Medical Leaders Identify Personal Characteristics and Experiences that Contribute to Leadership Success in Medicine

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Introduction: The approach of medical educators to preparing learners for leadership reflects the emphasis leadership theories once placed on experiential learning. But, contemporary theories now also show a renewed interest in the role of personal characteristics in effective leadership. This shift raises questions explored here: What characteristics mark top medical leaders? What experiences nurture those characteristics? Method: In a 2015 qualitative study, 48 University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) medical graduates who met criteria for outstanding leadership participated in semi-structured interviews. Investigators applied directed content-analysis to their responses. Then, using iterative open-coding, investigators identified personal characteristics leaders said contributed to their leadership, clustered them into types, and counted the number of leaders who spoke to each type. Next, they coded and categorized experiences leaders discussed and counted the number of leaders who mentioned each type of experience. Finally, they identified leaders' comments about which types of experiences helped develop which types of characteristics. Results: Most leadersmentioned four types of characteristics: openness to new ideas/opportunities/astute risk-taking; intense motivation/active involvement/commitment; people-orientation; and capability/competence/ intelligence. Many discussed two additional types: self-awareness and service-orientation. Leaders said these types of experiences nurtured their characteristics: family traditions, high-school co-curricular activities, participation in medical school learning communities plus interaction with role models/mentors and authentic opportunities to practice leadership, innovation, and excellence throughout their education and in the workplace. Conclusions: Medical leaders' views of the role of personal characteristics in outstanding leadership and the power of educational and workplace experiences, especially informal ones, to mold those characteristics have enriched understanding how to prepare tomorrow's leaders.