Critical Care Time 63. Leading in the ICU… and Beyond!
Dec 1, 2025
Joshua Hartzell, MD, a retired Army colonel and infectious disease physician, shares insights on leadership in healthcare. He contrasts caring leadership with top-down approaches, emphasizing the importance of self-care, boundaries, and delegation. Hartzell highlights respect and genuine listening within ICU teams to combat burnout, while advocating for physical presence in challenging situations. He encourages developing leadership in small teams and recommends daily acts of gratitude and feedback to foster a positive culture among colleagues.
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Caring Creates Commitment
- Caring leadership creates commitment, not just compliance.
- Investing in people personally and professionally makes teams want to work harder.
Start By Caring For Yourself
- Start leadership by taking care of yourself: sleep, eat, and take vacation.
- Modeling self-care sets cultural expectations for your team to do the same.
Delegate With Transparency
- Delegate transparently and explain why you are stepping in.
- Delegate so you free yourself for tasks only you can do and to avoid signaling you don't trust others.
