Every leadership journey is different, marked by pivotal life experiences, defining relationships, and personal values. Dr. Robert A. Harrington, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and Provost for Medical Affairs at Cornell University, recently detailed his own path in academic medicine and research during a fireside chat for the Luminaries in Healthcare Leadership series.
The talk, moderated by Dr. Rainu Kaushal, senior associate dean for health data science and chair of the Department of Population Health Sciences, began with Dr. Harrington’s upbringing in Massachusetts. Raised by a single mother and surrounded by extended family in the Winter Hill neighborhood of Somerville, he and his sister were always encouraged to pursue an education. At the College of the Holy Cross, he chose an unconventional combination of majors—English and pre-med. “It was a great experience [and] I was deeply influenced by the Jesuits,” he shared. “The informal motto of the Jesuits is ‘men and women for others,’ and that is one of the central themes of how I try to live my life and try to lead.”
Medicine, Dr. Harrington reflected, is “a service to humanity profession.” After earning his medical degree from Tufts University, Dr. Harrington explored several specialties before finding his calling in cardiology. Wanting to pursue a career as an academic cardiologist, he entered the general and interventional cardiology fellowship program at Duke University, which guaranteed 18 months of research time. It was there that he made his foray into data science through the Duke Databank for Cardiovascular Disease, at the encouragement of then-databank director and now former FDA Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf. The databank evolved into the Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI), which Dr. Harrington later helmed as director. “When I was a fellow at the databank, we had about 50 people in the research group,” he recalled. “During my tenure, we grew to about 1,200 people [faculty and staff], but it had the same general ethos—which is that mission really matters.”
Following decades of success at Duke University, Dr. Harrington made the move across the country to Stanford University and served as the chair of the Department of Medicine for more than a decade. When asked about why he chose Weill Cornell Medicine as his new home, he cited three key considerations: the physician organization’s prominent role in the medical school, WCM’s growing research enterprise, and its global reach. “The work in Tanzania, Haiti, Brazil, and India, that really appealed to me from a service perspective,” he shared. “I also loved the idea of the Doha medical school.”
Throughout the conversation, Dr. Harrington touched on the qualities that define his leadership style, which he describes as relationship leadership. He stressed the importance of humility and self-awareness. “Really good leaders can figure out what it is they don’t know and what it is they need to know, and recruit people to work together that makes the proverbial whole better than the individual parts,” he shared. “And if you do that, you need to make sure you give credit to other people along the way.”
Another theme that emerged in the talk was the importance of authenticity and transparency in leadership. A phrase Dr. Harrington often uses is “Never be afraid to lose your job.” Leaders must stand for something, he clarified. “If you are asked to do things or take positions in a way that’s not consonant with your value system, you should really think deeply about whether this is the right thing for you to be doing.”
Mentorship has also played a significant role in Dr. Harrington’s career. He credits three individuals who taught him three distinct lessons: Dr. Michael Collins, now chancellor of the UMass Chan Medical School, who taught him during his internship and residency in internal medicine to pay it forward; Duke’s Dr. Califf, who taught him to make data-driven decisions without getting paralyzed by data; and Dr. Paul Armstrong, a distinguished cardiologist at the University of Alberta, who taught him about civility, respect, and kindness. Dr. Harrington also encourages aspiring medical leaders to build a mentorship team that includes a content mentor, a methods mentor, and a life mentor. “Mentoring is one of the great joys of what we can do in academic medicine,” he said, “and one of the great obligations that we all have to help others.”
To further develop his leadership skills, Dr. Harrington has worked with the same executive coach since 2007, beginning shortly after his appointment as DCRI director. While he had experience leading clinicians, he also wanted to gain confidence in leading business professionals. “For the first year and a half, I met with [my coach] once a week for one to two hours and really spent time learning about myself, my own leadership style, and what was important to me,” he shared. "She really helped me understand how my behavior influenced others and how other people's behavior influenced mine.”
Reflecting on his own career trajectory, Dr. Harrington urged future leaders to remain open to unexpected opportunities. “Don’t feel as though you are abandoning what you thought you were going to do,” he advised. “Think about it as opening your eyes and accepting a new opportunity that you hadn’t thought about.” Above all, he emphasized finding enjoyment in one’s work: “I want to do things that are interesting, innovative, [and] impactful. And most of all, I have to have fun doing it. If you feel like you're stuck doing it, open the aperture. You're never too old to get new skills.”
About Luminaries in Healthcare Leadership
Luminaries in Healthcare Leadership series is sponsored by the Executive MBA/MS in Healthcare Leadership program at Cornell University. A collaboration between the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management and the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, this dual-degree program helps healthcare leaders develop and strengthen their business skills and management capabilities while deepening their understanding of key drivers in the industry.
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