Objective:

The objective is to describe the role of leadership in the training of the general surgeon and to point out its relevance.

Method:

A search of the medical literature was carried out to identify studies that reported on topics related to leadership in the context of medical education and surgery. We used the search engine of Medline/PubMed databases including related terms such as “leadership” AND “medicine” OR “surgery”.

Results:

Leadership is a valued characteristic in surgery, it implies professionalism, technical competence, motivation, innovation, teamwork, communication skills, decision making, emotional competence, resilience, and effective teaching. Leadership is measurable and can be developed through experience, observation, and education.

Conclusions:

Priority must be given to actions that improve leader traits. This has been shown to create a work environment where efficient work is performed, and failures are minimized. The current vision of the leader must be expanded to reduce the gender gap between the positions as leader occupy in this moment.