Lessons in Leadership: Early Career

In this episode, Dr. Dana Crosby joins hosts Dr. Gopi Shah and Dr. Ashley Agan to discuss leadership in Otolaryngology and how to navigate and build a program from the ground up.

Dr. Crosby describes her initial experiences post-Rhinology fellowship starting to build up a small Otolaryngology division into a department as a co-Chair. She discusses the importance of identifying good mentors and resilience in starting out. She continues to speak to the importance of navigating through the best interests of both all the faculty involved as well as the department. Additionally, the importance of reading and constantly learning from books and other resources as such is vital to complement the experiential learning.

Dr. Crosby continues to talk about different leadership styles and how they complement each other. She describes a style of allowing everyone to have input, while being aware that certain situations call for quick decision making. She also mentions how best to manage disagreements through open discussion and compromise. Dr. Crosby closes out by discussing the implementation of leadership curriculums in training at all different levels. Although residency is incredibly busy, dedicated leadership skill discussions may be beneficial. Lastly, she ends with the key points about being yourself, leading by example, and being open to new opportunities and learning from each one.