Introductions & Creating Brave Space
Participants will leave with a deeper understanding of how to create environments that balance support and accountability. They will gain practical tools to engage in courageous conversations, foster mutual respect, and navigate discomfort as a path to growth. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes

By the end of this session, participants will be able to: 

• Define the concept of brave space and contrast it with the idea of a safe space. 

• Recognize the role of accountability, support, and discomfort in fostering growth. 

• Explore how fear of judgment and avoidance of difficult conversations can hinder personal and collective development. 

• Develop practical strategies to create brave spaces in professional and personal settings. 

• Implement at least three techniques to foster open dialogue, encourage vulnerability, and navigate differences with respect. 

Collaborating Effectively
This session utilizes personal and team insights to develop personal/interpersonal skills and improve engagement and collaboration. Through various exercises, individuals will begin to see how motives and behaviors can both benefit and detract collaboration. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes

• Understand motives, values, and how to leverage motives effectively 

• Recognize key triggers, root causes, and how to manage triggers during a conflict effectively 

• Learn the top 3 strengths and the key to adapting to strengths in certain situations (agile leadership) 

• Identify and understand Overused Strengths

Emotional Intelligence
According to research, your emotional intelligence predicts future success far greater than your IQ or technical skills. This session defines emotional intelligence, makes the business case for emotional intelligence, and focuses on personal strategies for success. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes

• Identify the relationships between emotional intelligence and business outcomes 

• Assess the personal level of emotional intelligence 

• Explore the relationship between empathy and organization outcomes 

• Identify barriers to developing and expressing empathy 

• Identify and implement specific strategies to increase the level of empathy and overall emotional intelligence 

Structured Decision Making, Influence & Persuasion
Physician leaders will leave with the necessary skills and knowledge to construct and make structured and informed decisions, recognize how behavioral economics weighs into those decision, effectively influence their teams, master the art of persuasion and incorporate tools to enhance their personal charisma. This will ultimately enhance their leadership and professional capabilities, improve patient outcomes, and foster a collaborative work environment. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes

• Apply structured decision-making frameworks to clinical and administrative decisions. 

• Incorporate behavioral economics principles to understand and minimize decision-making biases. 

• Utilize influence strategies to lead and motivate their teams effectively. 

• Employ persuasive communication techniques to advocate for their ideas and initiatives. 

• Implement actionable tips to build personal charisma. 

Adaptive Leadership & Fair Process
Participants will leave with a clear understanding of how to lead adaptively and foster trust through Fair Process. They will gain practical tools for engaging teams, navigating resistance, and making sustainable decisions that drive meaningful change. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes

• Differentiate between technical and adaptive challenges in leadership. 

• Identify the key components of Fair Process and understand how they impact trust and decision-making. 

• Recognize how resistance to change signals an opportunity for deeper engagement rather than an obstacle. 

• Understand the role of polarity management in leadership (e.g., stability vs. change, authority vs. empowerment). 

• Implement at least three strategies for staying alive in leadership, including resilience-building and managing opposition effectively. 

Change Management and Pitching Ideas
This session empowers physician leaders with the skills to manage change confidently, craft persuasive pitches, and secure buy-in for their initiatives. Through interactive learning, participants will gain practical strategies to advocate for meaningful transformations that enhance patient care and organizational success.

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Master Change Management – Understand the principles and processes for implementing change effectively in a healthcare setting.

• Craft Persuasive Pitches – Develop structured approaches to delivering compelling presentations that inspire action.

• Set and Achieve SMART Goals – Apply SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) criteria to create actionable and measurable plans for change initiatives.

• Enhance Stakeholder Engagement – Strengthen communication skills to effectively engage and influence decision-makers.

• Build Resilience and Adaptability – Cultivate the mindset and strategies needed to lead change while managing resistance.

• Develop a Project Charter – Participants will apply their learning by creating a project charter for a proposed initiative, outlining objectives, scope, stakeholders, and success metrics to drive organizational change.

