What Changes When Your Job Becomes Building Others

A new chair’s first year can feel like drinking from a fire hose—until the patterns emerge. Dr. Doug Lundy speaks with Dr. Jennifer Wolf, Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation Medicine at the University of Chicago, to unpack what truly shifts when your role becomes building others: the politics you don’t see until you’re in the seat, the communication cadence that keeps a department aligned, and the quiet decisions that make or break culture.

We also delve into the structural elements of leadership: when to appoint vice chairs, how to select division chiefs fairly and why an application process can reveal motivation more effectively than seniority. 

Whether you’re a surgeon aspiring to leadership or a chair refining your playbook, this conversation offers lessons on culture, structure, and strategy—delivered with humility and practical insight. Subscribe, share with a colleague ready to lead, and leave a review noting the one leadership practice you’d adopt tomorrow.