Want to Be a Good Leader, Be a Good Follower with Dr. Lauren Weber

Intro: 

Dr. Lauren Weber graduated from the University of Florida in 2003 and was commissioned into the U.S. Navy prior to attending medical school at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences.

She graduated medical school and departed to attend the Aeromedical Officer course. There she completed flight and aeromedical training in order to earn her wings and become a Navy Flight Surgeon. She received the Boeing Rescue Award for the first long range MEDEVAC in an Osprey.

After returning from deployment, Dr. Weber finished her training, was Chief Resident, then completed Cardiovascular Fellowship Program and stayed on to served as the Associate Program Director for the Cardiovascular fellowship program, Director of Echocardiography and Director of Advanced Cardiac Imaging. 

Dr. Weber has been a student of leadership and followership, and was awarded the Lieutenant General Claire L. Chennault Award as the physician who most closely emulates the General's prominent personality traits: Innovation, Fairness, Teaching Effectiveness, and Leadership. She has given over half a dozen lectures and workshops on topics related to followership.

Dr. Weber is now practicing as a non-invasive Cardiologist for Confluence Health in Washington. In this episode we discuss her time as a flight surgeon and how followership can lead to successful leadership. 

Welcome to Leading the Rounds. 

Questions We Asked: 

• Tell us about your time as a navy flight surgeon? 
• What training did you have to prepare you for military trauma? 
• What is your advice for learning technical skills? 
• How have you helped your trainees jump into challenging opportunities? 
• What advice do you have for people who are afraid of failure? 
• Can you tell us about your idea of followership? 
• Do you think followership is the way to become a good leader? 
• How can somebody be a good follower? 
• What advice would you give to yourself at the beginning of your training? 
• What books have made an impact on your life? 

Quotes and Ideas: 

• “Look out for folks who are interested, but quiet… and give them an opportunity.” 
• “Look at being wrong as an opportunity to relearn something or learn something completely new.” 
• “As a leader you sometimes have to make the unpopular choice… not necessarily what’s easy.” 
• 1988 Robert Kelly article In praise the Followers in HBR 
• Chaleff’s Follower Archetypes: 
  • Individualist: The pessimist. Rarely accepting of new ideas and willing to challenge the group and leader. High challenge, but low support. 
  • Resource: Get work done, but don’t spur change or challenge the leader. Low challenge and low support. 
  • Implementer: Implement change, but often go along even if they thing change isn’t working. High support but low challenge. 
  • Partner (The Ideal Follower): Will work with the leader to come up with change ideas and challenge them if needed. Collaborate with the leader. High challenge and high support. 
• “I have yet to come across a situation where someone is being an excellent follower and no one knew about it.” 
• “Opportunity lies where responsibility has been abdicated” -Jordan Peterson 
• “We are building a toolkit for leadership and followership our whole medical careers.” 

Book Suggestions: 

• Think Again by Adam Grant 
• The Courageous Follower by Ira Chaleff 
• Embracing Followership by Allen Hamlin 
• Athena Rising by David Smith and Brad Johnson