Facing Half Dome - 2008

Yosemite National Park, CA

Challenges and Leadership

Great, existential challenges have a remarkable way of evoking different reactions from individuals with diverse personalities. The responses may range from cowering fear to towering bravery. The latter is witnessed in men known for their genuine boldness as well as the man who has been perceived as quietly meek. This seemingly outward meekness is sometimes misunderstood for a quiet, steadfast resolve. 

Who Are These Leaders?

Exemplary leaders may be found at a humble home, small and large businesses, hospitals, churches and government bodies. The list is virtually endless. 

Some have a long record of leadership service; others seem to arise to meet the challenge that confronts them.You may have witnessed, as I have, a range of behavior of individuals in the face of crisis:

The usually, boldly verbose that remains uncharacteristically quiet. Or the quiet man that emerges confidently from the...

Industry with Elegance - 2014

Idaho

First Steps

Like any grand goal, its accomplishment depends on completing tasks that are part of a plan designed to achieve your objective.

When it comes to transitioning from your practice, the first items to address are to prepare yourself personally and professionally. These include the creation of lifestyle and financial plans to determine whether your current assets will support your desired lifestyle. 

Once completed, it is prudent to undertake a thorough, objective review of the current condition of your practice. The purpose is to ensure that it's functioning properly. This is the subject of a previous article.

Next: Optimize the Value of Your Practice

The next  step in preparation is one that will benefit you in the near term as well as at the time of sale. That’s to optimize profitability and thus its value, to you as well as a prospective buyer.

The methodology of this endeavor is the Practice Value Optimization Plan....

Mt. Morrison and Convict Lake - 2019

Sierra Nevada, CA

Steps and Phases

The End of Career transition is a process that’s usually lengthy. It’s comprised of several phases that focus on tasks that should be accomplished in a particular sequence, so that each builds upon the previous one.

The most challenging of these phases, primarily for personal reasons, is usually the first. This is when you come to terms with the fact that your career will come to an end. For a variety of reasons, physicians’s reactions will vary widely from joy of anticipation to apprehension and stress.

Regardless of how you perceive this phase of your life, there’s an element of loss that you will probably feel and benefit by coming to terms with it. A very positive perspective is to think of this as what it really is: a transition, rather than a “retirement.” (See previous article on this topic.) The term transition emphasizes its purpose: to experience renewal and...

Elements of Greatness - 2022

El Capitan, Cathedral Rocks,

Bridal Veil Falls

Yosemite Valley

Yosemite National Park 

Challenges and Leadership

Great, existential challenges have a remarkable way of evoking different reactions from individuals with diverse personalities. The responses may range from cowering fear to towering bravery. The latter is witnessed in men known for their genuine boldness as well as the man who has been perceived as quietly meek. 

This seemingly outward meekness is sometimes misunderstood for a quiet, steadfast resolve. 

Who Are These Leaders?

Exemplary leaders may be found at a humble home, small and large businesses, hospitals, churches and government bodies. The list is virtually endless. 

Some have a long record of leadership service; others seem to arise to meet the challenge that confronts them.You may have witnessed, as I have, a range of behavior of individuals in the face of crisis:

The usually, boldly verbose that remains...

Encounter with Destiny - 2010

Rendezvous Mountain

Bridger - Teton National Forest, WY

 Character, Purpose and Leadership

Great, existential challenges have a remarkable way of stimulating different reactions from individuals who have diverse temperaments and personalities. These responses can range from cowering fear to towering bravery. The latter is witnessed in men known for their genuine boldness as well those who have been perceived as quietly meek. 

It is this seemingly outward meekness that is sometimes misunderstood for a quiet, steadfast resolve. 

Who Are These Leaders?

Exemplary leaders may be found at a humble home, small and large businesses, hospitals, churches and government bodies. The list is virtually endless. 

Some have a long record of leadership service; others seem to arise out of nowhere to meet the challenge they are confronted with. Perhaps you, as I, have witnessed these behaviors of individuals in the face of crisis:

• The usually,...

