Healthcare professionals are highly skilled individuals with deep scientific knowledge in their respective fields. Science is critical to be able to perform the role of managing patients. However, delivering good patient care also requires a great deal of soft skills to be truly effective. Here are 5 soft skills that every healthcare professional will benefit from mastering in their clinical practice. COMMUNICATION Being able to convey complex scientific information to a lay person accurately, clearly, and without alarming the patient requires skill. Such skills are hardly taught in medical school or during the early years of clinical service. Yet how well you communicate with your patients determines how patients perceive how ‘good’ you are as a doctor. Regardless of your knowledge, diagnostic skills and treatment, how you leave the patient feeling after the consultation matters. The patient experience. Some doctors are natural at it while others may need to find their style with practice. There are many proven techniques for effective communication and crucial conversations that may be useful here. Simple changes such as remembering to pause in between your explanations, drawing a picture to illustrate your explanation or providing reading material that the patient can take are all great ways to try in cultivating this skill. LISTENING Being able to communicate a clear and simple message is not sufficient in being a good doctor. Listening skills are critical to practice. History taking is the starting point of patient care and it requires patience. It is about listening to everything the patient has to say and filtering facts for diagnosis and documentation. Listening here goes beyond hearing what the patient says verbally. It includes reading body language, facial expressions, hesitation, and reactions with advanced skill to interpret non-verbal cues from the patient. Ask the right questions and have a conversation rather than an interview. This also matters in ensuring these cues are picked up from the patient. Doctors without realizing may get too focused on just asking the necessary questions and writing down findings without even looking at the patient. This will deter the patient from talking freely omitting critical information that may be necessary for management of the patient. Having a conversation and then documenting concisely actually does not take much more time. In fact it only improves the experience and patient doctor relationship overall. The patient leaves the room feeling heard and that makes a difference in the quality-of-care delivery. COLLABORATION Teamwork is the essential to good patient care. A doctor relies on the expertise of nurses, paramedics, and numerous other healthcare professionals to serve the best care to each patient every day. Hospitals with an established culture of collaboration among healthcare teams perform better in achieving patient outcomes than others. Many take collaboration for granted especially since healthcare professionals work very long hours, teams keep changing and often senior leadership does not prioritize nurturing the culture of collaboration in the team. Collaboration is a responsibility of each member of the team. It starts with inclusivity in the decision-making process and taking joint accountability for the care delivery of each patient. Not only does this ensure better patient outcomes but it also drastically improves the working environment for healthcare professionals in the team and efficiency of care delivery. DECISION MAKING A doctor needs good analytical skills to arrive at a diagnosis and make decisions for the patient. This requires methodological thinking, elimination of possibilities, corroboration of information across different data sets as well as getting input from other healthcare professionals where necessary. Doctors repeat this with every patient every day and throughout the duration of management of each patient. Simple methods like keeping documentation relevant and concise, documenting the differential diagnosis that came to mind when you examined the patient and staying organised to follow up on test results are all part of efficiency towards arriving at the right diagnosis. A common error in decision making is assuming information, skipping steps in the examination of the patient or jumping to conclusions because the presentation seems rather common. This can be dangerous in a rush to get to a diagnosis and requires discipline to not overlook or assume to ensure you make the right decisions tailored for each patient every time. CURIOSITY Last but not least is curiosity. One would assume there is not much room for curiosity in the world of medicine where facts determine the diagnosis and treatment is standardized for most illnesses. However, there is a lot that can be learnt from disease presentations across other parts of the world, new treatments and the experience of others in treating the same diseases for the patients. A doctor should always stay a curious researcher at heart. This is because science evolves so rapidly with new technology, breakthroughs and even evolution of disease presentations. It becomes impossible to keep treating patients the same way for decades or even just years. A doctor should continue reading, learning, and connecting with their peers to stay up to date to give patients the most current care available. These 5 simple traits can transform a healthcare professionals’ career but it is easier said than done. Being a good doctor is not just about being right all the time. It is also about how you make the patient feel and motivate them towards better health. So keep learning and developing yourself not only on scientific knowledge but soft skills as well to do your best for your patients.
