Seeking the chair

 

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch

Serving my colleagues as chairman of the department of hematology and medical oncology at the Cleveland Clinic has been my greatest honor and privilege. I am humbled to lead such compassionate, inquisitive, and accomplished clinician scientists during a time of great change in academic medicine. From the introduction of new therapies to the implementation of new operational processes, my team inspires me to extend my capability beyond what I ever thought possible. I am grateful for the opportunity to grow with them.

Many, hearing testimony like that, earnestly seek to become a department chairperson. With the chair comes prestige, validation, and pride. The ambitious also want to wield the chair’s power. Yet, those who seek the chair often do not recognize the source of that power.

Serving as chair can be extraordinarily satisfying, but there are some parts of the job description that an aspiring chairperson should be aware of before seeking the position. These less savory – though necessary – aspects of the job are not explicitly stated in the advertisements in the back of a trade journal. Allow me to translate a typical advertisement. I copied this text from the first advertisement for a department chairperson that I found with a Google search:

Knowledge of and ability to apply professional medical principles, procedures, and techniques. Thorough knowledge of pharmacological agents used in patient treatment. Able to effectively manage and direct medical staff support activities while providing quality medical care. Able to receive detailed information through oral communications; express or exchange ideas by verbal communications. Excellent written and verbal communications, listening, and social skills. Able to interact effectively with people of varied educational, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds, skill levels, and value systems. Performs in a tactful and professional manner. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.

1. “Knowledge of and ability to apply professional medical principles, procedures, and techniques. Thorough knowledge of pharmacological agents used in patient treatment.” You better be a good doctor because …

2. “Able to effectively manage and direct medical staff support activities while providing quality medical care.” You will still be seeing patients while supporting everybody else’s career development, signing off on vacations, setting call schedules, attesting to conflicts of interest, certifying competence, approving research projects, and attending administrative meetings.

 

3. “Able to receive detailed information through oral communications; express or exchange ideas by verbal communications.” Your team will be paging, calling, and knocking on your door whenever they want to immediately address their latest irritation. Responding to irritation with email is a mistake.

4. “Excellent written and verbal communications, listening, and social skills.” You will write email more than you can possibly imagine, with each one precisely worded and politically correct. When you inevitably screw up one of these communications, often because you responded to someone else’s irritation, you will accept the criticism, apologize to the offended party, and correct the error without being defensive.

5. “Able to interact effectively with people of varied educational, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds, skill levels, and value systems.” You will work with people who do not share your worldview, have problems you cannot begin to fathom, display behavior you cannot understand, and expect you to remember their names.

6. “Performs in a tactful and professional manner.” No matter how much someone angers you, you cannot be a jerk like the last chairperson.

 

7. “A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected.” This one is confusing, but I think it means that you need to avoid immediate dismissal of stupid ideas.

8. “Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.” Failure to reach goals set by others is your fault because of inadequate planning.

Who would apply for that job? The only people who should apply are those who are ready to leave their personal comforts behind for the comfort of others.

For those undaunted by the job description, I am frequently asked how a career should develop to maximize the chances of promotion to leadership positions. Should I get my MBA? What committees should I sit on? Who should I get to know and collaborate with? When is the best time to seek promotion? How should I position myself for advantage?

 

I’m sorry to disappoint, but I find that those who seek promotion the most are the ones least likely to be promoted to the position they want. I recommend being yourself while pursuing goals that interest you, seeking education that stimulates you, working with people who engage with you, and helping others succeed instead of yourself. Promotions will follow.

The key is a serving mindset. No MBA, committee, collaboration, event, or positioning will determine your willingness to serve. All may contribute to a chair’s skill set, but the sense of obligation to develop and lead a team can only come from an altruistic resolve to put others first. It is hard work that requires sacrifice and a willingness to fail so that others may succeed. I recommend it.

Dr. Kalaycio is editor in chief of Hematology News. He chairs the department of hematologic oncology and blood disorders at Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. Contact him at kalaycm@ccf.org.