Balloon Flower (Pandion haliaetus)

Home, Florida- 2005

The Creation of Order in Your Universe 

I have previously described the End of Career Transition Plan as the third element of a triad of plans that provide a structured, yet flexible approach to executing your End of Career. This customized approach is applicable whether you are a solo practitioner, a member of a group practice or otherwise employed.

It is my hope that your Transition is one that you have initiated of your own volition, that is, a developmental transition. This will allow you to plan well in advance, thereby promoting an optimal Transition experience. This is in contrast to a reactive transition, which is thrust upon you by a sudden, unanticipated change, as I experienced.

Another Kind of Transition

Regardless of how the transition process comes about, once it has begun both types of transition share similarities. There is, however, a major difference: in the case of a reactive transition, the timeline that...

Elements of Character, Yosemite Valley

Yosemite National Park - 2008

Character, Purpose and Leadership

Great, existential challenges have a remarkable way of evoking different reactions from individuals with diverse personalities. One aspect of this, is that the responses range from cowering fear to towering bravery. The latter is witnessed in men known for their genuine boldness as well as the man who has been perceived as quietly meek. 

It is this seemingly outward meekness that is sometimes misunderstood for a quiet, steadfast resolve. 

Who Are These Leaders?

Exemplary leaders may be found at a humble home, small and large businesses, hospitals, churches and government bodies. The list is virtually endless. 

Some have a long record of leadership service; others seem to arise out of nowhere to meet the challenge they are confronted with. Perhaps you, as I have witnessed the behavior of individuals in the face of crisis:

The usually, boldly verbose remain...

Flowing with Direction and Purpose

South Fork, Madison River, MT - 2004

Living Purposefully with Tranquility and Equanimity Can Improve the Quality of Your Life

To contemplate the passage of time and how each of us perceives it is a subject of wonder since the beginning of…well, time.

Early humans pondered the coming and going of the sun and moon while keeping warm by a campfire near their cave. In the twenty-first century we ponder and wonder about the same rhythms of life as we mark time on a digital clock.

The rotation of the earth on its axis that creates day and night is the same now as it was in antiquity.

The rotational march of the earth around the sun that creates the seasons and marks the years, is the same now as it was then.

So it is that the march of time was and is the same for all of us. 

But there are three things that differentiates you and I as individuals:

• How you choose to use the precious time of your life.
• How those choices reflect how you value...

Rising to the Occassion

Half Dome, Yosemite National Park - 2004

Character, Purpose and Leadership

Summary:

Great, existential challenges have a remarkable way of evoking different reactions from individuals with diverse personalities.

 Usually, it is that caliber of character that motivates such leaders to serve not themselves, but the best interests of others.

 You can choose to lead and become a leader.

 I believe that leadership skills are acquired through a developmental process that may occur through deliberate education, experiencing life’s challenges or frequently both.

 Whether you are an experienced leader or new to the role, leadership originates and endures from the fountain of your character.

 Look and you will find the leader within you that responds with purposeful action.

PS: Would you like to learn more from me about how to develop your personal and professional leadership skills? To help you, I provide consulting and coaching...

Towering Cornerstone

Mt. Moran, Grand Teton N. P. , 2010

The Role of Leader: the Beginning and the End

It is natural and therefore common to ascribe exceptional leadership skills to a visionary leader who has visibly manifested those attributes in the course of actively leading. Usually, the role of leader has occurred over a prolonged period of time and those qualities have been witnessed repeatedly.

 Usually, such a leader has had a significant positive impact on the organization and its members.

 In particular, he probably  has had a respectable influence on the development of younger, emerging leaders.

 To Do or Not To Do

I believe that in matters of leadership, as in so many areas of life, what we determine we should not do can be as important and sometimes more impactful, than what we choose to do.

The key to achieving a constructive outcome, is the rationale and the implementation of such decisions.

That rationale, in turn, most nobly originates when it is...