PHYSICIAN LEADER GROUP
Empowering Physicians to Lead Change
Recommended Reading
On Transforming Healthcare
The Healthcare Crisis: The Urgent Need for Physician Leadership
By Fredric Tobis, MD
Comment: An explanation of what the real healthcare crisis is, how it started, and why multiple attempts on the part of the federal government to impose reform through regulations have failed. A compelling vision of positive reform driven by value and directed by effective physician leadership.
edited by Kenneth H. Cohn and Steven A. Fellows
Comment: A good read that provides hard-earned lessons of healthcare leaders who removed roadblocks to clinical and financial excellence.
If Disney Ran Your Hospital: 9 ½ Things You Would Do Differently
by Fred Lee
Comment: How your hospital or health system can emulate the strategies that earn Disney the trust and loyalty of their guests and employees. You’ll find this on the bookshelf of many healthcare executives.
Dyad Leadership in Healthcare: When One Plus One is Greater than Two
by Kathleen Sanford and Stephen Moore
Comment: Good book that provides guidance from a successful clinical dyad, and provides a roadmap to enacting clinical co-leadership, while avoiding the pitfalls of power imbalances, communication gaps, and lack of management training.
Patients Come Second: Leading Change by Changing the Way You Lead
by Paul Spiegelman and Britt Berrett
Comment: A timely book that identifies the need to "shake up" the traditional healthcare model and argues that in order to care for and retain patients, leaders must first create exceptional teams and find ways to engage nurses, administrative staff, physicians, supervisors and even housekeeping staff and switchboard operators.
On Communication Effectiveness:
Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High
by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler, Stephen R. Covey
Comment: A powerful book that gives strategies for communicating when a conversation becomes “crucial” – i.e., when opinions differ and emotions run high. Highly recommended.
Speak Like a CEO: Secrets for Commanding Attention and Getting Results
by Suzanne Bates
Comment: A great way to learn the art of communication that helps you build respect by conveying your message with warmth, authenticity and conviction.
The Communication Problem Solver: Simple Tools and Techniques for Busy Managers
By Nannette Rundle Carroll
Comment: Practical communication strategies to help you work better: setting expectations, giving feedback, trouble-shooting common communication problems
Just Listen: Discover the Secret to Getting Through to Anyone
By Mark Goulston
Comment: A great book with tools and strategies to make yourself more compelling, and break down the walls that keep you from getting through to the people you need to buy into your ideas and goals.
The Nonverbal Advantage: Secrets and Science of Body Language at Work (BK Business)
by Carol Kinsey Goman Ph.D.
Comment: A great way to boost your ability to read other peoples’ non-verbal cues, and to enhance your own so that you are understood and interpreted the way you want to be.
The Road to Optimism: Change Your Language-Change Your Life!
By J. Mitchell Perry and Rick Griggs
Comment: A surprising “no-brainer” of the power of what you say, and how you say it.
Messages: The Communication Skills Book
by Matthew McKay, Ph.D., Martha Davis, Ph.D., and Patrick Fanning
Comment: A helpful book that lays out a method (including self-assessments and exercises) to building your communication effectiveness within six specific areas: basic skills, advanced skills, conflict skills, social skills, family skills and public skills.
On Conflict Resolution:
Developing Your Conflict Competence
By Craig Runde and Tim Flanagan
Comment: Combines tips, checklists, exercises, and stories to outline concrete processes that improve the way leaders, managers, and anyone within an organization responds to conflict
Crucial Accountability: Tools for Resolving Broken Promises, Violated Expectations, and Bad Behavior
by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, Al Switzler,
Comment: By the authors of “Crucial Conversations”, another good tool for managing and building your skill in dealing with uncomfortable situations.
On Team Development:
The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization (Collins Business Essentials)
by Jon R. Katzenbach, Douglas K. Smith
Comment: Helps teach that true, effective teamwork is less about touchy-feely concepts of “team-building”, and more about bringing together professionals with complementary skills and giving them a common goal.
Dealing with Difficult People : 24 lessons for Bringing Out the Best in Everyone
by Dr. Rick Brinkman, Dr. Rick Kirschner
Comment: Good, brief resource on how to identify particular "difficult" personalities, understand the intentions behind them, and build your toolkit for dealing with them.
The SPEED of Trust: The One Thing That Changes Everything
by Stephen M.R. Covey, Stephen R. Covey, Rebecca R. Merrill
Comment: Great read on why trust matters - how it impacts the economics of any organization by impacting both speed and cost, as well as your personal/professional fulfillment. Strategies for how you can build trust both within yourself, with your team, and within your organization.
