Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP And now for something completely different From time to time on this blog, I exercise editorial license to deviate from a series or a plan. Despite what feels like the last six months writing about physician leadership, and a plan for at least two more installments, real life...
Tag Archives: Leadership
The Other Half of Stewardship
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In the last installment, I dusted off A Message to Garcia, Elbert Hubbard’s old essay about Lieutenant Andrew Rowan being handed a message for a Cuban revolutionary leader whose location was uncertain, then figuring out how to deliver it. Rowan is memorable because nobody could tell him exactly...
The Leader’s Enduring Responsibility
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction On the surface, leadership has a clear criterion for judging performance. Did we accomplish the mission? That question matters, and the answer is grounded in the present. Organizations exist for a reason, and it is not accidental that those reasons are usually declared in a mission statement....
When Certainty Doesn’t Come
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction In When Expertise Isn’t the Answer, I argued that technical expertise is remarkably well suited to recognizing established solutions. Leadership, however, increasingly asks us to solve problems for which no established solution exists—not by abandoning expertise, but by extending disciplined expertise beyond the limits of pattern recognition. That...
When Expertise Isn’t the Answer
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Most professions reward expertise and this generally plays as exactly what you’d expect for the profession to be effective. Patients deserve physicians who recognize subtle diagnoses. Aircraft deserve engineers who understand failure modes. Organizations benefit when accountants know the subtleties of tax law, software developers understand minute...
The Beauty in the Dust: Growth in Imperfection
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Thresholds That Truly Change Us I’ve crossed plenty of thresholds in my life. Graduations, promotions, marriage, a few plaques on the wall. All those moments came and went, all important in their own way. Despite the cultural significance, and that many of these events are dear to many...
Running Without a Map: Why Change Needs More Than Good Intentions
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Feedback is a mirror. Over the past two posts, we’ve looked at two ways leaders stumble with feedback: ignoring it altogether (Ignoring the Mirror) and overreacting to every reflection (Trapped in the Mirrors). Both leave you stuck. But there’s a third trap, and it’s sneakier because it...
Trapped in the Mirrors: Why Leaders Can’t Please Everyone
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction Feedback is a mirror. Last time, we talked about what happens when you refuse to look—the cost of ignoring feedback that is valid, actionable, and desirable. But that was a single source of feedback, or multiple sources showing the same reflection. Another trap emerges from multiple mirrors...
Ignoring the Mirror: Why We Resist Feedback and Growth
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction We previously defined feedback as the key enabling behavior of true mentorship. Good feedback acts as a mirror, reflecting something about us that we may not see on our own, and provides a pathway to change, grow, and improve. But what happens when you don’t like the reflection?...
Feedback That Actually Lands
Christopher J. Colombo MD, CEC, CMC, CPP Introduction “Just throw strikes.” That was the shining pearl of feedback my son once got during a Little League game. He’d just walked two batters in a row. When I headed out to the mound for a chat to help him get centered and figure out what to...