Confidently Stepping into New Leadership Roles with Nicole Jarrett, MD, FACS

As a leader, the more you show your human side and reach out to others for help, the stronger the chance that the people around you will start to do the same.

There are plenty of leadership lessons for early-career faculty and beyond in this week’s Faculty Factory Podcast interview, just in time for the holidays, with our new friend Nicole Jarrett, MD, FACS. We hear about her journey and the transition from faculty member to a formal leadership role as Division Chief.

Dr. Jarrett serves as Division Chief of Hand Surgery in the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She is also an Assistant Professor and the Hand Surgery Fellowship Director at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

The confidence to ask questions is an important sign of a confident leader. We all have days when we need help, and displaying the confidence to ask questions is essential.

"It's okay to ask for help. We're all going to find ourselves in situations where we feel overwhelmed or where things aren't going right, and we need support,” she said.

Midway through the discussion, Dr. Jarrett talks about the art of purposeful socializing.

It’s crucial to allocate time for social functions in our lines of work, especially in leadership roles, and taking a very strategic and efficient approach to how we engage in these functions pays dividends. It can also save time.

“It’s not all fun at these parties; you have a job to do. I’m very glad someone gave me that lesson, and I’m happy to pass it along to my faculty,” Dr. Jarrett discussed.