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What does character have to do with leadership in medicine—and why are competencies alone no longer enough?

Dr. Jacqueline Torti, assistant professor in the Department of Medicine at Western University, joins Corey for a grounded conversation on character-based leadership in health professions education. She explores how character shows up in small, often unseen moments that shape trust, teamwork, and patient care.

A central focus of the episode is Jacqueline’s work leading a year-long character-based leadership course for medical residents—later expanded to early-career physicians due to overwhelming demand. She shares why residents were craving space, psychological safety, and community, how the course created meaningful connection in fast-paced clinical environments, and what surprised her most when studying its impact.

🧠 What you’ll hear:
🔥 Why character elevates clinical competence rather than competing with it
🏥 How a year-long character-based leadership course created connection, reflection, and demand across medical training
🤝 What research revealed about community and belonging as key outcomes of character development
⚖️ How Jacqueline responds to skepticism and pushback around character in medicine
❤️ Personal reflections on parenting, habituation, and sustaining character across contexts

Resources
• Sultan et al. (2019). Leadership development in postgraduate medical education: a systematic review of the literature. Academic Medicine, 94(3), 440-449. (https://journals.lww.com/academicmedicine/abstract/2019/03000/leadership_development_in_postgraduate_medical.37.aspx)

• Torti et al. (2022). Perspectives on physician leadership: the role of character‐based leadership in medicine. Medical Education, 56(12), 1184-1193. (https://asmepublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/medu.14875)

• Leader Character Framework with Culture, Virtues, and Vices (https://virtuositycharacter.ca/organization/storage_production_6e293

About Virtuosity

• Website (https://virtuositycharacter.ca/)
• Monthly Newsletter (https://mailchi.mp/virtuositycharacter/subscribe-to-the-virtuosity-monthly-newsletter)
• LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/virtuosity-character)
• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/virtuositycharacter/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

Host, Dr Corey Crossan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreycrossan/), is a research and teaching fellow at The Oxford Character Project where she develops and facilitates character development programs for students, industry, and university partners. Corey’s love for elite performance developed as she competed in top-level athletics for most of her life, highlighted by competing as a NCAA Division 1 athlete. Corey translated her understanding of elite performance into a passion for helping individuals and organizations develop sustained excellence. She is also the co-founder of Virtuosity Character, a mobile software application created to support the daily, deliberate practice of character-based leadership development.

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What does character have to do with public service leadership, national infrastructure, and long-term stewardship?

Sonia Zouari—Chief Architect at the Department of National Defence—joins us for a powerful, deeply human conversation on why character is the stabilizing force leaders need in a VUCA world. Drawing on 25+ years across architecture, sustainability, policy, and public service, Sonia shares how character transforms technical expertise into service, how it shapes decision-making under pressure, and why leadership today demands deliberate inner work.

From mission-ready infrastructure to parenting, aging parents, and daily leadership choices, Sonia illustrates how character shows up not in grand gestures, but in the small moments that quietly shape trust, culture, and outcomes.

🧠 What you’ll hear:
🔥 Why technical excellence alone cracks under pressure—and how character turns skill into lasting impact
🧭 “How do I want to be as a leader now?” — the question guiding Sonia’s transition into the Chief Architect role
🏗️ Why the hardest challenges in infrastructure and public service aren’t technical, but human
⚖️ How integrity shifts from a concept to a daily practice through humility, temperance, and judgment
🛠️ The power of micro-practices: naming virtues in real time, habit stacking, and creating steadiness in high-pressure systems
❤️ How character-based leadership extends beyond work—to parenting, elder care, and showing up with presence rather than pressure

This episode is a masterclass in character as a habit of being—one that enables leaders to navigate ambiguity, steward public trust, and create environments where people can bring their best, even when the stakes are high.

Resources
• Connect with Sonia Zouari on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/soniazouari/)
• Leader Character Framework with Culture, Virtues, and Vices (https://virtuositycharacter.ca/organization/storage_production_6e2934b8-3e20-47a7-aa79-59a612f967be/990340a0-9980-4919-9456-ab5640b405a0.pdf)

About Virtuosity

• Website (https://virtuositycharacter.ca/)
• Monthly Newsletter (https://mailchi.mp/virtuositycharacter/subscribe-to-the-virtuosity-monthly-newsletter)
• LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/virtuosity-character)
• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/virtuositycharacter/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

Host, Dr Corey Crossan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreycrossan/), is a research and teaching fellow at The Oxford Character Project where she develops and facilitates character development programs for students, industry, and university partners. Corey’s love for elite performance developed as she competed in top-level athletics for most of her life, highlighted by competing as a NCAA Division 1 athlete. Corey translated her understanding of elite performance into a passion for helping individuals and organizations develop sustained excellence. She is also the co-founder of Virtuosity Character, a mobile software application created to support the daily, deliberate practice of character-based leadership development.

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What does character have to do with military leadership and operational readiness?

Lieutenant-Colonel Phil Desmarais—Commanding Officer of the Canadian NORAD Space Detachment—joins us for a pioneering conversation on why character is mission critical in today’s CAF. Drawing on 25+ years in air and space operations, he shares how his team is implementing daily character development across a dispersed unit, what this work demands of leaders, and why what got you here won’t get you there.

🧠 What you’ll hear:
🔥 Why people who rely on you “deserve a better version of you”—and why Phil refuses to stay static as a leader
🧭 “Who are you becoming while you’re busy doing?” — the guiding question anchoring his leadership
⚔️ Why character is an operational advantage, not a soft skill—especially in a world of global instability
🧩 The pioneering initiative: a train-the-trainer model + Virtuosity’s daily development + defence-specific application
🛠️ How behavioral forecasting became rocket fuel for his team—especially when preparing senior leaders for high-stakes strategic engagements

Resources
• Canadian Armed Forces Ethos : Trusted to Serve (https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/canadian-armed-forces-ethos-trusted-to-serve.html)
• Fighting Spirit: The Profession of Arms in Canada (https://www.canada.ca/en/department-national-defence/corporate/reports-publications/fighting-spirit.html)
• Behavioural Forecasting in Forbes (https://www.forbes.com/sites/marycrossan/2025/06/25/behavioral-forecasting-a-foundational-practice-to-navigate-the-world/)
• Leader Character Framework with Culture, Virtues, and Vices (https://virtuositycharacter.ca/organization/storage_production_6e2934b8-3e20-47a7-aa79-59a612f967be/990340a0-9980-4919-9456-ab5640b405a0.pdf)

About Virtuosity

• Website (https://virtuositycharacter.ca/)
• Monthly Newsletter (https://mailchi.mp/virtuositycharacter/subscribe-to-the-virtuosity-monthly-newsletter)
• LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/virtuosity-character)
• Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/virtuositycharacter/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

Host, Dr Corey Crossan (https://www.linkedin.com/in/coreycrossan/), is a research and teaching fellow at The Oxford Character Project where she develops and facilitates character development programs for students, industry, and university partners. Corey’s love for elite performance developed as she competed in top-level athletics for most of her life, highlighted by competing as a NCAA Division 1 athlete. Corey translated her understanding of elite performance into a passion for helping individuals and organizations develop sustained excellence. She is also the co-founder of Virtuosity Character, a mobile software application created to support the daily, deliberate practice of character-based leadership development.