Physician Leadership in Quality & Safety
This session will introduce participants to the local, national, and historical quality improvement and patient safety (QI/PS) landscape through small and large group activities. Participants will apply common QI/PS tools to case examples, highlighting the role of leaders. We will debate the benefits and burdens of clinical quality measurement and its modern incentive structures, as well as discuss current trends and opportunities for leadership. Finally, participants will be individually challenged to integrate QI/PS into their professional roles and aspirations. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Describe the quality improvement and patient safety landscape, locally, nationally, and historically - including its place within the 12 domains of health systems science. 

• Apply 5 common quality improvement and patient safety tools at the leadership level to case examples. 

• Debate the benefits and burdens of clinical quality measurement, including its use in pay-for-performance, public reporting, physician tiering, and value-based payment. 

• Integrate the above learning goals with your professional leadership roles and aspirations. 

Financial Essentials for Physician Leaders
This session equips physician leaders with essential financial knowledge and tools to make informed decisions that align clinical excellence with organizational sustainability. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Interpret key financial reports (e.g., profit-and-loss statements and budget vs. actual reports) to assess the financial performance of a unit or department. 

• Explain the fundamentals of healthcare budgeting and resource allocation, including how to develop a budget that aligns with broader organizational goals. 

• Apply financial principles to strategic decisions such as evaluating the return on investment of a new clinical program 

• Access resources to continue to learn the language of business – Finance and Accounting. 

Health Policy
This session will provide an overview of policy levers and government action in health care policy. A policy lever refers to legislation or government regulation that is used (or “pulled”) to affect behavioral or institutional change. In health policy, key policy levers can be found in government financing of public programs, provider payment policy, regulation of health care providers and health systems but also in internal organizational strategies, and community education or public awareness campaigns. Being an effective change agent requires a basic understanding of health care financing and regulatory authority across interdependent federal and state government systems.

• Understand the roles of state and federal government play in the financing and regulation of US health care.

• Describe the conditions in which government intervention is justified, distinguishing between cases of market failure vs action to promote social justice, equity, or equal opportunity.

• Identify key policy levers at state and national levels related to health policy change.

Advocacy Strategies
Effective advocacy is, and will continue to be, a key skill set for healthcare leaders. Public policy exerts a powerful influence on how health care services are distributed, delivered, measured, and financed. Therefore, it is imperative for policy makers to hear and understand the perspectives of our health care leaders. This session will provide a high-level overview of the opportunities for physician leaders to bring their voices and expertise into the policy making process, as well as practical steps for effective advocacy so your voices and experience have as much influence as possible. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Increase familiarity with the many forums for influencing and shaping public policy beyond writing letters to Congress. 

• Promote a greater understanding of how policymakers' historical exercise of their authority and power contributed to health disparities. 

• Increase understanding of best practices for effective advocacy, such as storytelling, use of data, building and protecting credibility, active listening, and relationship-building  

Innovation in Healthcare: AI

Negotiation Strategies

Learn the art and science of building winning negotiation strategies. This session covers the basics of planning, distributive and win-win negotiations, group problem-solving, multi-party negotiations. Discover expert tricks of the trade and convert that expertise into a competitive advantage. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Learn and practice critical negotiation strategies and tactics that experienced negotiators use to optimize their outcomes. 

• Discover how to cultivate sustainable relationships through the negotiation process. 

• Harness the psychology of influence tactics to help you formulate a winning negotiation strategy.  

• Understand how your conflict management style influences your selection of strategies and tactics in a negotiation. 

• Convert your negotiation expertise into a competitive advantage for your organization. 

Navigating Critical Conversations: Conflict, Controversy, Challenging Situations & People

Physician leaders are frequently required to engage in high-stakes conversations involving interpersonal conflict, emotionally charged topics, and difficult personalities. However, many lack training in the communication skills and emotional intelligence needed to manage these interactions effectively. This gap contributes to poor conflict resolution, decreased team cohesion, impaired patient safety, and increased burnout among healthcare professionals.

