Renewal and change for clinical laboratory managers

This article examines barriers to change in the clinical laboratory and discusses suggestions for maintaining vitality, renewal, and professional growth. The major barriers to change and renewal include institutional pressures that underlie the personnel shortage and financial implications of laboratory service, time pressures associated with the normal operation of a laboratory, work habits that develop early in the career of a laboratory manager, and managerial policies that limit or discourage change. Some solutions to overcome these barriers include goal setting, job or career change, lifelong learning, good staff members, mentors, and outside interests.