As the final hybrid form of leadership, Royal Purple blends the Azure Blue concern about human beings and about envisioning a compelling future with the Ruby Red concern for moving to action. When you are in trouble, there is no one better to have on your side than a Royal Purple leader. Just ask Dr. Gary Morsh to join you. As noted by McKenna and Pugno (2006, p. 144), Dr. Morsch launched “Does Who Care” (a temporary physician staffing company), “Priority Placement” (a physician recruiting service) and “Heart to Heart International” (a humanitarian organization).
This orientation to leadership is identified as Royal because it is all about power and authority: who has the power and who has the authority? Are they the right people to represent the interests of all people? If not, then we need to act! The Royal Purple leader is often concerned with their own position on the health care hierarchy and their presence at the table where important health care decisions are being made. Dr. Andrew Schwartz put it this way (McKenna and Pugno, 2006, p. 183):
“I believe the commitment of medical staff leadership to the hospital is enhanced by making physician leaders part of the hospital board. This, I believe, helps maintain continuity between the hospital board, administration, and the physician leaders. The incentive for taking on leadership responsibility should be the desire to see your institution thrive. This is simple, but in many hospitals not realistic. As more physicians seek liberation from nonphysician owned medical facilities, physicians and hospital administration must be ready to share the helm in order to assure smooth sailing and that their port of call remains vibrant.” [Andrew M. Schwartz, MD, Cardiac Surgeon Vice President, Medical Staff Shawnee Mission Medical Center]
At times, this might even mean accepting an assignment within an institution that the Royal Purple leader might consider their adversary (McKinna and Pugno, 2006, p. 104):
“I was very motivated to join ‘big pharma’ (the pharmaceutical industry) because I believed that I would have impact on a broader and much deeper plane. The sphere [of] influence is greater . . .” [Charle Jaffe, MD, Ph.D., Director, Medical Information, Astra-Zeneca Pharmaceuticals]
Royal Purple sits at the opposite end of the Leadership Spectrum from Golden Yellow. Royal Purple leaders often detest those who sit back to thoughtfully assess and critique what is going on in the industry of health care. One should join Big Pharma and work for its reform rather than side back on the sidelines and cry for reform: “this is no time to sit on the sidelines and keep score. This is a time to be engaged!”
Equitable Royal Purple leaders truly care about those who are looking to them for leadership and do not stop caring or acting until some level of social justice is achieved for all people. Whether serving the urban poor or the rural inaccessible, the Royal Purple is there to lend a hand at any hour of the day (McKenna and Pugno, 2006, p. 146):
“I’ve always had a strong commitment to justice and a strong drive to reduce suffering. In our town, if someone was really sick, they would call the doc off his ranch to come help. We would wake up the pharmacist in the middle of the night if someone needed medicine right away. I saw community care at its finest. We all helped each other.” [Reverend Pamela S. Harris, MD Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physician Kansas City Veteran’s Administration Hospital and Minister of Health United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.]
