Lead Well MD: Transforming Healthcare Through Effective Clinician Leadership

“What I Wish I'd Known Sooner: Tips and Strategies from a Leader Who's Been There” with Dr. Elizabeth Copeland

Dr. Elizabeth Copeland, Chief Medical Officer of Palo Alto Foundation Medical Group, didn't plan her way to the c-suite. And that, it turns out, is one of the most instructive things about her journey. In this conversation, she's candid about what the transition from clinician to senior leader actually looks like from the inside - the moments that surprised her, the instincts she had to unlearn, and the lessons she couldn't have learned any other way. She talks about the dynamics that shape how decisions really get made in large healthcare organizations, and why the skills that make someone an exceptional clinician can work against them as a leader. There's practical wisdom here for anyone navigating a senior role or thinking about stepping into one: * What to do in the first 90 days.  * Where new leaders most commonly lose ground without realizing it.  * What it actually takes to build an environment where people tell you the truth. * What it means to lead as a woman in healthcare. Dr. Copeland is willing to name what actually moves organizations: not authority, not expertise, not a well-crafted strategic plan. Relationships. Timing. Knowing when to push and when to step back. She has learned all of it on the ground - and this conversation is full of the kind of insight that only comes from someone who has genuinely lived it. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2192264/fan_mail/new]

"Leading with Purpose: How UH Cleveland Is Rewiring Culture, Leadership, and the Future of Care" with Dr. Patrick Runnels

What happens when a psychiatrist trained in homeless outreach decides the real problem isn't the patients - it's the systems supposed to serve them? In this episode, host Ashley Wendel sits down with Dr. Patrick Runnels, Chief Medical Officer of the Veale Initiative for Healthcare Innovation at University Hospitals Cleveland, for a wide-ranging conversation about what's broken in healthcare leadership - and what it actually looks like to build something better. Patrick shares how nearly two decades of leading large, complex health systems has convinced him that the crisis in healthcare is not primarily financial or clinical. It's a leadership and culture problem. Healthcare systems were built to fix people when they break - but the knowledge, the tools, and the evidence to do something far more meaningful have existed for years. What's missing is the leadership capability and the organizational courage to use them. In this conversation, Ashley and Patrick explore why the economic engine has become the default "why" in medicine, and what gets lost when it does. They discuss the difference between transactional management and authentic transformational leadership - and why so many clinicians struggle to make that shift when they step into administrative roles. Patrick introduces University Hospitals' framework of leading with love, built around three pillars: believing, belonging, and building - and explains why belonging, the middle piece, is the most critical and the most neglected. They also dig into the practical work of culture change: how UH moved from 20% to nearly 80% annual wellness visit completion over three years, what it actually took to bring resistant physicians along, and why listening - not directing - was often the most powerful leadership move available. Patrick shares his four Cs framework for leadership development and makes the case for why protecting time for peer coaching and relationship-building isn't a luxury - it's a strategic investment with measurable returns. This episode is for physician leaders, CMOs, healthcare executives, and anyone who believes that how we lead in medicine is inseparable from the outcomes we produce - for patients, for clinicians, and for the systems we build together. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2192264/fan_mail/new]

"When Working Harder Isn’t the Answer: How to Reclaim Your Life in Medicine" with Dr. Ben Reinking

What happens when doing everything “right” still leaves you feeling stuck, exhausted, and disconnected from the work you once loved? In this honest and deeply human conversation, Dr. Ben Reinking - a pediatric cardiologist, educator, and founder of "The Developing Doctor", a physician coaching practice - shares a story many clinicians may recognize. From the outside, his career was thriving. But beneath the surface, the strategy that had always worked when things were tough - keeping his head down and working harder - was no longer sustainable. Dr. Reinking describes his realization that something wasn’t right, the burnout he didn’t initially recognize, and the cultural conditioning in medicine that keeps clinicians pushing forward instead of pausing. Through coaching, he began to look inward - and what he found changed not just how he worked, but how he led and lived.  From learning to say no, to asking better questions, to embracing vulnerability, Dr. Reinking shows how small, often resisted shifts can create meaningful change. More than anything, this conversation offers permission - to question, to recalibrate, and to believe there are more options than we’ve been trained to see. This episode is a powerful reminder that continuing to develop ourselves as humans, not just clinicians, is essential. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2192264/fan_mail/new]

"Leading Beyond the Bedside: From Clinical Expert to System Leader" with Dr. Rob Nordgren

The transition from practicing physician to system leader looks smooth from the outside. Internally, it’s often much more complicated. In this episode, Ashley Wendel talks with Dr. Rob Nordgren, Divisional Chief Medical Officer at Sutter Health, about what physicians have to learn as they move from bedside expertise into broader organizational leadership. They discuss the identity shift that comes with leadership, the role of trust and emotional intelligence, how to navigate resistance and change, and why courageous conversations matter so much in complex systems. This is a grounded, honest conversation about what leadership really asks of physicians now - not just expertise, but influence, self-awareness, and the ability to bring people with you. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2192264/fan_mail/new]

"The High-Performing Woman's Experience in Medicine: Exhausted, Accomplished, and Still Unfulfilled" with Dr. Erica Kreismann

Episode Summary (succinct, with key highlights) In this episode, Ashley sits down with Dr. Erica Kreismann - emergency medicine physician turned executive coach - to explore what it means to be a woman and clinician leader in today’s healthcare landscape. Erica shares her own formative journey, from training in New York City during 9/11 to making a radical “pattern interrupt” move to Tasmania, and how those experiences reshaped her understanding of purpose, contribution, and sustainable leadership. Together, they unpack why so many high-performing women in healthcare feel hollow or stuck - not because they’re failing, but because they’ve outgrown the unspoken rules they were taught: be nice, be liked, don’t disappoint, and “if not me, who?” Erica names the invisible weight of emotional labor, the mental load, and the structural realities of medical training that still aren’t designed for women’s lives. The conversation reframes resilience as a shared responsibility - part individual self-awareness and compassion, and part organizational systems that reduce moral injury and create conditions where clinicians can thrive. Key highlights include practical pathways for change:  * Using curiosity (especially self-curiosity) to identify the narratives we’ve carried * Recognizing how old stories once protected us but now hold us back  * Building a mindfulness practice that supports presence over performance. This conversation is a powerful invitation for women leaders - and those who care about women leaders - to give yourself permission to disappoint others, take up space, and lead from a more authentic, sustainable truth. Send us Fan Mail [https://www.buzzsprout.com/2192264/fan_mail/new]