Congratulations to the 23 CMH Faculty Members that successfully completed Heart of Leadership and Managing Others courses in the fall of 2011. Over the span of two years, participants devoted 50 hours to complete two courses that provided relevant leadership skills that equip faculty with the tools and skills to address their daily challenges.

“These two courses were joint programs in developing leadership skills for faculty that are taking on significant administrative tasks in the Department - either education, administrative, research or clinical specialty programs. The faculty who completed both programs devoted about 50 hours of class time and many additional hours beyond that to this effort.” comments William Truog, MD, Associate Chair of Faculty Affairs.

Upon course completion in 2011, Faculty mastered the leadership skills needed to effectively work with patients, staff and other colleagues. A recent participant, Jean-Baptiste Le Pichon, MD, PhD comments, “This training focuses on teaching necessary skills in promoting a positive work environment, dealing effectively with conflict resolution, and understanding the essential qualities of an effective leader.”

Dr. Le Pichon contributes the skills he learned through the courses for part of the success he experienced in some recent endeavors. He explains, “I have had multiple opportunities to use what I was taught since I started the course. During the intervening period, I became the program director for the Child Neurology Residency and we underwent a successful site review. In January of 2011, the section of Neurology also engaged in an effort to redesign our clinic, making it more efficient by decreasing wait times. I was able to bring to the table the skills I learned in the Heart of Leadership training and I believe that these skills were instrumental in a successful endeavor. We were able to decrease our wait time from a couple of months to less than 10 days and we increased our clinic output by 30 to 50%. But more importantly, we did all of this in a positive work environment with everyone buying into the project. I don’t think we could have been so successful if the effort had not been a team effort and the Heart of Leadership course taught me what makes an effective team. I would strongly recommend the course to anyone with an interest in becoming an active participant in forging the future of Children’s Mercy Hospital and Clinics.”

Another participant, John Cowden, MD, MPH, also noted how he has used the training not only in the workplace, but in other roles of his life. He explains, “I have opportunities to apply ideas from the courses every day as an administrator, teacher, clinician, advocate, father, husband, neighbor, etc. As a group, we noticed repeatedly how the tools and skills we gained were relevant to interactions not just in the workplace, but everywhere. Through the courses, I learned to reflect in an organized way on my approach to those I lead. The facilitator was an excellent guide, taking us through provocative group interactions and allowing us to come to our own conclusions about the art and science of leadership and management. My favorite realization was that the ability to move gracefully between leadership styles depending on the person and situation at hand is an extremely challenging goal, but important for moving beyond the level of leadership we can achieve only on instinct. Identifying our natural inclinations and seeing how they can hinder as much as help us was humbling, but empowering.

The Office of Faculty Affairs (OFA) developed the course curriculum in partnership with the Executive Development Group (EDG). EDG is a management consulting firm with expertise in providing customized physician and administrative leadership programs for Academic Medical Centers, Cancer Centers and Healthcare Systems.

Congratulations to the following Faculty Members for the recent completion of the Heart of Leadership and Managing Others Courses:

Amita Amonker, MD
Raymond Chan, MD
John Cowden, MD, MPH
Meredith Dreyer, PhD
Bryce Heese, MD
Mary Hegenbarth, MD
Laurie Hornberger, MD, MPH
Jodi Jackson, MD
Julia Kesterson, MD
Jean-Baptiste Le Pichon, MD, PhD
Winston Manimtim, MD, FAAP
Michael Moran, MD
Christine Moser, PsyD
Jesica Neuhart, MD
Steve Olsen, MD
Lina Patel, MD
Kathryn Pieper, PhD
Diane Plantz, MD
Robert Riss, MD
Lien Russell, MD
Jennifer Schurman, PhD
Jotishna Sharma, MD
Irene Walsh, MD