Being an effective chairman

The theme of the 2005 Annual Meeting of the Society of University Otolaryngologists—Head and Neck Surgeons was ‘‘Role Models, Mentors and Leaders in Otolaryngology—Head and Neck Surgery.’’ I was asked to reflect on the topic of being an effective department chairman. As I prepared for this brief address, I spent many hours reflecting on the times I thought I was effective, and even more time considering the attributes of chairmen I know whoare very effective. I also readmany recent books and reviewed my notes of old-time favorite books, about leadership in general and in business. In doing so, I tried to isolate the elements that appear to be most critical in achieving and sustaining effectiveness and the guiding principles that seem to drive those elements. The thoughts and comments that follow are the result of these reflections. I am hopeful that they will be useful, especially to young academicians aspiring to become chairmen. As the first order of business, wemust define the term ‘‘effective chairman.’’ Is it a status a department chairman reaches after achieving a certain number of accomplishments? Is it the end goal or product of a finite process of development?My experience has led me to believe that it is an ongoing process. Furthermore, I believe that being an effective chairman is a never-ending, dynamic personal quest, which matures and evolves into new ways of transforming one’s vision and values into action. The effective chairman has to be dynamic—responsive to changing circumstances. Department chairmen today face a constant barrage of diverse demands. The circumstances they face during periods of growth in their departments are different from those faced during periods of stability or those involved in a specific challenge. Although we can be guaranteed that circumstances will change, the guiding principles of a chairmanmust not change. Unfortunately, so much has been said and written about guiding principles that those two words are almost a cliché. And, depending upon whom one listens to, these principles can point the aspiring chairman in opposite directions. An effective department chairman has to execute three distinct but interconnected roles. They are the roles of chairman as administrator, chairman asmanager, and chairman as leader. The role of administrator requires awareness of and compliancewith regulations such asHIPAA, rules in patient care, Residency Review Committee Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society of University of Otolaryngologists-Head and Neck Surgeons, November 5–6, 2005, Washington, DC. Head & Neck 28: 775–778, 2006