 

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch

Serving my colleagues as chairman of the department of hematology and medical oncology at the Cleveland Clinic has been my greatest honor and privilege. I am humbled to lead such compassionate, inquisitive, and accomplished clinician scientists during a time of great change in academic medicine. From the introduction of new therapies to the implementation of new operational processes, my team inspires me to extend my capability beyond what I ever thought possible. I am grateful for the opportunity to grow with them.

Many, hearing testimony like that, earnestly seek to become a department chairperson. With the chair comes prestige, validation, and pride. The ambitious also want to wield the chair’s power. Yet, those who seek the chair often do not recognize the source of that power.

Serving as chair can be extraordinarily satisfying, but there are some parts of the job description that an aspiring chairperson should be aware of before seeking the position. These less savory – though necessary – aspects of the job are not explicitly stated in the advertisements in the back of a trade journal. Allow me to translate a typical advertisement. I copied this text from the first advertisement for a department chairperson that I found with a Google search:

Knowledge of and ability to apply professional medical principles, procedures, and techniques. Thorough knowledge of pharmacological agents used in patient treatment. Able to effectively manage and direct medical staff support activities while providing quality medical care. Able to receive detailed information through oral communications; express or exchange ideas by verbal communications. Excellent written and verbal communications, listening, and social skills. Able to interact effectively with people of varied educational, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds, skill levels, and value systems. Performs in a tactful and professional manner. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.

1. “Knowledge of and ability to apply professional medical principles, procedures, and techniques. Thorough knowledge of pharmacological agents used in patient treatment.” You better be a good doctor because …

2. “Able to effectively manage and direct medical staff support activities while providing quality medical care.” You will still be seeing patients while supporting everybody else’s career development, signing off on vacations, setting call schedules, attesting to conflicts of interest, certifying competence, approving research projects, and attending administrative meetings.

 

3. “Able to receive detailed information through oral communications; express or exchange ideas by verbal communications.” Your team will be paging, calling, and knocking on your door whenever they want to immediately address their latest irritation. Responding to irritation with email is a mistake.

4. “Excellent written and verbal communications, listening, and social skills.” You will write email more than you can possibly imagine, with each one precisely worded and politically correct. When you inevitably screw up one of these communications, often because you responded to someone else’s irritation, you will accept the criticism, apologize to the offended party, and correct the error without being defensive.

5. “Able to interact effectively with people of varied educational, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds, skill levels, and value systems.” You will work with people who do not share your worldview, have problems you cannot begin to fathom, display behavior you cannot understand, and expect you to remember their names.

6. “Performs in a tactful and professional manner.” No matter how much someone angers you, you cannot be a jerk like the last chairperson.

 

7. “A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected.” This one is confusing, but I think it means that you need to avoid immediate dismissal of stupid ideas.

8. “Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.” Failure to reach goals set by others is your fault because of inadequate planning.

Who would apply for that job? The only people who should apply are those who are ready to leave their personal comforts behind for the comfort of others.

For those undaunted by the job description, I am frequently asked how a career should develop to maximize the chances of promotion to leadership positions. Should I get my MBA? What committees should I sit on? Who should I get to know and collaborate with? When is the best time to seek promotion? How should I position myself for advantage?

 

I’m sorry to disappoint, but I find that those who seek promotion the most are the ones least likely to be promoted to the position they want. I recommend being yourself while pursuing goals that interest you, seeking education that stimulates you, working with people who engage with you, and helping others succeed instead of yourself. Promotions will follow.

The key is a serving mindset. No MBA, committee, collaboration, event, or positioning will determine your willingness to serve. All may contribute to a chair’s skill set, but the sense of obligation to develop and lead a team can only come from an altruistic resolve to put others first. It is hard work that requires sacrifice and a willingness to fail so that others may succeed. I recommend it.

Dr. Kalaycio is editor in chief of Hematology News. He chairs the department of hematologic oncology and blood disorders at Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. Contact him at kalaycm@ccf.org.

