“The focus of this book isn’t to offer solutions,” writes Dr. Timothy N. Liesching, a physician and CEO, in the first chapter of WHITE COAT LEADERSHIP: Empowering the Next Generation of Healthcare Leaders from Bedside to Boardroom. “Rather, it seeks to inspire and prepare the next generation of White Coat Leaders to grow their leadership skills and become part of the solution.” “Inspire” and “prepare” are two distinct goals, and Liesching falls short on the first. However, he does a passable job on the second, outlining how medical doctors can become effective executives.
Inspiring readers through a book typically requires two elements: powerful prose and evocative stories. But, from the very first pages, Liesching writes paragraphs like this: “These challenges call for leaders to proactively pursue leadership development early in their careers to seamlessly blend clinical insight and a passion to heal with inspirational leadership, comprehensive management, and business acumen.” This turgid, bureaucratic style is far from inspirational.
As for stories, a person with Liesching’s professional background (as gleaned from his bio note) should have a treasure trove of anecdotes. Instead, the reader gets an apparently fictional doctor (“Dr. Olivia Clarke, a first-year surgical intern visiting her first national specialty conference”) who is used to illustrate how to implement a new system. With unintentional irony, Liesching writes that Clarke used “powerful stories” to get buy-in from the staff.
That said, Liesching references many sources the reader can use to understand the variety of concepts that he argues are required to be an effective White Coat Leader, which he defines as “someone who leads with vision, delivers performance, and uplifts people—all while grounded in clinical credibility.” However, even here Liesching makes errors. He cites Daniel Goleman’s concept of “emotional intelligence,” for instance, which has long been debunked in psychology. He also contradicts himself, writing in chapter one (in reference to private equity firms) that “The focus on profits led to decisions that were not in the best interests of patient care or the well-being of healthcare providers" and then writing in chapter seven, “For emerging White Coat Leaders, it is vital to recognize that profit fuels purpose…The reliance on profit underscores the importance of competent financial stewardship, even in nonprofit organisations.”
WHITE COAT LEADERSHIP thus provides a useful overview of the skills a physician needs to run a healthcare organization. But actually learning the nuts and bolts will require further reading of the sources that Liesching copiously provides.
Dragged by turgid prose and dull stories, Dr. Timothy N. Liesching's WHITE COAT LEADERSHIP: Empowering the Next Generation of Healthcare Leaders from Bedside to Boardroom nonetheless contains a wealth of references that physicians interested in becoming effective executives can draw upon. The book touches on every topic a C-suite aspirant needs to know, though it doesn't present a practical guide to developing the required skills.
~ Kevin Baldeosingh for IndieReader