Success is rarely achieved alone. Most successful individuals would name a few special people who guided them to their success in a special way. This could be a family member, friend, someone you met while networking, a boss or even a fellow colleague. The impact these individuals have on your transformation may not always be obvious till you reflect back on your journey. These people played the role of a coach, a mentor, or a sponsor to you without you even realizing it. In my own personal journey, I have seen and experienced this repeatedly that I firmly believe that everyone needs a coach, mentor, and sponsor to be successful. It doesn’t have to be a paid service, you may already know them or may meet them unexpectedly. So, what does a coach, mentor, or sponsor look like and how do they help you in your career. A COACH: The technical expert The best reference here would be coaches in sports. They are deep technical experts in a very specific field. Their technical skills led them to succeed in their career and now they share their professional experience by teaching others. A football coach teaches one the techniques, strategy, physical training, how to win and more in becoming a professional footballer. In healthcare, this could be an accomplished surgeon imparting his skills and guiding the career path of another aspiring surgeon. A coach normally invests time unconditionally on one individual within a group. A MENTOR: The big picture expert A mentor is not a technical expert but has a bird’s eye view and influence within the ecosystem. The national head of radiology for example influences all aspects of building the expertise forward for our country. A hospital CEO is someone who sees the full picture of what it takes to operate a hospital successfully. Thus, the value of a mentor is navigating this big picture for where you want to go. A mentor helps one see the path multiple steps ahead and guides on decisions that might influence success. As a strong influencer and respected introducer within the ecosystem, a mentor could connect you with key stakeholders that you may never otherwise be able to meet on your own. In a corporate career, a regional or global leader may mentor someone aspiring to grow from a country role. Such a mentor brings value beyond your immediate superior. They help one see what is required in roles beyond the country scope and provide exposure to trends and advancements ahead. This is critical to uncovering new skills that are needed to focus ones development accordingly. A SPONSOR: The advocate A sponsor is someone who knows you well intrinsically, recognizes your potential and willing to take risks on your advancement. They talk about you and find opportunities for you in rooms where you are not able to access at this point in your career. However, a sponsor also does not need many years to know you before being ready to advocate for you. They are very skilled at reading you through your values, aptitude towards work, potential and uniqueness that you bring to the table. A sponsor may test you with difficult tasks that stretch you out of your comfort zone and knowledge to succeed. Without any further guidance they could truly observe how you handle such challenges which often reveals a lot about you. Once convinced of your potential, they would then be willing to advocate for you. It is important to note that sponsors need to be unbiased individuals to truly benefit your career forward. A family member or authoritative personality advocating for you without actually knowing your potential could hurt your career instead. This leads to being recognized for ‘who you know’ rather than ‘what you know’ which may be counterproductive instead. In conclusion, there is great benefit to seeking support for your success with such individuals depending on what you need at different phases in your career journey. Successful individuals take a deliberate approach to their career success. I hope this guides you on how to seek support through a coach, mentor, or sponsor depending on what you need to succeed in your career journey. Then reach out and speak to them about your need, share sincerely how you feel they could be of help to you and build a trusted relationship with them to see the magic unfold!
Most individuals feel that they must first be given a title or a team to lead. Without the opportunity to lead how can one actually showcase their ability to lead? This cannot be further from the truth. When leaders are looking for that person to give a leadership responsibility to, they consider who might have demonstrated the potential to lead thus far. Simple gestures of who raised their hand when a volunteer was needed for a task, or who brought a solution rather than only problems to the meeting, or who goes above and beyond their work and who is focused on achieving success for the whole team instead of just themselves. All of these instances leave an impression. Leaders notice and remember such instances a lot more than you may think they do. Leaders are subtle in evaluating how each person behaves, reacts to situations, and is perceived within the team. It gives them a perception of who has the potential to be the leader should an opportunity come up. It takes effort to stand out as someone with the potential to lead within your team. Here are 5 things you can do to showcase your potential to lead without a title or a team. 1. Adopt an enterprise mindset Leaders focus on the big picture and are driven by the shared goals within their organization. Enterprise mindset is about figuring out ‘why you and your role exists’ in your team, department, and wider organization. To figure this out, find out what the goals and missions of your organization are as an organization. This is often at a higher level than the daily work you do within your team. Learning about the key challenges that your organization is trying to overcome and what success looks like can be very useful. Understanding this is fundamental to finding your focus for efforts, making decisions, and adding value to the organization in a way that is aligned to the broader goals and mission of the organization. Speak about your decisions and efforts to others as well in a way that shows you understand the organisations needs. All this will definitely help you stand out as a leader even without a title or a team. 2. Actions speak louder than titles Once you embrace the enterprise mindset, demonstrate leadership through your actions, work ethic, and commitment to quality patient care. Be a role model for professionalism, empathy, and a dedication to continuous improvement. Focus on the impact of your efforts as an individual and how that translates to value within the organization. There are many ways to measure the success you create, these could be by the positive changes, improvements, or contributions you make to patient outcomes, operational efficiency, or overall organizational goals. What you choose to focus on should be something you are passionate about and stretch above and beyond your daily work. 3. Leverage Informal Influence Influencing others is a very impactful and noticeable leadership character. However, it is one that is hard to do as it requires you to build relationships, stay up to date on information and develop opinions of your own that are valuable to others. As you work, adopt a continuous learning culture as well as spend time to cultivate relationships and build networks within the organization. Use informal influence to inspire others, share insights, and contribute to decision-making processes. People will not appreciate the value and your knowledge you could add to the organization unless you speak about it to others often enough. In healthcare, there is a lot of opportunities to do so as collaboration often extends beyond specific departments. Build strong relationships with professionals from various disciplines, as cross-functional collaboration can lead to more holistic and effective solutions. 