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Understand the nature and dynamics of critical conversations required of physician leaders

• Reflect on personal challenges giving and receiving emotionally charged information

• Gain tools for addressing conflict and controversy with confidence and clarity

• Apply evidence-based strategies for dealing with difficult people and situations

• Practice essential communication techniques in real-world scenarios

The Science of Gratitude & the Power of Social Connection

Participants will explore the science behind gratitude and social connection and learn how these two powerful factors interact to improve mental health, resilience, and professional satisfaction. They will leave with actionable tools to strengthen relationships, foster a daily gratitude practice, and recognize the role of emotional connection in both personal and professional settings. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Understand the scientific connection between gratitude, social relationships, and overall well-being. 

• Identify how social connection and gratitude influence mental and physical health, including effects on stress, immunity, and longevity. 

• Implement at least three daily strategies to strengthen relationships and cultivate gratitude in professional and personal life. 

• Recognize the impact of loneliness on healthcare professionals and their patients and develop strategies to mitigate its effects. 

• Apply gratitude practices such as “Three Good Things” and writing gratitude letters to enhance resilience and job satisfaction.

The Science of Mindset & Impact on Self & Wellness

Participants will gain a deeper understanding of the critical role mindset plays in managing stress and enhancing overall wellness. They will explore how the brain’s mirror neurons contribute to emotional contagion and how a positive mindset can foster better patient interactions and outcomes. By the end of this session, learners will be equipped with at least three practical strategies to cultivate a healthier mindset, which they can immediately apply to improve their own health, reduce stress, and enhance patient care. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Understand the role of mirror neurons in emotional health. 

• Explore how mindset influences stress. 

• Identify at least three ways mindset can enhance health and well-being. 

Physicians’ Day at the Capitol (at MN State Capitol)

Embracing Boundaries: BIG Principles for Physicians
This session provides practical strategies for identifying and setting boundaries that align with personal values and professional integrity. Participants will explore how a generous mindset, coupled with accountability and trust, enhances well-being, strengthens relationships, and fosters a healthier organizational culture. Attendees will leave with actionable tools to navigate the complexities of their roles, leading to greater resilience, job satisfaction, and improved patient care. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Identify and Establish Boundaries – Recognize how to set at least one personal or professional boundary that enhances generosity in assumptions about colleagues and patients, improving relationships and trust. 

• Overcome Relationship Barriers – Discuss specific relationship challenges in healthcare and explore strategies for fostering stronger, trust-based interactions within teams and with patients. 

• Develop a Trust Framework – Create a practical framework for building trust in both professional and personal relationships, using principles of integrity and accountability to cultivate a positive work atmosphere. 

Breaking Free: Overcoming Perfectionism and Shame
Participants will gain a deeper understanding of how perfectionism and shame impact mental, physical, and emotional well-being. They will leave with practical strategies to cultivate resilience, reframe failure, and foster self-compassion. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Recognize the connection between perfectionism, shame, and emotional well-being. 

• Identify the ways perfectionism negatively impacts personal resilience and professional fulfillment. 

• Develop strategies to release perfectionistic tendencies and cultivate self-compassion. 

• Differentiate between healthy striving and destructive perfectionism. 

• Implement at least three practical techniques to reduce shame and foster psychological resilience. 

Unchained: Navigating Grief and Forgiveness
This session will help participants recognize how grief manifests in their professional and personal lives, understand the barriers that judgment creates in processing grief, and explore how forgiveness can liberate them from fear, resentment, and stagnation. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Recognize the various ways grief manifests in career and personal relationships. 

• Differentiate between the emotions of loss, longing, and feeling lost in the grieving process. 

• Identify how judgment prevents the processing of grief and perpetuates emotional distress. 

• Understand how forgiveness serves as a tool for breaking free from resentment and fear. 

• Implement at least three practical strategies to process grief and cultivate forgiveness in their personal and professional lives. 

