Values-Based Leadership: A Survey of Academic Medical Leaders to Inform Curriculum Development

PURPOSE: The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of effective leaders across all spheres but especially in healthcare. Many Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) offer leadership programming, but these programs have been criticized for lacking impact. In developing a Master’s-level leadership course at an AMC, we sought to inform the curriculum with the values, both personal and shared, as well as the competencies defined as essential by a group of leaders who successfully steered their organizations through the pandemic. METHODS: Study participants included selected leaders from a medical school, its hospital partner and parent university. We used a combination of semi-structured interviews, conducted virtually, and a rank-order survey to identify values and competencies to be used to inform course content. RESULTS: Our surveyed leaders relied on personal values that prioritized the organization’s mission, aligning their teams around that mission and vision as well as leading with empathy and respect. As a group, these leaders valued a highly collegial and collaborative process as well as diversity and equity. Competencies essential to leadership, according to our participants, were the ability to create the environment that supports collaboration, including team development, and to uphold the organization’s mission. CONCLUSION: The surveyed leaders’ organizations treated some of the highest numbers of COVID-19 patients of any hospital system and needed to make difficult decisions in order to provide patient care safely. Study participants were therefore uniquely experienced health care system leaders currently meeting unprecedented challenges. Our study suggests that applying a values-based approach to the development of future leaders will positively influence the impact of leadership education in a Master’s-level healthcare leadership program.