4. Champion Innovation Leaders always challenge the status quo. Take the time to figure out areas that need improvement and find the courage to proactively lead the change. Raising ideas and solutions is a very admirable way of demonstrating your leadership talent and abilities as an individual. It showcases your ability to inspire a culture of continuous improvement and creativity while fostering an environment where new and effective solutions can emerge. Start with simple things such as organizing information that helps the team work faster or suggesting a schedule to help efficiency. It is not the size of the problem you solve that matters but simply the effort towards collective improvement. This is achievable without the need for titles or a team. 5. Invest in Professional Development Leadership is a journey where you never stop learning. Great leaders take a deliberate approach to this learning and don’t just rely on learning on the job. As you do all of the above, you will inevitably find innate talent in yourself and skills that you lack just as well. These could be as simple as influencing skills, lack of confidence, presentation skills or effective communication skills perhaps. Take the initiative to invest in your own professional development. Stay informed about industry trends, attend relevant conferences, take skills courses, and acquire new skills that can benefit both you and the broader healthcare organization. Leading without a title or a formal team in healthcare requires a combination of interpersonal skills, strategic thinking, and a commitment to the broader mission of providing quality care. Adopt these practices within your team and you will definitely be noticed for your leadership qualities in time. Great opportunities and responsibilities are given to those who have first demonstrated the potential to lead. So don’t just wait to be given the opportunity to lead, start to lead first and know that the opportunity will be yours in time.
Leaders are not born, they are made. Ask any successful leader about how they got to where they are today, and they will tell you that it was a long journey through multiple roles in their career. Gradually morphing into who they are today vs who they were when they started. Very often we delve in self-doubt and assume great leaders have something we don’t that got them to their success. Truth is the only difference between you and that leader is effort, patience, and experience. All leaders start with no prior experience of being one. They become better over time through everyday experiences of handling situations, people, and problems. Every challenge is an experience, every experience is a learning for growth and continuous growth evolves an individual into that strong leader you see in others. So how can you get on this path of growing into a leader? First, assess your competency in your current role and know when you are ready to take a step forward. Throughout working life, you would circle between 3 phases that exist quite universally across jobs and industries. Even if you a practicing as a medical doctor, from one posting to another, you will experience these phases. These 3 phases are Learning, Thriving and Transforming. Learning Learning is when you are sharpening skills to meet expectations on the job. This is at the start of a new job, a promotion or expansion of responsibilities within your current role. This phase lasts between 3 months to a year depending on how much of the work is new to you and how quickly you learn. The goal is to gather enough skills to be able to deliver the minimum of what is expected on the job, consistently and without supervision. Once ready, your manager too should feel that you have achieved competence at the role and there isn’t much left to teach you on the job anymore. This brings us to the next phase of Thriving. Thriving Thriving is about performing above expectations with a yearning for further challenge. A thriving individual regularly exceeds expectations, brings unique value to the role and gains recognition as the ‘go-to’ person in the team. Some individuals are comfortable at this stage and choose to remain in the role inevitably. These individuals are experts in this role. They are motivated by the impact they create with the good work they do and teaching others in the role. In medical practice this could be a long serving senior medical officer perhaps. In corporate careers this could be a manager of a small team. Both individuals have achieved a level of strong leadership of their work and are leading others through their experience. Alternately, if you are thriving but feel you need more challenges to stay energized in your role or career then you are ready to for the next stage of Transforming. Transforming Transforming is about eagerly seeking a significant change. The motivator for change here stems from boredom as a result of being great at what you do. The value of teaching others of this expertise you possess no longer fulfils your sense of satisfaction at work. You are yearning for a greater challenge that will fulfil your desire to learn, grow and progress. The key to transformation is knowing what you are looking in your next step and knowing the gaps you need to be close to successfully achieve that next move. Thereafter, build a development plan to close these gaps perhaps through volunteering for projects within your current role, taking up a course or finding a coach for skillset development. In conclusion, everyone passes through all of these phases during their career. Recognizing where you are in this cycle can be a great guide to knowing the right time and next step in your career. How fast you progress depends on your ability to learn, be proactive at work and show persistence to overcoming obstacles. All great leaders travel a similar journey of learning, thriving, and then transforming with every role to move forward.
