Burnout in the C-Suite: Fixing the Leadership Model Before It’s Too Late
A recent Becker's Hospital CEO Report had two news briefs that speak to the risks of malaise and of potential paralysis confronting healthcare leaders generally and CEO's in particular.
The first news item, "Burnout is a reality for 71% of CEO's" is based on the release of a report co-sponsored by Vistage, an executive coaching firm, and the Wall Street Journal. The survey is based on data from 494 respondents -- all CEO's of relatively small businesses (revenues between $1 and $20 million). 39% of the CEO's reported feeling occasionally burned out or exhausted in the past 12 months. Another 25% said they feel that way frequently.
What's Driving CEO Burnout?
Although this was not a survey of hospital leaders, many of the underlying causes of burnout are the same regardless of company size or setting, especially the lack of work-life balance. The article goes on to cite Rob McLin, President and CEO of Good Samaritan in Vincennes, Indiana who appropriately identifies a key culprit in creating or exacerbating work-life balance issues for healthcare leaders: feeling they need to take ownership of everything. "The lack of delegation nearly killed me. My leadership has evolved in the art of delegation and understanding how important it is to surround yourself with good people and give them the responsibility to work on things."
To Mr. McLin's important observation, I would add two points. First, health care leaders -- as with healthcare clinicians -- are what Peter Drucker calls "knowledge workers"; ie, people who think for a living. A defining characteristic of knowledge workers is the need for control, of autonomy, to have a genuine sense of agency. So while it's good to "give them the responsibility to work on things", I would argue it's equally important to provide them with the appropriate level of authority to match their responsibilities, too.
Direct Supports vs. Direct Reports
The other point that's germane here is for CEO's -- regardless of whether in healthcare or elsewhere -- to think of the people whom they supervise not as their direct "reports" but rather as their direct "supports". In other words, the role of the CEO is to coach, advise, incent, and lead in a way that makes it possible for those most proximate to the CEO to be successful and for them in turn, to make it possible for those whom they supervise to be similarly successful and so forth.
"Polycrisis" = The Perfect Storm
The second news brief is by staff writer Kelly Gooch and is entitled, "Providence CEO on healthcare's 'perfect storm' ". In her report, Ms. Gooch quotes Erik Wexler, Providence Health's CEO since January 2025. Wexler coins a term that I think precisely describes today's fraught operating environment for hospital and health system leaders: "polycrisis". By way of explication, Mr. Wexler references the perfect storm of labor issues and shortages; inflation and tarrifs; the actions of commercial payers (slow pay, downcoding, denials); and now the very real threat of extraordinary decreases in funding for Medicaid. Polycrisis, indeed.
Aligned Autonomy: Key to Leading through Crisis
What's the connection I make between these two articles? It's this: the greater the headwinds and the more varied the challenges, the more important it is for CEO's to give their direct "supports" -- and, in turn, their direct supports, and theirs yet another level all the way to the frontlines -- the tools and the latitude they each need to create and lead empowered teams. My colleague, Paul DeChant, MD, MBA, has come up with a useful way of describing what we mean by this approach of deep delegation coupled with faithful adherence to achieving/advancing the organization's mission, vision, values, strategic objectives and metrics: "aligned autonomy".
Solutions for Hospitals, Health Systems, and Medical Group Practices: Leadership-Driven Changes
The locus for curing clinician burnout and staffing challenges runs through the C-suite. Here are examples of leadership-driven changes to the workplace that my colleague Paul DeChant, MD, MBA and I often recommend:
> Regard clinicians as knowledge workers who are given significant latitude to make clinical decisions without unnecessary administrative encumbrances or delays
> Consistently apply one or more of the improvement sciences (Lean, Six Sigma, operations research, agile, design thinking) in consultation with front-line staff to improve workflow and reduce delays, waste, inefficiency, and job skill mismatches
> Expect all leaders, but especially senior executives, to do periodic job shadowing of front-line staff (where observing and deep listening are emphasized) in lieu of "rounding" (a largely ineffectual, if widely practiced activity)
> Create and require leader standard work (LSW).
> Develop and deploy a sophisticated, deeply ingrained, and rigorous daily management system (DMS) supported by visual display boards or monitors
> Judiciously invest in AI/ML solutions -- selected, tested and endorsed by front-line staff -- that eliminate or at least markedly reduce data entry, administrative requirements, and/or repetitive tasks that are non-value add
> Support near-continuous optimization and remediation of the EHR (there's no such thing as "it's all set")
> Get rid of superfluous or outdated policies, procedures, redundant approvals, and other stupid stuff (GROSS)
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Organizational Wellbeing Solutions was formed to enable senior leaders to identify the specific drivers of clinician burnout in their organization; and to support leaders in designing and executing a comprehensive plan to stop clinician burnout, increase retention, and improve operating results.
A hallmark of our consultancy is correcting the all-too-frequent distrust and alienation Clinicians feel toward the C-Suite generally and the CEO in particular.
Let us help you help your organization and its clinicians develop a more trusting, aligned, and productive working relationship.was formed to enable senior leaders to identify the specific drivers of clinician burnout in their organization; and to support leaders in designing and executing a comprehensive plan to stop clinician burnout, increase retention, and improve operating results.
A hallmark of our consultancy is correcting the all-too-frequent distrust and alienation Clinicians feel toward the C-Suite generally and the CEO in particular.
Let us help you help your organization and its clinicians develop a more trusting, aligned, and productive working relationship.
Schedule a meeting to learn more.
