How bad leadership manifests in the doctor’s profession
This study qualitatively describes physicians’ perceptions of bad physician leadership. The informants (n=50) of this study were physicians from four hierarchical levels (residents, specialists, heads of departments, and chief physicians). Content analysis by thematization was the chosen methodology. We found that bad physician leadership may manifest as adopting misguided leadership roles and styles, setting excessive demands, evading responsibility, lacking social skills and empathy, lacking support, favoritism, and inappropriate conduct. The results suggest that bad leadership can have negative conse- quences for not only working physicians but also the whole healthcare organization.