Dr Shunitra CS Working as a doctor in clinical practice is tough not just for the work hours, working conditions, and responsibility of a patient’s life in your hands but the sheer mental strength it demands from you continuously. It is like being thrown into the deep end of the pool, without a float, when you just completed the theory to swimming so far. Such intense experiences reshape you as a person from who you were as a child or student at college. As you grow in your career and land leadership roles, some of the personality traits that develop from such experiences can be helpful or counterproductive to your success. So, one of the most helpful things to do in one’s journey to leadership is to self-reflect. Analyse your actions, reactions, communication, and decisions with the intent to learn and self-improve. This powerful step will help you realise that the journey to becoming a great leader is more than just learning about leadership, but equally about unlearning some of your behaviours and beliefs to succeed. Here are a few things I unlearnt as I transitioned from clinical practice to corporate leadership in my personal journey. A busy day is a productive day In clinical practice, one is constantly chasing for time, trying to serve as many patients as possible and quantity often takes precedence over quality especially in public service. How fast you clear the clinic or how many cases you complete in theatre within time translates positively into measures of productivity. As a corporate leader though, you will likewise be consumed by a busy calendar with requests to provide input to others on their work, attend many meetings and get involved on everything that is going on in the organisation which would initially feel purposeful and valuable however you will very quickly learn that it is in fact one of the biggest distractions you would have to fight constantly as it pulls you away from achieving your own goals and creating your unique impact for the organisation. In a corporate role, you are hired as an expert to create a specific value that is critical for the success of the organisation. No one else in the organisation is able to or is working on this value besides you. You are also expected to figure out what this value would look like and to drive this unique contribution into impact for the organisation. This is the leadership expected from you at the start of your corporate journey. So being a leader does mean extremely busy days with a full calendar every day, but you will need to unlearn spending it on quantity of work and focus on quality of work instead by owning the agenda of your time and driving your unique value for the success within the organisation. You are not expected to do things you don’t know or have not done before. As a doctor in practice, we first watch someone insert a chest tube or perform a lumbar puncture before doing some supervised and then perhaps some independently. This tunes our minds to expect training and guidance on how to do something new including when we move into corporate roles and leadership positions. In leadership, there is no theory, supervision or guidelines and it is not uncommon that you would rarely face two similar situations ever in your leadership journey. You may reach out to others for help or ideas however, you will ultimately have to decide and proceed in a way that is uniquely you. This is why leadership is not just earned but entrusted upon individuals who showcase a worthy ability to think and manage a variety of situations soundly. How one chooses to handle situations and the outcomes achieved as a consequence greatly determine how one is perceived on their abilities as a leader. What is comforting though is that as doctors, our diagnostic approach to problem solving and crisis management skills are an advantage in corporate situations so doctors can make good leaders. Great leaders approach situations with the mindset of everything is ‘figureoutable’ if you are willing to roll up your sleeves, get to doing it and learn! Making the right decision is better than just making any decision This is a tough one that takes time and courage to unlearn for doctors moving into corporate roles because we are trained to make the right decision every time as wrong decisions could cost us a patient’s life. Even in a rush, it is warranted to do all necessary tests and referrals needed to make the right decision for our patient. In corporate roles, this part of our training translates into risk aversity, over reliance on information and impacts our ability to make decisions unless it feels absolutely right. Leadership is hard because it requires making decisions fast, amidst ambiguity, uncertainty of outcome, with the interest of the organisation at heart and with full accountability for the consequences. The key to timely decisions here lies in being comfortable with taking anticipated risks and acting with mitigation on time. Confidence to lead in this manner comes with time and experience. Good leaders make decisions quickly, great leaders make decisions quickly and course correct even faster for success. In conclusion, embracing the mindset of unlearning could unlock you from who you are today to becoming that leader you aspire to be in future. It prepares you for change agility which is a strong suit of seasoned leaders who could even steer an entire organisation to unlearn what might have worked in the past in order to thrive with new ways of achieving success in the future. To say leadership is a continuous learning journey deceivingly hides the effort on unlearning that is equally necessary to succeed. I hope this insight inspires you in preparing for your journey as a great leader someday.
