Physician Coaching Insights

What physician leader should request from a performance review

Category: Physician Coaching Tips, Physicians Leading Transformation

Have you completed your performance review yet? It surprises me how many professionals DO NOT routinely  conduct even a superficial appraisal of “how you’re doing” as a leader—whether you lead just your solo practice, serve as Medical Director of your group, or serve as CMO of your organization.  What’s even more surprising is how many physician leaders who spend 100% of their time in medical management never have a meaningful review with their supervisor.

Why Review Your Performance? 

There are three good reasons to look at how you’ve done compared to what your goals are:

• The process will keep you focused on a few essential accomplishments for the year
• It’s a good way to see how you are developing personally as a leader
• If you want to advance or take on additional projects, a review provides some concrete language and metrics of actual accomplishments, not just “activities.”

What Should You Look At?

In general, for my clients who are in a leadership role I recommend looking critically at these two dimensions:

1. Focus and Proficiencies of Good Leaders and
2. SMART Accomplishments.

Are you ready for your review?

Step One:  For each category below, rate yourself between 1 and 5, with 1= “Did not focus on this much over the past year,” and 5= “Focused on this a lot”

Step Two:  For each of those categories that received a 3 or higher, list up to three SMART accomplishments.  SMART stands for:  Specific, Measurable, Accomplishment, Results-oriented, Time-oriented.

Leadership Proficiencies ____ Planning and Budgeting: Established detailed steps and timetables for achieving results and then allocating the resources necessary to make it happen   ____ Establishing Direction: Developed a vision of the future, and strategies for producing the changes needed to achieve that vision   ____ Organizing and Staffing: Established a structure for accomplishing plan requirements, staffing that structure with people, delegating authority for carrying out the plan, providing policies and procedures to guide people, and creating methods or systems to monitor implementation   ____ Aligning People: Communicated the direction by words and deeds to all those whose cooperation may be needed so as to create a team that understands the vision and strategies and accepts their validity   ____ Controlling and Problem Solving:  Monitored results in detail, identifying deviation from the plan, and then organizing to solve these problems   ____ Motivating and Inspiring:  Energized people to overcome major political, bureaucratic, and resource barriers to change by satisfying basic, but often unfulfilled, human needs   ____ Promoting Stability and Cooperation: Created the potential of consistently producing key results   ____ Promoting Change:  Created the potential of producing useful change and innovation, such as a new product, service or process   *Adapted from “Co-Active Coaching : New Skills for Coaching People Toward Success in Work and Life” by Laura Whitworth et al.

What About the Coming Year?

Once you complete your performance review for last year, take this same Proficiencies Table and set some targets for Focus and SMART Accomplishments.  Where do you want to focus your leadership development efforts in the coming months?  What specific accomplishment targets or goals do you want to establish now? What is realistic?  What would be a great stretch?

Complimentary “Performance Coaching “

If you want some help completing your Performance Appraisal or setting goals for next year, my  Coaching Associates and I are offering a complimentary 60-minute Performance Coaching session for the next three months.  To arrange a Session, email me at francine@physicianleadership.com, or call our office at (206) 686-4205 or use the Contact Form.

Francine R. Gaillour, MD, MBA, FACPE is an executive coach, business consultant and facilitator.  She is president of The Gaillour Group and director  of Creative Strategies in Physician Leadership.  Dr. Gaillour is a professional speaker on healthcare leadership and cultural change.

April 29, 2022