In this episode, I sit down with Lee Angus, President of Medi Leadership, a firm that has spent the last 25 years coaching healthcare executives in one of the most complex leadership environments in the world.

Lee’s journey is not a straight line. With a master’s in accountancy from Brigham Young University, he began at Deloitte auditing and implementing SAP systems, watching firsthand how leaders either created the conditions for integration or sabotaged it. He saw something early in his career that has stayed with him ever since: you can build the best system in the world, but if leaders don’t prepare the culture for change, it will not work.

We talk about what healthcare leaders can do today to lead more effectively. Many rise through technical excellence with little formal leadership training. Lee argues that the first shift is intentionality. In an environment that forces leaders into constant “heads down” reactivity, they must deliberately create “heads up” space to think strategically. Without it, leadership becomes survival mode.

We also explore the danger of overused strengths. The expertise that got you promoted can limit your influence if you rely on it too heavily. Lee contrasts the “heroic leader,” who believes they must have the answer, with the “gardener leader,” who cultivates conditions, experiments, and builds coordinated movement in complex systems.

If you are a technically excellent leader who has suddenly found yourself responsible for people, culture, and coordination across silos, this conversation will challenge your assumptions and give you practical ways to lead differently.

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