As a healthcare leader, the choices you make every day ripple through your organization—affecting not only patient outcomes but also the engagement and well-being of your team. It’s easy to feel like there are forces beyond your control shaping your actions, from administrative demands to the pace of the system itself. But at the core of effective leadership is the realization that you always have a choice. The way you show up, the decisions you make, and the manner in which you lead can align with your values—even when the pressure is high.

As the heat begins to wane and the vibrant greens of summer transition to fiery hues of fall, the changing of the seasons often sparks a sense of renewal. It’s a time when carefree days of summer give way to the structured routines of school and work, marking a period ripe for new beginnings and fresh starts.

Conflict is an inevitable part of any workplace, and healthcare environments are no exception. Given the high-stakes nature of healthcare, conflicts can arise from various sources, including interpersonal relationships, organizational stressors, and differing professional opinions. However, when managed effectively, conflict can become a catalyst for positive change, fostering a healthier work environment, enhancing retention, and reducing stress and burnout among healthcare professionals.

You’ve just had an uncomfortable exchange with someone. Things got a little heated and you felt defensive. You even said something that was likely hurtful. Was it a disagreement or a sign of deeper conflict? How will it impact your relationship and your ability to work with this person in the future? Is there anything you can do about it?

 Nurses are our warriors of frontline healthcare. They are often the first point of contact for patients and families seeking medical assistance - in hospitals, clinics, community health centers - nurses are our primary caregivers, offering comfort, support, and expertise when we need it most. Their presence is indispensable in emergency rooms, where quick thinking and decisive action can mean the difference between life and death. In remote areas, where access to healthcare is limited, nurses often bridge the gap between communities and medical resources.

It’s obvious that distrust will destroy a relationship. But have you ever considered that trust is the foundational - can’t live without - key to a great one?

Coaching is a highly effective approach to individual development. Group coaching - coaching that takes place with a coach and multiple people - can be transformative for everyone involved, including the group as a whole.

At its core, a coach approach involves shifting from a traditional directive style of management to one that emphasizes guidance, mentorship, and support. Rather than instructing team members on what to do, coach-like leaders help individuals uncover their strengths, develop their skills, and achieve their potential … and these individuals respond to this type of leadership, leading to higher engagement, work satisfaction, and retention.

Instead of a resolution to achieve more this new year, acknowledge yourself and your growth

In the hustle of life, it's easy to overlook what we’ve accomplished, and even easier to let life simply go on, without reflecting on how we’ve grown. We get caught up in whirlwinds of responsibilities, ambitions, and expectations (from others and ourselves), rarely stopping to pause and acknowledge the incredible stuff we've done.

Our emotions can be the key to making good decisions. But here’s the rub - it requires taking time to pause, recognizing what you are feeling, and deciding how you want to feel when you’re on the other side of the decision you’re facing. Think of it as examining current state and future state, with a smattering of emotions and deliberate thought in the middle. This last part - envisioning what the best outcome feels like - can point you toward the ‘right’ or best decision.

A well known and respected philosophy of adult learning theory is that any learning we do is so much more sticky when we involve other people. What we mean is that you’ll remember a lot more and have a higher likelihood of doing things differently (better) when you share with, talk to, ask, coach, be coached, mentor, be mentored ...with another human. It’s the power of social learning.

In addition to the more known benefits of exercise, like preventing and managing diseases, improving overall physical and mental well-being, and ensuring healthy growth and development, regular physical activity can sharpen our cognitive capacity and result in being better on the job.

Transitioning into a senior role in healthcare can be challenging. Not only does it require a lot of time and effort to apply for a role in the first place, but the actual transition from an intermediate or frontline role is often a difficult process.

With so much involved in getting a job offer for your first senior role, it’s important to first make sure you’re clear on the kind of role you want and—more importantly—why you want it.

The transition from medical school to residency is a high-stress time for trainee physicians. It can feel abrupt, challenging and often isolating, especially if the resident does not receive the proper support from their network.

Recently there has been a fair amount of research and consideration given to coaching as a strategy for making this transitional phase a smoother experience for residents, healthcare teams and, ultimately, patients and clients.

Coaching is becoming increasingly popular across many industries and given its proven potential to create more effective and confident leaders, this comes as no surprise.

In particular, physicians can greatly benefit from leadership coaching, especially those who manage a team or are frequently asked to step into a position of leadership directly or indirectly in a high-pressure environment. However, there are a few common misconceptions about how coaching works, whether physicians can benefit from the service and who coaching is designed for.

In a profession where 94% of practitioners are experiencing burnout, staying focused on the positive can be understandably challenging.

If you’re managing a team of nurses or other healthcare professionals, you know the burnout cycle firsthand. The situation in your workplace gets tough, the most affected team members experience an increase in stress and become more difficult to work with as a result, which causes other team members to become more stressed, and soon enough you have a team riddled with burnout.

“It’s lonely at the top.”

Or so the saying goes.

Indeed, the world of healthcare leadership can be lonely. We hear from many of our coaching and consulting clients that they feel like they have very few people to talk to about the struggles they face at work.

In the past few years, there has been a lot of talk about self-care, boundary setting and burnout in healthcare—much of it directed at frontline workers providing bedside care.

Frontline managers, however, are often left out of this public discourse.

Burnout, staffing shortages and frustrations with systems and processes can, unfortunately, create an environment where workplace bullying thrives. Under the extreme pressures that are sometimes present in healthcare, even the most empathetic and compassionate people can start exhibiting bullying behaviours—sometimes without even realizing it.

Read on for more information on workplace bullying in healthcare and what healthcare leaders can do to stop it from happening within their teams.

When you visualize a strong leader in the workforce, what do you see? Do you see a rational, put-together figure who makes decisive choices on behalf of their team? Or do you see someone who sometimes struggles with burnout, second guesses their decisions, and makes their fair share of mistakes?

The truth is, while many people would describe the first example, most of us probably have more in common with the latter.