Enhancing a Faculty Development Program: Identifying and Addressing Leadership Skill Gaps Using an Established Leadership Framework.

Purpose: Health care leaders have a significant impact on workforce engagement, making investments in leadership development essential. At Weill Cornell Medicine, a faculty development offering exists for early career faculty called Leadership in Academic Medicine Program (LAMP). This study aimed to identify the leaderships skills that LAMP participants found most challenging and applied an evidence-based leadership model to address those challenges.

Methods: The authors analyzed pre- and post-program surveys of LAMP participants (2013-2023) to assess their agreement with statements regarding their leadership and other professional skills. Percent disagreement was compared pre- and post-program. Statements with disagreements at or above the pre-program median were classified as areas of leadership discomfort. Statements with disagreements at or above the post-program median were classified as areas of persistent leadership discomfort. These areas were cross referenced with a leadership model shown to positively influence constituent well-being to inform specific curricular additions to LAMP.

Results: A total of 328 paired responses were analyzed, identifying three areas of persistent leadership discomfort: (1) Negotiating (2) Managing Competing Demands and (3) Managing Conflict. All were successfully cross referenced to teachable behaviors in an established leadership model.

Conclusion: Leadership behaviors that positively impact health care workers and that address skill gaps articulated by early career leaders can be used to enhance a curriculum in a faculty development program.