Heart to Beat: What A Cardiac Surgeon’s Experience Says About Leadership
Dr. Brian Lima
At the Reboot Chronicles, we most often talk to business executives about their challenges and triumphs. I met Dr. Brian Lima speaking at a conference and decided to up our ante to life or death issues. Dr. Brian Lima is a cardiothoracic surgeon and bestselling author of an inspirational autobiography, Heart to Beat, was awarded the 2020 top doctor of the year. I spoke with him about how his work and life embody the principles of the Reboot Chronicles: be nimble, adapt to what life throws at you and always be leading.

Dr. Lima is a global authority on advanced heart failure, heart transplants and medical circulatory devices. In his world, there is no room for failure. How does he keep the stress in check? How did he rise to this position?
When I met Dr. Lima, I was struck by his childhood story about how he came to want to be a doctor. Lots of people would probably mention a character they saw on TV as an inspiration. For Dr. Lima, it was at the age of 10 seeing his father have a heart attack. He turned the fear and helplessness into a desire to become a doctor. When he got to a surgery rotation in his training he found his “do what you love” moment.  As he says: “Surgery was love at first sight. And it was just a natural fit. It just seemed to click. I couldn't think of myself doing anything else.”
And while surgeons are renowned for their confidence and egos, Dr. Lima is rather modest about his abilities. He’d agree with the old “99% perspiration” adage. Surprisingly, he never felt like heI was the smartest kid in class. “I felt like I always had probably a lower IQ relative to what I would you know, what I thought of as really geniuses with photographic memories.” What was his solution? He worked two or three times as hard and excelled even though it took him longer periods of time to absorb the information. He felt like an underdog but that was part of his motivation.

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