 

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” – Jack Welch

Serving my colleagues as chairman of the department of hematology and medical oncology at the Cleveland Clinic has been my greatest honor and privilege. I am humbled to lead such compassionate, inquisitive, and accomplished clinician scientists during a time of great change in academic medicine. From the introduction of new therapies to the implementation of new operational processes, my team inspires me to extend my capability beyond what I ever thought possible. I am grateful for the opportunity to grow with them.

Many, hearing testimony like that, earnestly seek to become a department chairperson. With the chair comes prestige, validation, and pride. The ambitious also want to wield the chair’s power. Yet, those who seek the chair often do not recognize the source of that power.

Serving as chair can be extraordinarily satisfying, but there are some parts of the job description that an aspiring chairperson should be aware of before seeking the position. These less savory – though necessary – aspects of the job are not explicitly stated in the advertisements in the back of a trade journal. Allow me to translate a typical advertisement. I copied this text from the first advertisement for a department chairperson that I found with a Google search:

Knowledge of and ability to apply professional medical principles, procedures, and techniques. Thorough knowledge of pharmacological agents used in patient treatment. Able to effectively manage and direct medical staff support activities while providing quality medical care. Able to receive detailed information through oral communications; express or exchange ideas by verbal communications. Excellent written and verbal communications, listening, and social skills. Able to interact effectively with people of varied educational, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds, skill levels, and value systems. Performs in a tactful and professional manner. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.

1. “Knowledge of and ability to apply professional medical principles, procedures, and techniques. Thorough knowledge of pharmacological agents used in patient treatment.” You better be a good doctor because …

2. “Able to effectively manage and direct medical staff support activities while providing quality medical care.” You will still be seeing patients while supporting everybody else’s career development, signing off on vacations, setting call schedules, attesting to conflicts of interest, certifying competence, approving research projects, and attending administrative meetings.

 

3. “Able to receive detailed information through oral communications; express or exchange ideas by verbal communications.” Your team will be paging, calling, and knocking on your door whenever they want to immediately address their latest irritation. Responding to irritation with email is a mistake.

4. “Excellent written and verbal communications, listening, and social skills.” You will write email more than you can possibly imagine, with each one precisely worded and politically correct. When you inevitably screw up one of these communications, often because you responded to someone else’s irritation, you will accept the criticism, apologize to the offended party, and correct the error without being defensive.

5. “Able to interact effectively with people of varied educational, socioeconomic, and ethnic backgrounds, skill levels, and value systems.” You will work with people who do not share your worldview, have problems you cannot begin to fathom, display behavior you cannot understand, and expect you to remember their names.

6. “Performs in a tactful and professional manner.” No matter how much someone angers you, you cannot be a jerk like the last chairperson.

 

7. “A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected.” This one is confusing, but I think it means that you need to avoid immediate dismissal of stupid ideas.

8. “Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals.” Failure to reach goals set by others is your fault because of inadequate planning.

Who would apply for that job? The only people who should apply are those who are ready to leave their personal comforts behind for the comfort of others.

For those undaunted by the job description, I am frequently asked how a career should develop to maximize the chances of promotion to leadership positions. Should I get my MBA? What committees should I sit on? Who should I get to know and collaborate with? When is the best time to seek promotion? How should I position myself for advantage?

 

I’m sorry to disappoint, but I find that those who seek promotion the most are the ones least likely to be promoted to the position they want. I recommend being yourself while pursuing goals that interest you, seeking education that stimulates you, working with people who engage with you, and helping others succeed instead of yourself. Promotions will follow.

The key is a serving mindset. No MBA, committee, collaboration, event, or positioning will determine your willingness to serve. All may contribute to a chair’s skill set, but the sense of obligation to develop and lead a team can only come from an altruistic resolve to put others first. It is hard work that requires sacrifice and a willingness to fail so that others may succeed. I recommend it.

Dr. Kalaycio is editor in chief of Hematology News. He chairs the department of hematologic oncology and blood disorders at Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Institute. Contact him at kalaycm@ccf.org.