Lead Change

In this episode of the Lead Change Podcast, Dr. Mary Mulcahey speaks with Dr. Chris Gonzalez, an accomplished urologic surgeon and physician executive whose leadership journey has included serving as department chair at two institutions, Chief of Surgery, president of a national specialty society, and Chief Clinical Officer at Loyola University Health System. Drawing on experiences spanning clinical medicine, academic leadership, professional societies, international collaboration, and even community service, Dr. Gonzalez shares a straightforward philosophy that has guided him throughout his career: try to leave every organization a little better than you found it. Dr. Gonzalez discusses why taking care of people should be one of a leader’s highest priorities. As a department chair, he viewed supporting faculty members, helping them progress in their careers, and creating an environment in which they could thrive as fundamental to the success of the department as a whole. The conversation also explores the importance of lifelong learning and international collaboration. Dr. Gonzalez describes the remarkable growth of genitourinary reconstructive surgery and his efforts to expand international participation and establish consistent standards for fellowship training around the world. His international experiences have also reinforced an important lesson: collaboration is not simply about teaching others—it is equally about recognizing how much we can learn from talented colleagues with different experiences and perspectives. Dr. Gonzalez also reflects on his transition from a highly active surgical practice to the role of Chief Clinical Officer. Although the transition required him to spend significantly less time operating, he emphasizes the importance of physician leaders remaining connected to clinical medicine. Continuing to care for patients helps leaders understand the challenges clinicians face, maintain credibility, and make decisions grounded in the realities of patient care. Finally, Dr. Gonzalez identifies two essential leadership skills: listening and empathy. Effective leaders must do more than hear what people say—they must seek to understand their concerns, appreciate their perspectives, and put themselves in others’ shoes. These skills create the foundation for trust, connection, and effective problem-solving. Key Take-Home PointsLeave things better than you found them. Leadership is an opportunity to strengthen an organization for the people who will come after you—not simply to advance yourself.Take care of your people. Supporting faculty and team members in their growth, advancement, and professional fulfillment strengthens the entire organization.Listen before you lead. Dr. Gonzalez describes listening as perhaps the most important leadership skill because understanding a problem begins with genuinely hearing the people experiencing it.Lead with empathy. Putting yourself in another person’s shoes allows you to better understand challenges, build trust, and solve problems collaboratively.Stay connected to the work. Physician leaders benefit from continuing to practice medicine because firsthand clinical experience keeps them connected to patients and colleagues and helps preserve credibility.Leadership is service, not self-promotion. Whether leading a hospital, professional society, department, or community organization, the focus should remain on the people and mission being served. Learn across boundaries. International collaboration provides opportunities not only to teach but also to learn from different perspectives, approaches, and experiences.

In this episode of the Lead Change Podcast, Dr. Harriet Hopf shares lessons from a remarkable career in academic medicine, faculty development, coaching, and organizational leadership. She describes how her passion for improving systems led her to rethink faculty promotion criteria at the University of Utah—replacing traditional, research-focused measures with a broader framework that recognizes excellence in education, clinical practice, administration, and other forms of meaningful academic contribution. Her experience demonstrates that sustainable change requires listening, stakeholder engagement, patience, and a willingness to refine an idea before implementation. Her 18-month process ultimately resulted in 94% faculty approval. Harriet also discusses the creation of the Utah Coaching and Advancement Network, a grassroots initiative designed to make coaching accessible to faculty throughout their careers. She reframes coaching as a tool for professional development and growth rather than punishment, emphasizing its ability to help people gain clarity, confidence, and direction. Throughout the conversation, Harriet challenges the traditional "checkbox" approach to academic medicine. Rather than telling faculty what they need to do to get promoted, she encourages them to identify what work matters to them, what problems they want to solve, and what motivates them. When people pursue meaningful work, she argues, achievement and advancement are more likely to follow naturally. She also shares practical advice about authenticity, autonomy, executive presence, and learning from every leader we encounter. Finally, Harriet offers a powerful definition of leading change: bring people into the process, listen, discuss, adapt, and resist the temptation to move too quickly. Her guiding principle, festina lente—"make haste slowly"—captures the central lesson of the episode: meaningful change is ultimately about people, not simply the change itself. Key Take-Home PointsLead change with people, not just a plan.The most effective change processes engage the people affected by the change. Consultation, discussion, feedback, and adaptation may take longer, but they build better solutions and greater buy-in. Make haste slowly.Urgency should not eliminate thoughtful planning. Harriet's 18-month approach to revising promotion criteria ultimately produced overwhelming faculty support. Build systems that help people succeed.Leadership isn't only about developing individuals; it is also about creating policies and processes that allow people to be successful. Redefine success around the work people actually do.Academic institutions should recognize meaningful contributions across education, clinical care, administration, research, and other forms of scholarship—not rely on a single traditional definition of achievement.Help people take credit for their work.Faculty need to understand how to articulate the impact of their work, particularly when their accomplishments don't fit traditional measures of scholarship. Coaching should be developmental, not punitive.Harriet's model makes coaching an opportunity for growth, reflection, and career development rather than something imposed when someone is "in trouble." Help people find the work that matters to them.Instead of encouraging people to simply check the boxes for promotion, ask: What work matters to you? What bothers you? What are you trying to fix? 

