043_Debunking Leadership Myths in Healthcare: Building Cultures That Deliver Real Results

Jarvis T. Gray returns to the Excellence in Healthcare podcast with an impactful solo episode focused on challenging the most persistent myths in healthcare leadership. Jarvis dives deep into the misconceptions that keep healthcare teams and organizations from investing in real, lasting leadership development.

Key Points Discussed:

1. Myth #1: Leaders Are Born, Not Made

• Jarvis debunks the idea that leadership is a birthright, explaining that while some people may have traits that make leadership easier, anyone can build strong leadership skills through deliberate practice and growth.
• He shares inspiring stories, including that of Camille, a respiratory therapist who went from doubting her leadership potential to mentoring others, all by embracing development and the right encouragement.

2. Myth #2: Leadership Training Is Too Soft

• Countering the claim that leadership development is all talk and no action, Jarvis makes a strong case that “soft skills equal hard results.”
• Communication, empathy, and trust are identified as essentials that prevent the most common breakdowns in healthcare—outweighing pure technical skills in terms of impact on culture and results.
• A real-world example from an emergency department highlights how addressing human dynamics, not just processes, led to meaningful improvements.

3. Myth #3: Leadership Training Doesn’t Work

• Jarvis explains the difference between ineffective, one-off workshops and ongoing, embedded leadership development programs.
• He shares a case study where a healthcare organization's investment in sustained development led to a 30% boost in engagement, 22% drop in turnover, and over $1 million in retention ROI.

Actionable Takeaways:

• Challenge the leadership myths present in your team or organization.
• Take one small step this week—whether that's signing up for training, starting a feedback conversation, or mentoring a colleague.
• Spark conversations about leadership myths in your next team huddle by sharing this episode.

Connect & Share

• Jarvis invites listeners to connect and share their stories on LinkedIn.
• This episode isn’t just about debunking leadership myths—it's about starting a movement focused on courage, clarity, and purpose in healthcare leadership.

