Are you a manager or a leader? It seems like a simple question, right?

Consultant Thomas Atchison claims that health care is over-managed and "under-led." We are good at getting results, but not at inspiring people to be the best they can be.

Atchison, who is the president and founder of a company that bears his name, spent the better part of an hour talking about how to inspire and lead. "Leadership is the messy side of human behavior," he said. And clearly leadership is critical during this time of system transformation. Take physician alignment. Atchison said hospital CEOs need to change the way they talk to and about docs. Physicians aren't employees; you don’t "own" a physician group. Instead, docs have be seen and treated as partners. It's important to garner trust and respect, or else the relationship with physicians will disintegrate into conflict.

Atchison had some good one-liners during his talk and got a lot of laughs, but afterwards I talked to a few attendees and they all agreed: physician alignment won't work unless there is mutual trust and respect. And it starts with ensuring everyone has the same set of goals and values. As Atchison said, you can argue around the edges, but the core beliefs that drive care delivery in your institution need to be universal.

At the outset of his speech, Atchison noted that we all get 1,440 minutes each day and asked, "How are you going to use them?" At the end, he suggested you use them to lead and inspire.