In this episode of the Lead Change Podcast, Dr. Mary Mulcahey speaks with Dr. Jacques Menetrey, Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the University Hospital of Geneva, former President of ESSKA, and recipient of ESSKA’s Lifetime Honorary Membership. Dr. Menetrey reflects on his journey from a young resident making his first international presentation to becoming a leader of one of Europe’s premier sports medicine organizations. He shares how years of committee involvement taught him the importance of understanding an organization from the inside, observing different leadership styles, and learning through experience.The conversation explores the challenges of leading a large, diverse international organization and the importance of building strong infrastructure, investing in talented people, advancing education and science, and creating consensus across different cultures and perspectives. Dr. Menetrey emphasizes that effective leadership is ultimately about service rather than self-promotion. His philosophy is simple: leaders should make others better, just as great coaches help their athletes reach their full potential.Dr. Menetrey also discusses his personal leadership “superpower”—combining creativity with organization and attention to detail—and the importance of humility, simplicity, humor, continuous learning, and looking forward. His advice for aspiring leaders is straightforward: educate yourself, seek opportunities to practice leadership, learn from others, and continually strive to improve.Key Take-Home PointsThe best leaders make other people better. Leadership isn't about promoting yourself; it is about creating an environment where others can reach their full potential.Leadership is learned through experience. Menetrey emphasizes that physicians often receive little formal leadership training and must intentionally educate themselves through experience, observation, reading, courses, and mentorship.•       Start by serving the organization, not yourself. A powerful distinction in the episode is between those who "serve the society" and those who "serve themselves." Effective leadership begins with a commitment to something larger than yourself.•       Keep complicated problems simple. When facing challenges, analyze the issue, avoid unnecessary complexity, and seek a straightforward solution that you can clearly communicate to others.•       Committee work can be a leadership laboratory. Early involvement in committees gave Menetrey firsthand exposure to organizational dynamics, decision-making, and different leadership styles—and prepared him for greater leadership responsibilities.•       Great organizations are built over time. Professionalization, strong infrastructure, talented staff, scientific advancement, and educational programs were not created overnight; meaningful organizational change can take decades.•       Diversity of perspectives makes organizations stronger. Menetrey describes the challenge—and opportunity—of bringing together people from across Europe with different languages, cultures, and perspectives to build consensus.

