This list of 7 Criteria for Academic Leadership was compiled over the last 15 years through countless discussions in many venues. My objective was to distill the essence of academic leadership into its most basic components and for many years, I was stuck with the first five criteria. I did, however, enjoy bringing up the topic with anyone interested to see if I could find more criteria - and the list remained unchanged for ~10 years. Credit belongs to Richard Hopper (Chief of Plastic Surgery, Seattle Children’s Hospital) for breaking the impasse while visiting the Hospital for Sick Children and adding Criteria Number 6 in ~2016. It was not until 2022, that I found Criteria Number 7 when I was honored to visit the University of Washington Department of Surgery as their 30th Annual Visiting Scholar discussing Academic Leadership. Mike Mulligan (a gracious host and the Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery) added Criteria Number 7.

The list is always open to revision. If you can find more unique criteria which reflect the distilled essence of academic leadership, let me know! These are my thoughts…

1. Work Harder than Anybody Else – Aim to consistently be the first in and the last out every day. No team of high performing individuals will ever be led by a slacker.

2. Have a Clearly Defined Brand – Your people need to know what you are all about in ~4 words or less. Clarity of identity help your team to integrate their activities into a coherent theme. The clarity also helps you, as a leader, to offload issues that are not directly tied to your identity. Spend some time thinking about your leadership identity so that you can answer the challenging question: “What are you all about in 4 words or less?” (Great inspiring book on the topic: ‘Walk the Walk’ by Alan Deutschman- read it!)

3. Be Good at your Trade – You have to be reasonably good at what you do on a daily basis. For surgeons, there is a misconception that a surgeon leader needs to be the best surgeon in their Division/Department to lead effectively. Yes, it would be nice to be a surgical Michelangelo, but it's not necessary. You do, however, have to be good enough that your opinion is sought out and respected. Your leadership chops are the area where you must excel.

4. Silently Work for the Success of Others – The more that the people around you succeed - and the less you are noticed in their success, the better. Every great academic leader I have ever seen had a penchant for working silently and effectively in the background to create opportunities and support for new talent.

5. Always Take the Hit – Anytime anything goes wrong, you need to own the failure – publicly and without attribution. Dispassionate analysis of failure creates a learning opportunity and the learning begins with your ownership of the failure. Interestingly, the more that you fight to own a failure, the more that your team will do the same. In contrast, the more that you duck and bob and weave, the more that your team will learn to do the same. Own it, learn from it, and move on.

6. Respect your Visibility – As a leader, you are always being watched and must constantly be on guard. Every gesture and movement is being observed by your team. You have incredible power to do unintended damage with an eye roll, a scowl, and even an innocent yawn can create important negative repercussions (Does anybody remember when George Bush Sr checked his watch during the 1992 presidential debate? I still remember that gesture 30 years later!) On the other hand, your visibility is a tool which can be used for tremendous positivity amongst your team: stopping to amiably chat with someone unexpectedly, recognizing a colleague's accomplishments publicly, remembering that an assistant's mother had been ill, or helping a patient find an elevator, etc… goes a long way to leverage your visibility in a positive manner.

7. Show Vulnerability – As leaders, many of us have been raised in an era where leaders expect themselves to be on task (and on target) at all times. 120 hour work weeks, no sick days (ever), and an expectation of being hard as nails. Words like “I’m not sure what to do here” were not part of the leadership lexicon in the recent bygone era. Now it is clear that an expression of vulnerability is an important tool to draw your team into your mental model of the problem at hand. Taking it a step further, occasionally opening a meeting with a personal comment (e.g. “My daughter just got engaged”) can transform a meeting of disparate individuals into a collaborative and effective team. Be a human.

Always looking for Criteria Number 8….