Physician Leaders Must Earn Their EQ Degrees: Kierstin Kennedy

Physicians are usually natural-born leaders, but their leadership skills may need revising and refining as they transition into administrative roles. IQ becomes less important whereas EQ and the utilization of listening and people skills become imperative. In this podcast, WittKieffer Consultant Vinny Gossain interviews UAB Medicine Chief Medical Officer Kierstin Kennedy, M.D., on her personal journey into administration and how she discovered that emotional intelligence is more essential to leadership success than one's medical knowledge and general intelligence. "Leadership is about understanding your team, who has what skill sets, who's passionate about what, and aligning passion and skill set so they can do incredible work," she says. As leaders ascend to new heights, they may never get the "power" they want, but they can certainly get the satisfaction they crave, she says.