In this episode of the Lead Change Podcast, Mary K. Mulcahey, MD, sits down with Dr. Tom Collins, pediatric cardiologist, Vice Chair of Faculty and Academic Affairs at the University of Kentucky, author of The Four Stars of Leadership, and host of The Science of Leadership. Dr. Collins shares lessons from an extraordinary leadership journey that spans medicine, military service, academic leadership, and extensive study of leadership science.Drawing on his interviews with 51 retired U.S. four-star generals and admirals, Dr. Collins explores four foundational qualities of exceptional leaders: character, competence, caring, and communication. He discusses why effective leadership is ultimately built on relationships and trust, and why the principles of leadership extend far beyond the military into medicine, academia, business, and everyday life.Dr. Collins emphasizes that professional growth does not end with training but continues through lifelong learning, mentorship, and contribution. As an “ever learner,” he highlights that effective leadership is ultimately about helping others achieve their potential and guiding them toward meaningful growth and change.Key Take-Home PointsLeadership begins with relationships and trust. Dr. Collins challenges the stereotype that military leadership is simply “command and control,” emphasizing that effective leadership is built on relationships long before a critical moment requires someone to act.The best leaders focus on helping others succeed. Dr. Collins describes his personal purpose as helping other people achieve great things, defining his own success through the success of those around him.The four foundations of leadership are character, competence, caring, and communication. These principles emerged from his interviews with four-star generals and admirals and are applicable across virtually every profession and organization.Caring is a leadership strength, not a weakness. Caring for people builds trust and creates the foundation for people to believe in and follow their leaders.Professional development should be a culture, not an event. Rather than treating faculty development as a series of isolated programs, leaders can create an environment where continuous growth is an expectation for everyone—from junior faculty through senior leadership.You are never a “finished product.” Completing residency, fellowship, or another stage of training is not the end of development. Leaders—and professionals more broadly—should continually seek opportunities to learn, improve, and grow.Senior leaders have a responsibility to develop the next generation. Faculty development becomes more powerful when senior faculty actively invest in junior colleagues and view their growth as part of their own leadership responsibility.Leadership requires lifelong learning. Dr. Collins describes himself as an “ever learner,” arguing that leaders cannot remain effective if they stop learning while the challenges around them continue to evolve.Leadership and change are inseparable. As Dr. Collins puts it, people do not need leaders simply to maintain the status quo; they need leaders to help them move toward where they could be.Great leadership principles transcend context. Although Dr. Collins' research focused heavily on military leaders, he argues that the fundamental principles of leadership apply equally to medicine, academia, business, and other settings.Purpose gives leadership direction. Understanding your “why” can help clarify what you want to contribute as a leader and keep the focus on something larger than personal achievement. 

Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming healthcare, but successful implementation requires much more than new technology—it requires thoughtful leadership. In this episode of the Lead Change Podcast, Dr. Mary Mulcahey sits down with Dr. Natalie Pageler of Stanford Medicine and Dr. Marylyn Ritchie of the Medical University of South Carolina, two nationally recognized leaders in clinical informatics and artificial intelligence.Together, they discuss how AI is reshaping clinical care, education, research, and healthcare operations, while emphasizing that technology alone is never the solution. They explore the importance of governance, multidisciplinary collaboration, ethical implementation, and maintaining a focus on people and workflows rather than simply adopting the latest tools.Drawing on their leadership experiences and their work teaching AI leadership through ELAM, they share practical guidance for physician leaders navigating this rapidly evolving landscape.The conversation concludes with reflections on leadership, embracing change with a growth mindset, building meaningful professional networks, and developing the communication skills necessary to lead organizations through periods of transformation.Key Take-Home PointsAI is not replacing healthcare professionals—it is becoming another tool that leaders must learn to use responsibly.Effective AI implementation depends on people, processes, and governance—not just technology.Healthcare organizations need multidisciplinary teams that include clinicians, informaticians, data scientists, ethicists, legal experts, and privacy specialists.Leaders should embrace AI with curiosity rather than fear, understanding both its opportunities and its limitations.Thoughtful governance enables innovation by ensuring AI is implemented safely and ethically rather than slowing progress.The strongest leaders cultivate a growth mindset and help their teams navigate uncertainty with confidence.Professional networks and collaborative relationships are invaluable sources of learning, mentorship, and innovation.Communication and change management are essential leadership skills during periods of rapid technological advancement.Perfection should not become a barrier to meaningful progress—continuous improvement is often more valuable than waiting for perfect solutions.Leadership in the AI era is not about becoming a technical expert—it is about asking the right questions, engaging diverse perspectives, and guiding organizations toward responsible innovation.