Why This Matters: Being the Consultant People Want to Work With

I have been working more and more with consultants through 360° feedback and leadership coaching. The most intriguing aspect of this work is not the feedback itself but the conversations that follow it. Most consultants ask me "how did I go?".

However, the question should be "what is it like to work with me?"

This is a question that goes beyond competence, technical expertise and knowledge. It asks us to consider the experience we create for the people around us. Are others confident or nervous to approach me? Do juniors speak up or stay silent when I am in the room? Do my peers feel supported and respected? These are not just "soft skills'. They directly influence learning and determine whether others can contribute and challenge decisions. Teamwork and communication in medicine directly influence patient care.

In the corporate world, this kind of reflection is completely normal; senior leaders routinely receive 360° feedback and executive coaching is expected at almost every level of leadership. There is a strong culture of investing in how leaders are experienced by those around them and not just on how they perform technically.

In medicine however, leadership coaching is still relatively uncommon. Medics spend years developing their medical knowledge, procedural skills, and clinical judgement. They are highly trained, constantly assessed, and expected to perform at an excellent level. yet they are rarely given structured insight into how they are experienced as leaders, educators, and colleagues.

What I notice in my one-to-one sessions with junior and senior medics is that when they talk about the leaders that have shaped their careers and inspired them, they speak of how they felt working with that consultant. They remember how they were spoken to when they made an error and whether they felt safe asking questions. Whether the leader's feedback inspired them to improve or left them anxious and feeling rather hopeless.

My observations are supported by medical education research. In a study by Johnson et al. (2020), researchers analysed real workplace feedback conversations to understand what creates psychological safety. They found the most effective educators did not simply give better feedback, they created environments where learners felt safe to engage and ask questions. They acted as allies, not judges, and they focused on growth and encouraged authentic dialogue. The four themes identified were:

a. setting the scene for dialogue and candour

b. educator as ally

c. continuing improvement orientation

d. encouraging interactive dialogue

It is a reminder that the greatest legacy as leaders may not just be the procedures performed and the patient outcomes, but also the culture created and development of people along the way.

I encourage you to ask yourself "if I ask my colleagues what it is like to work with me, what do I hope they will say?"

The coming month will see me delivering workshops on this topic along with facilitating more 360° feedback processes with teams. More to come!

If you are interested in strengthening your leadership through confidential, anonymised, 360° feedback, leadership coaching or feedback/difficult conversations workshops, I would love to hear from you at hello@natalieharman.com.au

Further reading:

Johnson, C. E., Keating, J. L., and Molloy, E. K. (2020). Psychological safety in feedback: what does it look like and how can educators work with learners to foster it? Medical Education 54 (6), 559-570. https://doi.org/10.1111/medu.14154