The Being of Leadership

The ethical foundation of the medical profession, which values service above reward and holds the doctor-patient relationship as inviolable, continues to be challenged by the commercialization of health care. This article contends that a realigned leadership framework - one that distinguishes being a leader as the ontological basis for what leaders know, have, and do - is central to safeguarding medicine's ethical foundation. Four ontological pillars of leadership - awareness, commitment, integrity, and authenticity - are proposed as fundamental elements that anchor this foundation and the basic tenets of professionalism. Ontological leadership is shaped by and accessible through language; what health care leaders create in language "uses" them by providing a point of view (a context) within and from which they orient their conversations, decisions, and conduct such that they are ethically aligned and grounded. This contextual leadership framework exposes for us the limitations imposed by our mental maps, creating new opportunity sets for being and action (previously unavailable) that embody medicine's charter on professionalism. While this leadership methodology contrasts with the conventional results-oriented model where leading is generally equated with a successful clinical practice, a distinguished research program, or a promotion, it is not a replacement for it; indeed, results are essential for performance. Rather, being and action are interrelated and their correlated nature equips leaders with a framework for tackling health care's most complex problems in a manner that preserves medicine's venerable ethical heritage

Interview of Wiley "Chip" Souba by Chris Ellison

In an interview conducted at the Medical Heritage Center at The Ohio State University, Dr. Wiley "Chip" Souba describes his varied career as a surgeon, researcher and administrator, including his four-term as Dean of the College of Medicine at Ohio State. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, his family moved to Westfield, New Jersey, when Souba was 15. He received his medical degree from the University of Texas at Houston and a doctorate from Harvard. Souba began his career in the Department of Surgery at the University of Florida, where he remained for six years, eventually becoming full professor. Souba then took a position as the Chief of Surgical Oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital, where he served for about eight years. Souba then served for seven years as the surgery department chair at Penn State-Hershey. After leaving Penn State, Souba took a position as the Dean of the College of Medicine at The Ohio State University, serving from 2006 to 2010. Souba also served as Interim CEO of the medical center while at Ohio State. After leaving Ohio State in 2010, Souba became the Vice President and Dean of College of Medicine at Dartmouth University