With its education, research, and patient care missions, academic medicine demands a new level of leadership and management. The challenges and responsibilities go beyond the typical functions of traditional management roles. Academic institutions’ mission is to create and disseminate knowledge, and academic medicine’s ultimate goal is to serve humanity by improving health and healthcare. Therefore, leaders in academic medicine should have the expertise to navigate this complex environment, lead and manage a highly specialized workforce, and provide direction for shaping the healthcare landscape. This Insights Article explores the delicate balance between management and leadership in academic medicine.
Firstly, there is an important distinction between management and leadership. Management is concerned with organizing people and resources to accomplish tasks. In contrast, leadership involves inspiring, envisioning, and motivating people toward a shared goal. While managers are responsible for keeping everything on track, leaders create an innovative vision for the future.
Academic medicine requires both management and leadership of the highest order. The members of an academic medical institution are highly skilled and motivated professionals who require a dynamic interplay of management and leadership. For instance, managers in academic medicine need to be aware of current research in the field - the latest approaches, publications, and best practices - to make informed decisions. They must also possess operational skills such as financial and human resource management. Leaders, on the other hand, should be able to develop a strategic vision for the future to align the institution's mission and operation.
Secondly, being a leader in academic medicine is unique in its challenges. For example, in addition to maintaining excellence in academics, leaders must also balance the tripartite missions and the competing demands that come with each mission. Leaders must ensure appropriate balance among activities in education, research, and clinical care. They must prioritize strategically, particularly regarding funding allocation, and ensure that such allocation aligns with the institution’s mission, vision, and values.
Thirdly, leaders in academic medicine must create an environment of collaboration and communication to foster progress, increase productivity and optimize the institution's resources. Encouraging innovation, equity, and risk-taking is critical in academic medicine, as the field depends on continuous discovery and progress. Academic leaders should build a culture of transparency, accountability, and shared responsibility to enable teamwork and collaboration among their colleagues.
The fourth critical component is the dynamic dance of hiring, managing, and developing teams well. Academic medicine leaders must possess excellent people management skills, including hiring top talent, fostering equity, diversity, and inclusion, and mentoring and coaching to ensure the institution collaborates towards shared goals. Leaders should focus on developing long-term career growth planning for their colleagues to maintain high-quality human resource management.
In summary, managing and leading academic medicine with tripartite missions demands a keen focus on the field's specific needs and unique aspects. Leaders in academic medicine must develop a vision for the future, prioritize the institution's missions, build a culture of collaboration, and foster employee growth and development. In short, successful leadership and management in the academic medicine field enable the institution to improve health and create an optimal impact on society.
