Principles of Leadership.

Leadership matters because leadership crafts cultures, and culture drives organizational performance. Because health care faces the formidable challenges of providing the highest quality and safety, doing so affordably, and making health care widely accessible, outstanding leadership in health care is especially important. Yet, developing leadership attributes, which differ markedly from clinical and/or scientific skills, is not a usual part of medical or scientific training. This article reviews the rationale for developing great leaders in medicine and then presents the attributes of great leaders.