Yet, we expect physician leaders to perform at the same level.
This isn't about intelligence, talent, or potential. It's about the actual time spent leading.
And we can't make up for years of missed leadership experience with a generic seminar or an online class.
💡The solution is individualized leadership coaching. It’s the highly efficient, cost-effective way to help physician leaders rapidly gain ground.
Diagnose the gaps. Target the development. Apply it to real-world challenges.
We invest years developing expert physicians. Let's be just as intentional about developing exceptional physician leaders.
Next step: Which Physician Leadership Package is right for you?
Let’s chat to see how to focus and accelerate your physician leadership development.
Jon Zlabek (JZ), MD, MBA, FSVM, FACP, is a physician executive and physician leadership coach with more than 25 years of clinical experience and a diverse leadership background, including roles as Chief Medical Officer, Medical Vice President, Board of Trustees member, and Chief of Staff. Through JZ and Me Physician Development, I help physicians build confidence, strengthen connection, and become exceptional leaders through diagnostic-driven physician leadership coaching. Learn more about my approach to physician leadership coaching.