The OZ Principle: Getting Results Through Individual and Organizational Accountability
by Roger Conners, Tom Smith and Craig Hickman
Comment: A primer on how to build accountability with individuals and within organizations. Includes the concept of accountability that is performed "above the line" (see it, own it, solve it, do it), and the blame-game challenges that occur "below the line" (wait & see, confusion/tell me what to do, it's not my job, ignore/deny, finger pointing, and cover your tail behaviors).
On Leadership and Influence:
by Thomas J. Neff and James M. Citrin
Comment: Impactful, 8-step plan for ensuring success when preparing for, and once you’ve landed in, an executive level role.
Influencer: The New Science of Leading Change
by Joseph Grenny, Kerry Patterson, David Maxfield, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler
Comment: From the authors of "Crucial Conversations", this book teaches the critical parts of influence process, including high-leverage behaviors that lead to rapid and profound change, strategies for changing both thoughts and actions and the six sources of influence to make change inevitable.
Talk Less, Say More: 3 Habits to Influence Others and Make Things Happen
by Connie Dieken
Comment: A great, brief read on how to communicate less, yet have greater impact based on three simple habits: connect, convey and convince.
The Art of WOO: Using Strategic Persuasion to Sell Your Ideas
by G. Richard Shell and Mario Moussa
Comment: From the Directors of the Wharton School of Business' Strategic Persuasion Workshop ...teachers about the power of relationships, a common language, and understanding others' needs and points of view. Also discusses common barriers to influence and how to overcome them.
Discover Your True North: Becoming an Authentic Leader
By Bill George
Comment: The former Chairman and CEO of Medtronic offers his insights and strategies for developing your leadership ability. This book also has a fieldbook with practical exercises to help you find your authenticity and apply it in your leadership.
By Kathleen D. Ryan and Daniel K. Oestreich
Comment: A good way to see the palpable difference between a low-trust organization where fear reigns, and a high-trust organization that fosters transparency, creative problem-solving and innovation.
Rebuilding Trust in the Workplace: Seven Steps to Renew Confidence, Commitment and Energy
by Dennis Reina and Michelle Reina
Comment: A step-by-step guide on how to handle things when trust has been breached within your team or organization.
On Personal Development:
What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful
by Marshall Goldsmith, Mark Reiter
Comment: A great guide for how to get out of your own way.
The Perfectionist's Handbook: Take Risks, Invite Criticism, and Make the Most Of Your Mistakes
by Jeff Szymanski, Ph.D.
Comment: A great book that helps build an understanding of the different types of perfectionism and how they may or may not be serving us. Includes an opportunity to build your own "Perfectionism Profile" and assess where your habits/behaviors fall in the range of unhealthy to healthy. An eye-opener.
The Power of the Other: The Startling Effect Other People Have On You, from the Boardroom to the Bedroom and Beyond - And What to Do About It
by Dr. Henry Cloud
Comment: Written by an expert in the psychology of leadership, this book explores how the best leaders draw upon a vital resource: the personal and professional relationships that fuel growth and help them surpass current limits.
Finding Balance in a Medical Life
By Lee Lipsenthal, M.D.
Comment: Honest and insightful look at the “Physician Personality”, and the criticality of balance to stay happy and fulfilled.
On Building Emotional Intelligence:
By Travis Bradberry, Jean Greaves, Patrick M. Lencioni (Foreword)
Comment: A good primer for the concepts of EQ, and helpful suggestions for building your own competencies in each area. An easy way to begin making changes.
Primal Leadership: Realizing the Power of Emotional Intelligence
by Daniel Goleman, Ph.D.
Comment: Goleman’s extension from his initial work on EQ – a must-read for any physician leaders or professionals desiring to build their influence and ability to drive change in an organization.
Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships
by Daniel Goldman
Comment: An further extension of his theories of Emotional Intelligence, this is Goleman’s synthesis of the latest findings in biology and brain science, revealing that we are “wired to connect” and the deep impact of our relationships on every aspect of our lives.
On Professional Presence:
5 Steps to Professional Presence: How to Project Confidence, Competence, and Credibility at Work
by Susan Dugan, Lisa Scherrer; Lisa Scherver
Comment: A good reminder of what it takes to make a good first impression, present polished communication skills, build rapport, and project a professional image at work.
On Relationship Building/Networking:
Never Eat Alone: And Other Secrets to Success, One Relationship at a Time
by Keith Ferrazzi, Tahl Raz
Comment: Great primer on why "networking" is more about building relationships and making connections than attending events and handing out business cards.
"Be Your Own Brand: Achieve More of What You Want By Being More of Who You Are
by David McNally and Karl D. Speak
Comment: Provides a process for discovering who you really are and what you aspire to be. Demonstrates that personal marketing is less about creating a contrived image of yourself, and more about building trusting relationships based on an authentic representation of your professional self.