Intangibles: The Unexpected Traits of High-Performing Healthcare Leaders (ACHE Management)

About this book

Winner of the 2019 ACHE James A. Hamilton Book of the Year Award! As a leader is it possible to be both successful and humble? Studies show that todays emerging leaders not only prioritize achievement over humility but also see the two as mutually exclusive. Does this signal an existential crisis for healthcarean industry that at its essence is supposed to embody humility and compassion? Thankfully no according to Intangibles: The Unexpected Traits of High-Performing Healthcare Leaders which demonstrates that you can embrace humility and still be excellent at your job. The author a healthcare professor executive coach and consultant gleans evidence and insights from researchers executives philosophers and thought leaders. Intangibles is neither a self-help book offering prescriptive answers nor a leadership-guru memoir looking back at a lifetime of lessons learned. Rather it offers an engaging exploration of evidence-based practices from an array of leaders in different settings. The books stories interviews and research findings will appeal to readers of every stripe and career stage from undergraduate students in healthcare administration to early careerists and even seasoned CEOs. Part 1 introduces the four intangible leadership traits: humility compassion kindness and generosity. Part 2 explores each trait in detail and part 3 tackles the traits through the lenses of gender age and self-improvement. Along the way the book explores many intriguing questions: Is humility viewed as weakness? Can leaders balance kindness with a strong personality? How do men and women differ in their perceptions of these traits? Are there generational differences in how leadership is perceived? Can these characteristics be learned? In the end Intangibles concludes that high-performance in leadership can be achieved when humility is combined with ambition and compassion with strength.