Physicians and their teams are constantly balancing an array of priorities and pressures in modern healthcare — from increased threats of violence at work to diminished autonomy and political strife.
In the midst of what can be a chaotic and challenging environment, nine physicians told Becker’s that transparency, accountability, integrity and intentionality were the most important qualities for physicians in leadership roles to possess.
Here’s more on their experiences and what qualities they find most valuable in a physician leader:
Editor’s note: Responses have been lightly edited for clarity and length.
Brennan Kruszewski, MD. Internist at Unity Health (Hudson, Ohio): First and foremost, physician leaders need to hone the ability to listen: to their colleagues, their teams, and what patients are telling them. What needs to be fixed, what doesn’t work right, and what the pain points are from the perspective of people doing the work are all things you can only glean by keeping your ears open. One of my earliest mentors taught me that you have two ears and one mouth for a reason: listen twice as often as you speak, and you’ll learn a lot that you otherwise wouldn’t have.
Philip Levin, MD. Chief Medical Officer at UCLA Health Santa Monica (Calif.) Medical Center: One of the most important qualities of a physician leader is a high level of emotional intelligence. Physician leaders must lead with empathy and compassion, recognizing that when physicians express frustration, it is often directed at systemic challenges rather than at leadership personally. Understanding this distinction is essential to maintaining trust and focusing efforts on identifying and addressing underlying system issues.
Maintaining clinical credibility is also important. Physician leaders should remain clinically active when possible or, at a minimum, have a strong reputation for being hardworking and willing to support their colleagues. This helps foster respect and alignment with frontline physicians.
Finally, transparency is critical. Open, honest communication—especially around decision-making and limitations—builds trust and strengthens the relationship between leadership and the clinical team.
Tom McGue, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Newport (R.I.) Hospital: My career has taught me several things about being a physician leader. Clinical competence and credibility are important as you deal with multiple physician and administrative specialities. You must garner the trust of all staff at your facility, and this requires being visible and available to all. In a smaller community hospital, maintaining a degree of clinical activity may be important as it brings you in direct contact with your physician colleagues. In larger medical centers, this may not be possible, but being visible becomes more important. You have to interact with all members of the staff, just not physicians. Nurses, administrative personnel, fiscal, and volunteers need to see you out and about.
Addressing concerns raised by staff needs to be timely. Talking about the “why” of decisions is important for your organization, even when the decision is not popular.
I tell younger physicians that additional education on the intricacies of healthcare is something they need to pursue, whether by getting an MBA, MPH, or other executive training. Pursuing additional education demonstrates initiative and clearly marks one as interested in stepping into higher levels of responsibility — very important when being considered for these higher levels. Taking on division, department head, or committee responsibilities earlier in a career also demonstrates initiative and is a good way to start understanding the complexity of the healthcare environment. Most importantly, always be truthful and straightforward when talking with staff. And remain empathetic to concerns raised, even if you cannot resolve them.
Rhett McLaren, MD. Premier Pediatric Consultants (San Antonio): Physician leaders should project a caring and nurturing demeanor in all interactions, particularly toward patient-facing personnel. By doing so, they lead by example and set a tone fitting for a people-serving institution.
They should also be excellent and respectful listeners. The widely variable specialties and departments within a healthcare system understandably develop very different perspectives and needs. The experiences of one leader, therefore, could not possibly anticipate all challenges that could be encountered for given goals. Only by listening and incorporating many different views and recommendations could the truly best course of action be discovered.
Physician leaders should be also personable and effective communicators. The healthcare community is a collage of many different types of individuals and cultures, both professional and personal. Physician leaders must be able to understand what is being said and then effectively convey that information to other relevant team members. Having both clinical expertise and understanding of business and economics facilitates function between clinical and administrative arms of medical care.
John McMaster, MD. Clinical Faculty in Emergency Medicine at Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (Wichita): Being a physician is a vocation, not an occupation. Physicians demonstrate a passion for the betterment of society and the communities that we serve. Excellence in physician leadership requires a combination of clinical experience combined with ongoing continuing education. Physician leaders have a shared vision with those they are entrusted to lead. Physician leaders value people over profits. Physician leaders admit when they do not know. Physician leaders demonstrate belongingness and are supportive and protective of those they are entrusted to lead.
Bethel Mieso, MD. Clinical Informatics Fellow at Stanford (Calif.) University. I am surrounded by many incredible physician leaders. When I think about the physician leaders I admire most, what stands out isn’t one single trait – it’s a pattern in how they show up.
They lead with integrity. The way they care for patients mirrors the way they lead teams and make administrative decisions. There’s alignment between their values and their actions, and that consistency builds trust. They have the humility to recognize what they don’t know. Rather than trying to have all the answers, they invite in people with expertise and create space for collaborative problem-solving. They listen—genuinely—and they’re willing to hold tension. They consider perspectives at the far ends of the spectrum and engage them thoughtfully rather than defensively. They empathize, and they’re transparent about what is within their control and what isn’t. That honesty strengthens relationships.
They are skilled translators. They can speak the language of patients, frontline clinicians, administrators, and policymakers – and just as importantly, they build authentic relationships across those groups. They intentionally amplify voices that are often overlooked, recognizing that better decisions come from broader inclusion.
What also distinguishes them is their ability to maintain a systems-level, bird’s-eye view while still understanding the granular realities of day-to-day clinical work. They don’t lose sight of the human impact behind operational metrics. They are compelling storytellers, bridging data and human experience in a way that mobilizes people.
And perhaps most importantly, they model the behavior they expect. They embody the standards they hold others to. Collectively, I believe these qualities define strong physician leadership – and the kind of leader I aspire to be.
Scott Needle, MD. Chief Medical Officer of Woodland (Calif.) Clinic Medical Group: I believe effective physician leaders need integrity, a service mindset, compassion, gratitude, accountability, and humility. Those qualities feed into one overarching principle: trustworthiness. Clinicians, staff, and other administrators need to have faith that their physician leaders are acting in the best interests of patient care and the people who provide it.
James Razcek, MD. Family Physician (Bangor, Maine):
- Enthusiasm and optimism: We can change things, we can achieve awesome goals, we can be the best.
- Communicate, communicate, communicate: Take the time to explain your decision-making process, especially regarding significant changes, and be an active listener, encouraging your colleagues to express their opinions, especially if they disagree with your decision/approach and have them explain why they disagree (this approach builds trust and often exposes a “blind spot” in your thinking).
- The ability to make difficult decisions, knowing that it will make some people unhappy (trying to please everyone will prevent you from making difficult decisions).
- Never neglect the details.
- Remember every decision has consequences. Understand both the positive and negative consequences of a decision and plan for them (don’t get mesmerized by only focusing on the positive).
- Be willing to admit when you make the wrong decision and articulate the new decision with details.
- Delegate, coach, mentor and “manage up” your colleagues to develop future leaders.
Marc Shelton, MD. Associate Chief Medical Officer of Strategic Initiatives at the University of Missouri Health System (Columbus): “We could debate issues concerning whether a physician leader should have an MBA or an MHA verses on the job training, and how those things might help them be a good leader or not. But I think it best to first acknowledge that to be a good physician leader, you must first be a good clinician. I can’t remember a great physician leader who wasn’t also considered to be a good clinician. Your colleagues won’t listen to someone they don’t respect clinically.”
