Lead Your Way
Strengthening women physician leaders for greater impact and lasting success.
A physician-led leadership development experience built specifically for women physicians.
Rather than treating leadership effectiveness and career sustainability as separate goals, Lead Your Way integrates both.
Lead Your Way Leadership Academy helps participants strengthen their leadership capabilities, expand their influence, and increase their impact within increasingly complex healthcare environments.
Through a combination of facilitated leadership development, peer learning, practical application, and coaching-based discussion, participants develop the skills, confidence, and support systems needed to lead effectively while building careers that are sustainable over the long term.
Participants develop the leadership capabilities needed to succeed today while building the habits, awareness, and strategies needed to sustain their impact over time.
Why this matters now.
Healthcare organizations face growing challenges related to physician engagement, retention, succession planning, and leadership development.
At the same time, women now represent a growing proportion of the physician workforce and future leadership pipeline. Despite this progress, many women physicians remain underrepresented in leadership roles and may hesitate to pursue advancement opportunities due to competing demands, organizational barriers, and concerns about long-term sustainability.
Traditional leadership development programs often focus on leadership competencies alone. While these skills are essential, they may overlook the factors that influence whether talented physician leaders remain engaged, pursue leadership opportunities, and sustain their effectiveness over the course of their careers.
Organizations need leadership development experiences that prepare women physicians to lead effectively, increase their influence, and continue contributing at a high level over the long term.
Combining leadership development with sustainable leadership.
Participants develop the leadership capabilities needed to succeed today while preparing for sustained success over the course of their careers.
Lead Your Way Leadership Academy combines leadership development with the principles of sustainable leadership. Participants build practical leadership capabilities while exploring the realities many women physicians face, including competing demands, leadership transitions, influence, boundaries, career longevity, and long-term professional fulfillment.
Led by women physicians who understand the challenges firsthand.
Lead Your Way was created by Dr. Gretchen Rickards and Dr. Diane Shannon, who bring complementary perspectives on leadership development and career sustainability. Together, they have coached hundreds of women physicians across career stages, giving them deep insight into the challenges and opportunities women physicians encounter as they lead and navigate their careers.
Gretchen Rickards, MD, MPH
Gretchen is an executive coach, physician, and experienced leader who has led in healthcare, medical education, and the U.S. Army. She brings deep expertise in developing and coaching leaders as they navigate greater responsibility, change, and organizational complexity.
Diane Shannon, MD, MPH
Diane is a physician, TEDx speaker, and national expert on physician career sustainability and leadership. As a professional coach and co-author of Preventing Physician Burnout: Curing the Chaos and Returning Joy to the Practice of Medicine, she brings deep expertise in helping physicians create sustainable careers, strengthen their leadership, and thrive professionally and personally.
What participants and organizations gain.
Participant Outcomes
- Strengthen leadership confidence and presence
- Increase communication and influence effectiveness
- Navigate difficult conversations with greater skill and confidence
- Build stronger stakeholder relationships
- Enhance ability to lead teams and navigate change
- Expand leadership capacity and organizational impact
- Develop a personalized approach to sustainable leadership
- Build meaningful relationships with a cohort of women physician leaders
- Develop a trusted peer network for ongoing support, learning, and problem-solving
Organizational Outcomes
- Development of emerging and established physician leaders
- Increased leadership readiness and succession planning capacity
- Stronger physician engagement and retention
- Expanded leadership opportunities for women physicians
- Increased effectiveness of physician leaders across the organization
- A stronger and more sustainable physician leadership pipeline
- Greater connection and collaboration among physician leaders
- Peer networks that support leadership development beyond the formal program
A cohort-based academy designed for meaningful growth over time.
The Academy combines leadership development, peer learning, practical application, and coaching-based discussion to support sustained growth.
Up to 12 Participants
Intentionally small to support deep discussion, meaningful peer learning, and individualized growth.
Enhance the Academy
Organizations may choose to enhance the Academy with:
- Individual coaching sessions
- Leadership assessment package (e.g., Hogan and/or 360 assessment)
Bring Lead Your Way Leadership Academy to your organization.
Use the inquiry form below to start a conversation. We will share program details, partnership options, and how the Academy can be tailored to your organization's leadership development goals.