Fourteen Doors to the Boardroom

Nearly every leader in healthcare started somewhere else entirely: at a bedside, a pharmacy counter, a therapy room. Almost none of them were taught how to make the leap from clinical work to leading people. Fourteen Doors to the Boardroom is a collection of fourteen composite stories following clinicians, nurses, physicians, pharmacists, therapists, and administrators, as they navigate the leadership transition across very different corners of healthcare: a rural hospital, an academic medical center, a hospice, a VA facility, a long-term care home, a psychiatric unit. Each story is self-contained, drawn from the common patterns of this transition rather than any single real career. Some of these leaders find their footing quickly. Others struggle longer than they'd like to admit, learning to read a budget, to say no to a request, to deliver hard feedback to a mentor, to lead people who used to be their peers. All of them are figuring out, often in real time, how to keep the values that brought them into healthcare while learning skills nobody taught them in school. What's inside: - Fourteen self-contained stories of clinicians becoming leaders, across hospitals, hospices, and care settings - Composite portraits drawn from real patterns in healthcare leadership transitions - Honest looks at financial literacy, organizational politics, and leading former peers - A collection for anyone who has made, or is considering, the leap from clinical work to leadership