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Let’s drop you straight in: You’re a seasoned clinician, newly appointed to chair your hospital’s cancer committee. You know the medicine, but now you’re staring down a horseshoe table of surgeons, oncologists, administrators, and, let’s be honest, a few egos with credentials longer than your last patient’s EMR. Here’s the pulse-quickener: everyone expects you to get this team moving in a single direction. Your biggest fear isn’t missing a diagnosis—it’s losing credibility the second you ask a “dumb” process question. And somewhere, gnawing at the back of your mind, is the hope that you could actually make things better for patients if you get this right.
Why does this matter now? Because as healthcare organizations consolidate and specialties blur, clinical leaders are increasingly the glue holding the multidisciplinary team together. Fail to adapt, and patient care fragments. Lean into collaboration, and you become the leader who pulls medicine into its next evolution. This is the crossroads—fear versus growth. And as Dr. Jay Harness, CMO at Maple Tree Cancer Alliance, says: “My number one paradigm throughout my entire life and career has always been to create a win-win situation…so those other people become visible—they don’t feel invisible—and that strengthens the bonds as you try to create new things.”
Let’s break down how you can turn that crossroads into a launchpad.
Dr. Harness’s story doesn’t open in an OR—it begins in a fraternity house at the University of Arizona. Picture a pre-med junior, unexpectedly elected president of the inter-fraternity council. Not exactly the environment you’d expect to shape a surgical leader. Yet, as he recalls, “I really think the roots were set there for my subsequent involvement…not only clinically but in a leadership role with national surgical societies.”
The vignette here isn’t just nostalgia. It’s a challenge to you: Where are you overlooking early, non-clinical moments that built your leadership DNA?
In Harness’s case, campus politics and fraternity wrangling built a foundation for negotiating with hospital administrators decades later. The lesson: the way you learn to listen, organize, and win trust in “unofficial” settings predicts how you’ll handle power in the boardroom.
Try This Today:
Write down the last three non-clinical situations where you solved a conflict or built consensus. What skill did you use? That’s your leadership root.
Many clinicians fret that administrative work will dull their “real medicine” edge. The reality, according to Dr. Harness, is that clinical experience isn’t just relevant—it’s a secret weapon. “As a surgeon…you’re constantly interacting with groups of people…my number one paradigm throughout my entire life and career has always been to create a win-win situation and to carefully listen…so I could at least meet them halfway.”
Consider the OR:
The surgeon “leads,” but without anesthesiologists, nurses, techs, and post-op teams, nothing moves.
Every moment is a negotiation, not a command.
Here’s a micro-case:
A surgeon faces pushback from nursing over a new checklist. Rather than insist on compliance, they open with: “What’s missing for you here?” The nurses add real-world workflow details the checklist designers missed. Adoption skyrockets.
Practical translation: The same skills—listening, humility, seeing others’ expertise—turn difficult admin meetings into productive collaboration. As Harness notes, “by doing that…those other people become visible. They don’t feel invisible, and that strengthens the bonds as you try and create new things.”
Try This Today:
In your next team interaction, end one sentence with, “What’s your take?” Then listen, really listen, and reflect back what you heard.
One striking theme in Dr. Harness’s approach is the rejection of hierarchies that flatten others’ voices. “When we interact with our colleagues at committee meetings…we want our colleagues to feel empowered and on an equal plane—not a one down plane at all. Again, that’s all part of my win-win philosophy.”
Here’s what that looks like in practice:
When Dr. Harness enters a patient room, he doesn’t lead with “Dr. Harness.” Instead, “I walk in, reach out my right hand, look the patient in the eye and say, ‘Hi, I’m Jay.’ I do the same thing with family members. I sit down immediately so I’m not looking down on them—I’m already delivering a message of empowerment.”
At the multidisciplinary conference table, he invites medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, social workers, and therapists into the conversation as equals. He explains that by making everyone visible, he creates a feedback loop of trust—patients sense the unity, and the team feels genuine ownership.
Data backs this up: Studies in the Journal of Healthcare Leadership have shown that teams with shared power structures report higher job satisfaction and better patient outcomes.
Try This Today:
Greet your next colleague (or patient) by first name, on eye level, and ask a question that signals you value their expertise.
The classic model: clinicians siloed by specialty, passing patients like relay batons. Dr. Harness saw a different possibility—rooted in a willingness to say yes to uncharted paths. “In the mid-80s, my chief said, ‘We want to start a multi-disciplinary center…all in the same clinic at the same time.’ I sat there and thought, what a brilliant idea…my entire life, my entire career just changed right on the spot.”