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Transcript

0:56

Hey, healthcare leaders. Welcome back to the Excellence in Healthcare podcast. I'm your host, Jarvis T. Gray. And today I want to push back not on people, but on myths. Because when it comes to healthcare leadership, there are too many myths floating around. Misconceptions that hold back growth, that keep people from investing in themselves, that stop organizations from building real leadership cultures, and that ultimately it hurts teams and, and it hurts our patients. So in today's episode, we're going to call out these myths, we're going to hold them up to the light, and we're going to tell the truth. Here are the big three that we'll tackle. Leaders are born, not made. Leadership training is too soft and leadership training doesn't really work. Do those sound familiar? I know you've heard these before. Heck, I used to believe a few of them myself back in the early time of my career. But experience has been a very good teacher. And what I've learned through real world healthcare leadership, from the bedside to the boardroom, is this. Leadership is a magic. It's a method. And methods can be taught, it can be practiced, and it can change everything. So let's get into it. Alright, so let's start with the classic that leaders are born. This idea has been around for forever, right? The belief that some people are just natural leaders while others just aren't. And that's a personality thing, that if you don't have it, whatever it is, that you'll never be a great leader. Let me say this as clearly as I can. Leadership is not a birthright. It's a skill set. Now, sure, some people might have traits that make it easier to lead. They might be naturally outgoing, they might be confident in public. They might like taking charge in group settings. But those are preferences, not competencies. You can learn to communicate with clarity. You can practice making hard decisions. You can develop empathy. You can improve emotional intelligence. Leadership is built in the trenches, not in the delivery room. I've worked with introverted leaders who quietly empowered hundreds of employees. I've coached young clinicians who stepped into management roles they didn't quite feel that they were ready for and became some of the most thoughtful, effective leaders that I've ever seen. You want to know the common denominator? They didn't wait to be born with it. They built it. They showed up, they listened, they reflected, they got feedback, and they got better. Let me share a quick story. So, a few years ago, I worked with a healthcare system that was launching a new leadership development program. One of the participants, a respiratory therapist named Camille had never seen herself as a leader. She didn't manage people. She wasn't loud or charismatic. She said, jarvis, I just don't think I'm cut out for this. Fast forward 12 months. And Camilla was not only leading a cross functional project team, she was also mentoring other participants in the cohort. And why? Because she committed to the process, because she stopped believing the myth, and because someone gave her the tools and the encouragement to grow. So let me ask you something. What do you believe about your own leadership potential? Are you waiting for someone to tell you that you're a natural? Or are you ready to step into the work of becoming a leader? Because the truth is, leaders are made every single day. You are not the exception. All right, so myth number two. This one's tricky because it often sounds like all leadership stuff is too soft. We need people who can execute, not talk about feelings. And I've heard this in boardrooms, I've heard it in break rooms, and I've heard it whispered right after leadership workshops are completed. And let me tell you what I tell every executive that says this to me. Soft skills equal hard results. Let me say that again. Soft skills equal hard results. Because think about it. What causes more breakdowns in health care? Technical mistakes or communication failures? What creates more disengagement? A lack of competence or a lack of empathy? What drives more turnover? Salary structures or toxic management? Now, don't get me wrong. Technical excellence. It matters. We need skilled physicians, sharp analysts, precise operators. But in every room that I walk into, the conversations always come back to trust, clarity, conflict, accountability, collaboration, burnout, feedback, and of course, culture. Those aren't just buzzwords. They're the daily reality of every team. Let me give you an example. One organization that I supported had a recurring issue in their emergency department. It focused around delays in triage and patient handoff. Everyone blamed the process until a few honest conversations revealed the truth. People weren't communicating. Nurses didn't feel heard. Physicians felt unsupported. Supervisors avoided tough conversations. And leadership wasn't modeling accountability. We didn't fix it by redesigning a checklist. We fixed it by building leadership capacity. We trained supervisors on communication skills. We helped team leads learn how to coach instead of criticize. We gave directors tools for running high trust huddles. And. And that's when things change. That's when the metrics improve. That's when the culture shifted. So here's the real question. Are you willing to build a leadership culture that values human behavior as much as the process? If you don't, your Best systems will fail under the weight of broken relationships. Leadership training isn't fluff. It's the framework that holds the work together. All right, so our last myth to debunk. We've tried leadership training, but it didn't work. And I hear this one a lot as well. And when I dig deeper, it sounds like this. We sent people to a workshop, they came back pumped up for about a week and then everything went back to normal. Does that, does that sound familiar? Here's what I say. Every time. Bad training doesn't work, good development does. There's a difference. So leadership training, that's a one off training or one size fit all type of a training or is just completely disconnected from your everyday reality. Yeah, that's really not going to stick. But development that's contextualized, that's ongoing, that's supported by coaching, it's embedded into the culture of your team. It's measured and it's reinforced. Well, that's, that's the kind of development that truly works. It works because it's not just teaching new information. It's really all about changing behaviors. So let me walk you through a quick contrast. A hospital that I worked with, they had previously spent over $80,000 for on a leadership vendor that put on a three day workshop. They had the nice looking slides, the great reviews, and of course, zero follow through. By Q2, nothing had changed. So the following year they brought in a different model, but this one. This included monthly leadership labs, peer accountability groups, real world application challenges, coaching, executive involvement. 12 months later, they had a 30% improvement in manager engagement scores. A a 22% decrease in turnover and over $1 million in retention ROI. So when someone says leadership training doesn't work, I simply ask, so what did you actually build? And did you stick with it long enough for it to matter? Because leadership development is not a magic pill. It's a strategy. And like any good strategy, it needs alignment, accountability, and time to work. All right, so let's go ahead and bring this all home. So today we talked about three big myths. That leaders are born, training is too soft, and that leadership training doesn't work. And we've seen the truth. Leaders are made over time through deliberate practice. Leadership training, when done right, produces real measurable outcomes. And the soft stuff is also the most essential stuff. So here's what I want you to take away from today's episode. If you want better healthcare, then build better leaders, period. That starts with challenging our assumptions. It starts with investing in growth, and it starts with you. So here's your challenge for the week. Identify one myth you've believed or allowed in your organization. Call it out, reflect on it, and ask if it's holding you or your team back. Take action towards stronger development. That might mean registering for a cohort, scheduling a feedback session, reading a new leadership book, or just simply mentoring someone on your team. Just simply start the conversation by sharing this episode with your peers. Bring it up at your next leadership huddle. Ask your team, what myths are we going to let go of? Because this work, this leadership work, it truly matters, especially in our healthcare industry. It saves careers, it changes culture, and ultimately, it improves patient care. And if this episode resonated with you, then, please, I'd love to hear from you. Shoot me a message on LinkedIn. Tell me which myth hit home. Or better yet, share your own story of growth. And as always, thank you for being a part of this community. This isn't just a podcast. It's a movement. A movement of leaders committed to courage, clarity, and purpose. Until next time, this is Jarvis T. Gray. Keep growing, keep challenging what's old, and keep leading with excellence.