In the latest edition of the Yale Child Study Center (YCSC) “On Leadership” blog post and newsletter column, Daryn David, PhD reflects on “A Conversation on Daring Leadership” held virtually by Tara Davila, LCSW with Brené Brown, PhD on July 28, 2023. Davila is an assistant clinical professor of social work who also serves as the vice chair for diversity, equity & inclusion, and associate director of youth services at the YCSC. Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston, where she holds the Huffington Foundation Endowed Chair at the Graduate College of Social Work. She also holds the position of visiting professor in management at the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business.
The On Leadership blog was launched to address the importance of connection, collaboration, and embodying a service leadership mindset in professional and personal contexts. YCSC Assistant Professor Daryn H. David, PhD directs the column and serves as associate director for leadership development in the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) Offices of Academic and Professional Development and Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion.
Listening to the fantastic conversation that our own Tara Davila held with Dr. Brené Brown last month, I was most struck by their back and forth about the vulnerabilities of our health care system. As Dr. Brown captured it, healthcare often runs in a way that is “beyond human scale,” with the sidelining of compassion, vulnerability, and authentic human connection in favor of productivity and efficiency. Systems like these can lead stakeholders to “armor up,” pushing aside deeper emotional needs in favor of defensiveness against shame and other negative feelings.
As I vigorously nodded along, I wondered how this idea might resonate with so many of my colleagues during this stressful, post-pandemic moment of enormous change within medical schools and health systems across the country — a moment marked by new ways of organizing and delivering much-needed healthcare services. I also wondered how many people working within these systems feel that some of the current ways of conducting research — such as the ongoing necessity of securing one grant after another or the constant pressure to publish cutting-edge contributions — might similarly interfere with the more human and humane dimensions to our work at times.
How can we prioritize relationships, showing vulnerability, and interpersonal well-being in systems that demand high and continual productivity? What and who can we rely on to bring a more human element back into these realms?
When this blog was launched a year ago, we began to explore the tenets of conscious accountability, or working in a deliberate, mindful way to deliver stellar outcomes and nurture and strengthen relationships in the process. We have addressed the importance of open communication, aligning values with work, building a culture of psychological safety, learning to give and receive effective feedback, taking time to intentionally harvest learnings from collaborations, and more. These are many of the conscious accountability steps that can help us to take responsibility for our actions and work to enhance every team member’s sense of well-being at work.
Leadership practices also have a role to play in rehumanizing our work. What would our experiences in academic medicine and healthcare look like if service leadership were more broadly adopted? If every leader remained humble in the face of their own missteps and failures – and held, as a foundational credo, a commitment to developing and elevating the potential of every member of their team? If success were measured not just by whether a given product or procedure were delivered as directed, no matter the human cost, but by how much every team member grows and learns as a result of having participated?
It is in the spirit of cultivating these values – service leadership and a deeper appreciation for the interpersonal facets of our work – that we
are rolling out new programming at the YCSC this fall. A new quarterly Grand Round series, Exploring and Enhancing Leadership in the Academy, will showcase individuals at YSM and beyond who are especially committed to leadership as a form of service.
Running alongside these talks will be a series of leadership posters beautifully designed by an undergraduate graphic design student, Skyler Rapacioli. The posters highlight famous quotes intended to inspire members of our community to think more deeply about how they are showing up each day. We are also developing expanded opportunities for our trainees and early career faculty to engage in peer coaching and to learn foundational communication, team building, and leadership skills at the beginning of their careers.
It is our hope that elevating the importance of serving others will inspire our departmental leaders - present and future - to behave generatively and generously, collegially and collaboratively, and engaging unarmored, with open-heartedness, with all members of our community. Together, we can nurture a workplace culture in our department – and beyond – at a human and humane scale, no matter how challenging our individual assignments and how rapidly changing our world may be.
Look for an announcement detailing the new lecture series and upcoming speakers soon – it will be posted to the blog and included in upcoming editions of YCSC Connections.