His approach?
Personally recruiting medical and radiation oncologists with the promise of joint research, increased patient volume, and more satisfying patient care.
Bringing in social workers and physical therapists early, ensuring every patient’s needs were met holistically.
Focusing on open, regular, informal conversations to build real relationships.
A vivid micro-case: At one early meeting, while others fidgeted or looked distracted, Dr. Harness “put his hand up”—claiming the leadership role that would redefine breast cancer care in his region. The resulting clinic published one of the first textbooks on collaborative management in breast cancer.
Try This Today:
Invite a non-physician teammate to your next patient review or planning session and ask them what you’re missing.
Medicine evolves at warp speed. What keeps leaders like Dr. Harness ahead? Not just journal reading—but constant, intentional interaction with colleagues. “We were constantly interacting with each other…hearing about cutting edge research…a lot of information and ideas are exchanged off-podium.”
Story vignette: Harness ran multidisciplinary breast cancer conferences where, yes, new studies were discussed—but the real gold came in hallway conversations about emerging practices. That’s where innovations like breast-conserving surgery and intraoperative ultrasound first gained traction.
His advice? Keep your mind open, “figure out how to adapt to those changes…that keeps you ahead of the game.”
A recent survey from the American Association for Physician Leadership found that “openness to outside expertise” was a top trait of transformative physician leaders.
Try This Today:
Message a colleague in a different specialty and ask what innovation has changed their practice this year.
Early in his career, Dr. Harness was tapped to lecture on ultrasound for breast surgery—a technology he barely understood at first. Instead of declining, he dove in, learned fast, and soon found himself training other surgeons. “Once we got over the intimidation of the knobs…we were like ducks on the water.” Today, ultrasound is routine in breast surgery because early adopters like Harness were willing to say, “Let’s try.”
But here’s the kicker: innovating means being shot at. “One of my slides showed a guy walking down the road with arrows sticking out of his back. I felt that a lot of my career, people have had their bows out and been shooting at me—but you just have to take the arrows in the back and keep on going forward.”
How to spot good innovations? Listen for the “music of life.” Harness’s “beautifully orchestrated” career is the product of pursuing opportunities that felt right—but only after rigorous inquiry, collaboration, and humility.
Try This Today:
List one new technology or process you’ve quietly dismissed. Ask yourself: What if I became the champion for this instead?
Innovations don’t become standards without a fight. Two barriers, Harness argues, stop most progress cold:
Information Gaps: New science (like exercise oncology) often languishes because clinicians aren’t aware of it. “I realized they were not aware of the science that had been developed over the last 25 years by PhD researchers.”
Reimbursement and Policy: No CPT code, no uptake. This takes years and, as Harness bluntly puts it, “a small mini-army of dedicated people with lots of data to take on CMS.”
His advice for clinician-leaders: Own your dual vantage point. Clinicians can both recognize which innovations actually matter and build the case for system-wide adoption—including reimbursement. “You need individuals with both perspectives so they can fight and advocate for innovations that need to be implemented.”
This is echoed by recent NEJM Catalyst commentary: When clinicians step into system-level advocacy, patients benefit, and organizations adapt faster.
Try This Today:
Identify one patient-centered innovation you believe in. Find out if it’s reimbursed—if not, start a discussion with your admin team about advocacy.
A final note from Dr. Harness: Passion isn’t a buzzword. It’s the sustaining force behind the long fight for better care. “I have to maintain passion…in Australia they’ve already adopted exercise oncology programs as standard adjunctive care for all cancer patients because the science is so strong. We’re hoping to see the same thing happen here in the U.S.”
He’s living proof: Even decades in, he’s pushing new frontiers, advocating for global adoption of evidence-based practices, and—crucially—having fun doing it.
Simon Sinek’s “Start With Why” comes to mind. When clinicians reconnect with their purpose, they inspire teams and shift systems.
Try This Today:
At the end of your next shift, jot down one moment where your work felt meaningful. How can you engineer more of those moments for your team?
The core lesson Dr. Jay Harness offers clinicians-turned-leaders is deceptively simple: the transition from expert to collaborator isn’t a dilution of your authority—it’s a multiplier of your impact. The “win-win” mindset, relentless curiosity, and willingness to empower others aren’t soft skills—they’re the engine of transformation in healthcare.
Here’s your first step:
On your next shift, approach one cross-disciplinary conversation with the mindset, “How can we win together?” Listen for the music of collaboration—and be the leader who helps others hear it, too.
