I’ve always wondered if this were true in fields outside of medicine. I would honestly not know, since I have never worked, or dreamed, or thought about anything else, other than medicine. Judging from all the inspirational posts on LinkedIn, I would assume that this paradoxical dichotomy might only be true in the medical profession.
Medicine (surgery) is a team sport. I believe this wholeheartedly. It does take a village to get a patient through a complicated hospital admission, rehabilitation, home care, and back to a meaningful and productive life. That is why successes should always be credited to the team, rather than the doctor. Over the last decade, our medical profession has successfully (and rightfully) shifted all the attention away from the “hero doctor who saved my life”, to the “team of hardworking individuals who saved my life.”
The opposite, however, has not been true. While we celebrate our successes as a team, we find ourselves alone during dark times. When the complications, complaints, or lawsuits are served, they are served to the doctor. The team, keeps a careful distance, hedging their bets, awaiting the outcome. Does that not negate the whole concept of a team sport? It only takes a few instances of this paradox for doctors to recognize that the team thing in medicine is an illusion. It’s good for morale and marketing when we are thriving. It’s crickets when we are failing.
I suspect this is not the case in business. I suspect that team leaders are true to the team mentality, and everyone rises and falls together. In business, leaders are empowered to be leaders. They can make budgetary decisions, hire brilliant talent, and fire toxic people. In medicine, we are asked to be leaders, without empowerment- a recipe for failure, burnout and disillusionment.
Whenever I am asked to send a headshot for a news article, I always send a picture of our team, which includes a dozen individuals. Curiously, this team picture rarely ever gets published. The person on the other end of the request will usually resort to finding and using an individual photo of mine. We live in a society that thrives on drama. A hero’s rise makes a good story. Their fall, an even better story.
B. nerdicus
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