Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/240733
Sign up for Becker's Orthopedic, Spine Business & Pain Management E-Weeklies at www.BeckersOrthopedicandSpine.com or call (800) 417-2035 John Finkenberg, MD, Chair of the NASS Advocacy Council: I believe the spine leaders in the future will need to be intimately involved with understanding the governmental changes taking place in our healthcare system and then be excellent communicators with patients and colleagues to help them navigate through the major changes. Steven Garfin, MD, Chief of Spine Surgery, UC San Diego School of Medicine: A key to leadership is getting actively involved with a new idea, surgical treatment/device, and/or organization that helps the greater good. This can be achieved through presentations (basic science, translational or clinical) that add new information to the literature (not just more of the same) that helps alter and improve care for patients; or doing behind the scenes, as well as upfront, work in organizations/societies that help promote rational patient care and ideas, as opposed to a narrow ideology that benefits a few or self promotes some. Michael A. Gleiber, MD, Founder, Michael A. Gleiber, MD, PA, Jupiter and Boca Raton, Fla.: The key to being a leader, in my opinion, is to strive to develop a reputation as an educator at the local level, within the community you serve. Always operating, literally and figuratively, in the best interest of your patients will provide you with a reputation as a well-respected surgeon within the community and amongst your peers. Jeffrey Goldstein, MD, Director of Spine Service, NYU Langone Medical Center's Hospital for Joint Diseases: I believe one of the keys to effective leadership is to appreciate this and have a sense of humility and attempt to be "a leader amongst leaders" and not "a leader of leaders." Effective, self-confident leaders promote and recognize those around them and understand that a rising tide floats all boats. By fostering the success of the team the entire team improves. Richard Guyer, MD, Chairman, Texas Back Institute Research Foundation: First and foremost, one must lead by example. One must be passionate about the job at hand but never be so rigid to be blind to other opinions. Great leaders surround themselves with the brightest and best people empowering them to develop their expertise for the common goal of the organization. One must also be clear in his vision and 15 Raqeeb Haque, MD, Cleveland Clinic: I think the number one key to being a spine leader is being able to work and learn from everyone, whether it be from your peers, your students or other people you work with. Being amenable to learn new things is an important skill to have, and never stop asking questions. Enjoy learning because that is what we do everyday in spine surgery; no two surgeries are ever the same. Richard Kube, MD, Founder, Prairie Spine & Pain Institute, Peoria, Ill.: I believe leadership in spine surgery is much like any other type of leadership. When I set out to accomplish goals, I do not do it with the mindset that I am trying to be a leader. Instead, I believe you get further by setting an example for others to follow. I also engage those around me in a way that helps them feel accountable for our success as well as our failures. Andrew Hecht, MD, CoDirector of Spine Surgery, Mount Sinai Hospital, New York: My strategic approach to leadership has been to help provide vision and direction for the growth and success of our spine center and service. As a leader, you need to understand the expectations and concerns of your team as well as anticipate the changes in both your clinical area of expertise as well as the changing healthcare environment in which you practice in order to get the support and buy-in of your entire service. Lawrence Lenke, MD, Chief of Orthopedic Spine Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis: My strategic approach to leadership as applied to my staff is to empower them to perform their duties at the highest level possible with rewards for optimal achievement. My personal quote when discussing complex spinal surgery is, "It is better to be lucky than good, but it is best to be both lucky and good," with the second "good" a reference to one's training, preparation and performance. Stephen Hochschuler, MD, Co-Founder, Texas Back Institute, Plano: I believe leadership can be learned and must involve vision, empathy, the ability to execute and take responsibility while being transparent and ultimately accountable. One needs to set goals, milestones and timelines. An example of total lack thereof is all of Washington. Isador Lieberman, MD, Director of the Scoliosis and Spine Tumor Center, Texas Back Institute, Plano: Leadership in the clinical arts: surround yourself with the most enthusiastic and compassionate team; involve the team directly in patient care and decision making; articulate each team member's expectations and responsibilities and reinforce those ideals on a regular basis; empower the team to implement any effort to optimize patient care; and instill a sense of responsibility and accountability on behalf of the patient in each team member. decisions and be flexible and nimble to make adjustments depending on the environment. Christopher Kauffman, MD, Premier Orthopaedics, Nashville, Tenn.: The strategic approach and greatest challenge for all the leaders in spine care is to advocate through current evidenced-based medicine and ongoing outcomes measures to make sure our patients have access to treatment both non-operative and operative that we know adds value for our patients. Choll Kim, MD, Director of the Minimally Invasive Spine Center at Alvarado Hospital, San Diego: One of the most important leadership strategies for me has been to create a vehicle by which I can interact with my surgeon colleagues in a meaningful and productive way. I discovered this during my work as one of the founding members of the Society for Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery. Through this organization, I was able to connect with a variety of surgeons from diverse backgrounds throughout the country. Morgan Lorio, MD, NeuroSpine Solutions, PC, Bristol, Tenn.: The future of spine depends first on econometric value. Economic benefit evidence will drive carriers (who hold the purse strings) to direct the future of leadership in spine. Spine societies must accommodate the paradigm shift in spine with absolute transparency with their constituent members in the trenches. Robert Masson, MD, Founder & Neurosurgeon, NeuroSpine Institute, Orlando, Fla.: We believe in a proactive, service-oriented approach to our entire spine health delivery. Through my teaching program we try to inspire a leadership strategy for control of all aspects of spine health delivery, conservative and surgical, and emphasize a mutually beneficial team approach to the operating room environment, demanding excellence and accountability from every member of our team, hospital and outpatient.