I remember as a boy when I received my first paint-by-numbers kit. For a while, I was encouraged that if I went by the numbers I could actually create something to give to my mother. However, none of the many paintings ever made it to the family wall or refrigerator door already populated with original creations made by a mother’s child. Apparently, a paint-by-numbers masterpiece was less significant than stick figures and landscapes that came from the forming mind of a child. After a couple of years I began to experiment by mixing colors to come up with a kind of original work but found that the only way to paint by the numbers was to strictly comply by the number-color system.

Eventually I discarded the concept of paint-by-numbers style painting. I began to see that I could not be creative while being forced to comply with a template made by someone else. With one paintbrush, first all the whites had to be filled in. Then I had to wait for the paint to dry before applying the next color. I began to see the finished product not as a completed landscape or portrait but as a collection of painted fragments connected super-glue style that can only be appreciated from a distance – a great distance! My freestyle drawings were much more fulfilling and my mother appreciated them and displayed them on every surface that could take tape, thumbtacks or even nails and magnets. (Note that I mentioned nothing about looking good!)

Decades later, I am reminded of my paint-by-numbers days as I monitor my own leadership style and that of others. Leading, much like painting reflects back to the leader and quickly identifies his style of leadership. The leader who leads “by the book” may fall into a paint-by-numbers leadership style. I call this linear leadership. Linear leadership is that of completing step A before going to step B and so on. It is a checklist type of leading which is actually leadership by proxy. That is to say the “book” is the leader while the person following the book simply implements what the book says to do. This linear, paint-by-numbers style, though it may be useful in situations adapted to the linear model does not appear well suited for the clinical engineering environment that often calls more frequently upon the qualities of leadership with initiative and quick, informed and sometimes bold decision making abilities without losing sight of policy rather than formulas etched in concrete pages of the countless books on leadership.

This is not to say that fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants style leadership is preferred. In fact, it is not and can often do more harm than good. With leadership as with the constantly changing biomed career path, perpetual training, modification and honing of leadership skills is not an option but more of an expectation if one is to continue to function well. “Process” cannot be ignored with decision-making. Process or policy as it is often called, ultimately supports and legitimizes decisions and is insurance against renegade-style leadership.

Sometimes the “intent” of the policy is much more potent than are the words within the policy. This means that the leader must know, understand and correctly apply policy to each decision with the realization that policy can be customized to different situations without negating the intent of the policy. I feel compelled to reaffirm that due process must never be discarded. If it is, a renegade leader will be detected and must dealt with before damage comes to vendor or client.

I have never, ever seen a paint-by the numbers portrait in any museum, magazine or library. These paintings reveal nothing about the creator of the work. However, people are drawn to original paintings, whether of flowers, fields or Van Gogh’s fragmented masterpieces. As a leader, how you apply who you are to the canvas of your career will reveal who you are, and based upon this, you will either be followed or left holding your brush.
Think about it.