Balance, safety, and passion: three principles for academic leaders.

Mywork as Chair of a department of psychiatry has taught me three principles that seem to be fundamental to the role of academic leader. They include maintaining a balance in responding to the needs and input of faculty members, creating a safe place for learners to explore and grow, and helping both faculty members and trainees to find a career-sustaining passion. The first principle is balance. Each of us can recall those rare and wonderful moments of enlightenment that punctuate our lives. One of mine came on a trip to Italy with my daughter and her Latin club. In Rome, we visited the remarkable Villa Borghese museum, which houses an impressive array of the sculpture work of Gian Lorenzo Bernini. Already drawn in by the swirling vortexes of motion that Bernini creates with each of his pieces, I found myself standing before his “Escape from Troy” (circa 1619). In this piece, he depicts Aeneas fleeing the battle (2). He is not alone in his journey. On his back, he carries Anchises, his aging father. Clinging to his legs is his son, Ascanius, yet a mere boy. At that moment, I recognized myself in Aeneas, and identified with his predicament. At home were parents negotiating the final journey of their lives, dependent on me, my wife, and other caregivers for safe passage, even as our children were holding on to us until their legs were strong enough to run alone. Our challenge was to weigh the needs of all of them in the balance and decide how much of ourselves to give to each one. In later years, having moved into my role as Chair, I have drawn strength and guidance from the truth conveyed by Bernini in this piece. In countless ways, an academic leader is thrust into the role of seeking a balance between the influence of the wisdom of the past (older faculty members) and the idealism of the next generation (younger faculty members and trainees). Anchises is holding the Penates (family household gods), which represent the knowledge and traditions that give our current experiences context and meaning. Ascanius clings with his free arm to the sacred fire of the hearth that is symbolic of the passion and energy of youth that spurs us on to change and renewal. How to honor and validate the contributions of senior faculty while encouraging and incorporating the ideas of the newest members of our field is surely one of our great challenges as academic leaders. Similarly, we are also called upon to humanely manage the integrity of the aging “Anchiseses” in our departments who may have lost a step or two, while, at the same time, minimizing the negative impacts of impetuous “Ascaniuses.” No department can thrive without at least a modicum of new blood, but no department can afford to invest in every creative whim put forward by residents and junior faculty. A second principle I have found to be important as an academic leader is establishing a culture of safety. Early in my career, during a faculty discussion of why a resident was struggling to learn, one of my earliest mentors, Walter Ricci, commented that one of the biggest obstacles to learning is the fear of humiliation (Ricci W: personal communication). His words stopped me in my tracks. If he was correct, then centuries of hallowed medical teaching tradition would be called into question. Not long after this moment of truth, another mentor, Jerry Kay, published an article in JAMA describing medicine’s time-honored—and misguided—use of humiliation as a teaching tool (3). He confirmed Dr. Ricci’s assertion that good teachers beget good students by creating a learning environment where it Received October 4, 2010; accepted December 8, 2010. Dr. Munro is affiliated with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Missouri-Kansas City in Kansas City. Address correspondence to Stuart Munro, M.D., Department of Psychiatry, University of Missouri-Kansas City, 1000 East 24th Street, KS City, KS 66217; stuart.munro@ dmh.mo.gov (e-mail). Copyright © 2011 Academic Psychiatry