Finding Purpose, Meaning, and Passion in Physician Leadership
What inspired you to pursue medicine? If you were the idealistic pre-med student eager to "help people," congratulations—you do that every day. But as a more seasoned physician, has your sense of purpose evolved? Has passion waned? This nuts-and-bolts session equips physicians with practical tools—not abstract reflection—to translate purpose into results-oriented leadership. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Clarify Leadership Purpose

• Define individual leadership purpose using the Purpose to Impact framework.

• Craft a purpose statement that aligns with career aspirations.
  

• Turn Purpose into Action

• Apply strategies to translate purpose into measurable leadership impact.

• Leverage key strengths for meaningful contributions in healthcare.
  
  

• Align Passion with Career Growth

• Explore how purpose sustains motivation and fosters innovation.

• Create a strategic roadmap for long-term career fulfillment.
  
  

• Lead with Purpose

• Integrate purpose-driven decision-making in medical leadership roles.

• Develop leadership strategies that enhance team and patient outcomes.
  
  

• Build a Legacy of Impact

• Establish a long-term vision for leadership beyond clinical practice.

• Implement actionable steps to sustain purpose daily.

Inclusive Leadership
This session allows for deep reflection about personal identities, our multiple identities, how those identities move into leadership, and how to better lead people from multiple backgrounds. Moreover, this course explores how identity, power, and privilege playout in leadership. 

Deep Listening, Power, and Impact
This session explores deep listening as a relational practice that reshapes power dynamics, builds trust, and enhances impact. Participants will examine how formal and informal power influence communication, and how self-awareness and intentional listening can foster emotionally safe environments. By learning to suspend judgment and fully attend to others, leaders and clinicians can promote healing, connection, and meaningful change.

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Describe the connection between deep listening and the responsible use of power in healthcare and leadership.

• Identify how formal and informal power dynamics influence emotional safety, trust, and communication.

• Analyze the emotional impact presence and communication style have on others.

• Apply deep listening practices to foster dignity, psychological safety, and stronger relational outcomes.

Culture and Leadership Presence
Leadership presence is the bridge between cultural values and organizational impact—it’s what determines whether teams feel engaged, supported, and empowered. In healthcare, where collaboration and trust are essential, refining leadership presence is not just an individual skill—it’s a strategic necessity. The purpose of this session is to equip leaders with the tools to intentionally refine their presence, ensuring they positively influence the culture of their organizations. Together, we’ll explore how presence shapes perception, how cultural alignment strengthens leadership impact, and how we can build a more cohesive, engaged, and forward-thinking healthcare environment.

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Cultivate Executive Presence in Healthcare Leadership – Apply principles of leadership presence, including confidence, clarity, and authenticity, to inspire trust and influence decision-making.

• Align Leadership Presence with Organizational Culture – Understand how presence reinforces cultural values and drives engagement within healthcare teams.

• Develop Charismatic and Credible Leadership – Utilize emotional intelligence to project authority while maintaining approachability and empathy.

• Navigate Cultural Resistance and Influence Change – Strengthen adaptability and persuasion skills to lead cultural transformation effectively.

• Use Presence as a Strategic Leadership Tool – Leverage presence to advocate for systemic improvements, build stakeholder confidence, and drive meaningful change in healthcare.

Capstone Presentations: My Why
Each participant will deliver a 10-15 minute presentation on “My Why.” This is your opportunity to share the reasons behind your leadership journey and where you plan to go from here. 

Session Objectives/Outcomes:

• Summarize Key Learnings – Each participant will articulate the most valuable insights and skills gained from the past year, highlighting personal and professional growth.

• Reflect on the Journey – Participants will share their motivations for joining the program, discussing initial expectations and how their perspectives on leadership have evolved.

• Outline Future Goals – Each participant will present their vision for applying leadership principles in their personal life, practice, or organization, detailing short- and long-term aspirations.

• Foster Peer Engagement – The session will encourage interactive dialogue among participants, providing opportunities for discussion, feedback, and shared reflections on leadership development.

• Inspire Continued Growth – Participants will leave the session with a renewed commitment to leadership excellence, gaining motivation and insight from their peers' experiences.

We will end the day and the program with a celebration of the cohort and of each individual.