Happy Monday, Healthcare Leaders!
Welcome to this week’s issue of The Healthcare Leader, where we’ll compare thermostat vs thermometer leaders, when you need to encourage your team to target getting Bs instead of As, and one of the most important elements of landing your next role as a healthcare leader.
Let’s dive in.
In Today's Issue
🧠 Leadership: Great Leaders Are Thermostats, Not Thermometers
There’s a classic leadership question:
Are you a thermometer or a thermostat leader?
A thermometer measures the temperature in the room but does nothing to change it.
In leadership, this can feel like advocacy or relationship building — when it may actually be amplifying problems rather than solving them.
A thermostat leader, on the other hand, sets the temperature.
They recognize what can be controlled, influence culture, and provide stability during uncertain or stressful moments.
In Leadership Without Easy Answers, Ronald Heifetz describes a core leadership responsibility as regulating the “distress” within an organization:
“Leadership is the activity of mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges and thrive… Leaders must regulate the heat of the system.”
Thermostat leaders don’t just cool things down. Sometimes they turn up the heat — creating enough urgency and accountability to avoid complacency.