In the Grip of Expertise

Effective, collaborative leadership is one of the most credible and important predictors of team performance. This is relevant to us as surgeons because teamwork is now a common part of the vernacular in health care, we do not operate in a vacuum without a team, and we are well positioned to assume a leadership role on our teams. However, our standing as experts, our training and the way we were mentored, an insufficient concept of leadership as a process as opposed to a position, and inadequate nontechnical skills may disadvantage us as surgeons as collaborative members of teams. Liberation from the grip of expertise can be an inflection point for development.