Shared leadership in a medical practice: keys to success

Medical practices are in a complex industry and require the expertise of both physician and business leaders to be successful. Sharing the leadership between these two professionals brings with it challenges that are best met if the environment is supportive. This support comes in the form of external aspects such as selection, role definition, organizational hierarchy, time, and process. Critical to shared leadership is communication, both frequency and quality. Conflicts are likely to occur, and how they are resolved is what determines the strength of a shared governance relationship. Reality is that finding the balance in shared governance is diffcult, but with effort and commitment, it can provide the organization with the performance it hopes to achieve.