Authors: Sherrer M et al.
Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation Newsletter, volume 41, number 1, February 2026.
Summary
This article outlines an anesthesia-led relational leadership model designed to extend perioperative patient safety principles across the broader health care system. The authors argue that anesthesiologists are uniquely equipped to lead beyond the operating room because of their system-wide visibility, team-based clinical workflows, and long-standing emphasis on reliability and safety.
Using innovation and leadership frameworks drawn from Geoffrey Moore’s “crossing the chasm” and Simon Sinek’s infinite game mindset, the authors describe how durable cultural change requires earning the trust of early adopters — clinicians and teams experiencing significant operational, cultural, or safety-related challenges. These “pragmatists in pain” serve as the entry point for broader adoption once credibility and trust are established.
The article emphasizes trust as the cornerstone of patient safety and effective teamwork in the perioperative environment. Communication failures remain a major contributor to serious medical errors, while cultures that emphasize civility, humility, open dialogue, and productive conflict demonstrate improved team performance and reduced risk. Relational leadership is presented as a critical strategy for navigating increasingly complex health care environments shaped by workforce shortages, constrained resources, and post-pandemic strain.
Building on the previously described concept of “Infinite Anesthesia,” the authors introduce an expanded framework called “Lead Infinitely.” This model has been operationalized through a multidisciplinary workshop series focusing on collective intelligence, teaming, humility, civility, discovery-driven planning, and infinite mindset leadership. Initially targeted to anesthesia professionals, the program has expanded to include perioperative nurses, surgeons, proceduralists, and physicians across multiple specialties, with growing institutional adoption.
The authors ultimately argue that confining infinite leadership principles to anesthesia alone is insufficient. Instead, anesthesia leaders should intentionally leverage their credibility, relationships, and system-level insight to drive improvement across the full continuum of care. By evolving from volume-based perioperative providers to orchestrators of system value, anesthesia professionals can influence patient experience, safety, operational efficiency, financial stewardship, and workforce engagement across health systems.
Key Points
Anesthesiologists are well positioned to lead across health systems because of their breadth of clinical exposure and team-based practice
Trust and relational leadership are central to patient safety and high-performing teams
Cultural change spreads most effectively by first engaging early adopters experiencing real operational or cultural pain
Civility, humility, and productive conflict are essential elements of safe and effective health care teams
The “Lead Infinitely” model extends anesthesia leadership influence beyond the perioperative environment
Infinite leadership prioritizes long-term system health and shared purpose over short-term outcomes
Thank you to the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation for allowing us to summarize and share this article from the APSF Newsletter.