‘Strong leaders’ seek to collaborate, can improve care for rheumatology patients
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Leaders who are willing to collaborate with both patients and other health care professionals are more likely to achieve optimal disease outcomes, according to experts who participated in a panel discussion.
In a discussion on leadership hosted at the 2024 Association of Women in Rheumatology (AWIR) annual conference, Eric M. Ruderman, MD, associate chief of clinical affairs for the division of rheumatology at Northwestern University, noted that many men are taught from an early age that they should be strong leaders, and that being a strong leader requires them to “stomp over everyone.”
“They believe that being a strong leader means to stomp over everyone, and that is just the wrong way to do it,” he said. “Being a really strong leader is making sure that everyone you are working with can voice their own opinions and their own insights.”
According to AWIR President Grace C. Wright, MD, PhD, who led the panel, this definition of a strong leader — one who seeks to collaborate rather than conquer — ties into emerging trends and thoughts regarding multidisciplinary patient care.
“You are talking about collaboration,” Wright said. “We are collaborating with our colleagues in other specialties to provide high-quality care for our patients.”
The discussion, which also included Ashley Diaz-Granados, BA, MSW, senior vice president of U.S. immunology for Eli Lilly & Co., addressed different types of leadership, the impact of gender in leadership roles, and how these factors can affect patient care.
“It starts with being true to yourself,” Ruderman said. “When you are passionate about what you do and enjoy what you do, and you seek to bring others in, then they turn to you.”
However, for Diaz-Granados, the journey to leadership was slightly different.
“It was through the experience of having really poor leadership that made me feel like I could do a better job,” she said.
According to Wright, this dichotomy of experience highlights an important message for providers to consider — that even leaders can fulfill certain roles as followers, and followers can fulfill roles as leaders.
“You are always both,” she said. “You are always facing backward and facing forward.”
Demographic factors can impact not only the pathway to leadership, but also the way leaders behave and view themselves.
“I have run a lot of data and seen a lot of data in practice,” Diaz-Granados said. “Generally, women are less likely to lean in.”
Women often feel that they must fit the entire description of the leadership position before they “jump in” to accepting roles as leaders, she added.
From Ruderman’s perspective, the reluctance of many women to view themselves as leaders is related to Diaz-Granados’s experience of being in rooms with poor leaders.
“When you were in rooms with people and thinking, ‘That is not leadership,’ I am sure it was men,” he said. “Gender plays a huge role.”
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Wright G, et al. Multidisciplinary Perspective on Leadership: Expert Panel Discussion. Presented at: Association of Women in Rheumatology annual conference; July 25-27, 2024; Orlando, Florida (hybrid meeting).
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