“People Have Chronic Conditions Because They Are Lazy.”
The Ableism of Healthcare: Chronic Illness and the Leadership Crisis
“People Have Chronic Conditions Because They Are Lazy.”
These words, spoken by a physician at a conference I recently attended, left me frozen in shock. It was hard to believe that in 2024, a doctor—a licensed medical professional entrusted with optimizing the health and well-being of others—could look me in the eye and respond to my question with such a blanket, harmful statement.
The physician was presenting at an event promoting an emerging health-monitoring technology. I was looking forward to the session, eager to learn more about the technology and gain new insights into managing health more efficiently. The speaker, however, offered few adjustments to make his presentation inclusive. Introducing himself as a “world-renowned doctor,” he spoke to the room as if addressing only fellow physicians, ignoring the non-experts and diverse backgrounds in the audience. Despite this, I was intrigued by his presentation, leading me to raise my hand at one point to ask, “could you explain how this could impact individuals with chronic conditions?”
His response? “First of all, people have chronic conditions because they are lazy.” He then pointed to a professional bodybuilder sitting in the back row and praised her discipline, implying that her commitment to fitness (“she looks like she spends three hours per day in the gym!”) was the standard to aspire to prevent chronic illness.
Stunned, I responded, “I’m not lazy. I have sickle-cell disease, and I’ve benefited from treatments and other health practices that allow me to lead a full and successful life.” He interrupted me with an even more dismissive response: “Well, that’s different. I’m talking about other conditions.”
This physician embodied everything that’s wrong with leadership today: a lack of empathy, emotional intelligence, and curiosity. Rather than engaging with my experience or clarifying his position, he doubled down on harmful stereotypes about chronic illness. His arrogance and refusal to listen or learn revealed a troubling failure in leadership, especially for someone considered a leader in the medical field. He didn’t just fail to offer valuable insights—he perpetuated ableist myths that stigmatize people living with chronic conditions.
Chronic Illness and Leadership Failures
As someone living with a chronic illness, I know how damaging these attitudes can be. Conditions like sickle-cell disease, diabetes, or autoimmune disorders are not caused by laziness. They are complex, often genetic, and require a lifetime of management. Yet this physician’s remarks reflect a broader cultural narrative that blames individuals for their chronic conditions, reducing their struggles to failures of work ethic or discipline.
Where was the leadership?
A good leader listens.
A good leader remains open to different perspectives.
A good leader seeks seeks to understand the complexities of human experience.
Patients come from a wide variety of social backgrounds and lived experiences that shape their individual health journeys. Doctors - as leaders in this field- are ethically obligated to “do no harm.”
The physician’s response demonstrated not only a lack of emotional intelligence but a fundamental failure in human -centered leadership.
No empathy. Nor did he show an openness to transformation or conversation—all essential qualities for leaders committed to improving lives.
The Intersectionality of Chronic Illness
The physician’s “solution” of spending three hours a day in the gym reveals a dangerous misunderstanding of what it’s like to live with a chronic condition. Take my own condition, sickle-cell disease—a genetic disorder primarily affecting Black people and those of sub-Saharan African descent. Despite being more common than chronic conditions like cystic fibrosis (which predominantly affects white communities), sickle-cell disease receives far less treatment, funding, and research attention by healthcare institutions in the United States.
This disparity highlights public health inequities and reveals how ableism and racism intersect in healthcare. Studies show that Black Americans often receive lower-quality treatment, with implicit bias contributing to misdiagnoses and inadequate pain management, particularly for conditions like sickle-cell. Access to proper care is shaped by various social and economic circumstances, and privileges like “spending three hours a day in the gym” are determined by factors such as income, race, and healthcare access.
These intersectional realities make it clear that medical and healthcare professionals must develop cultural competence, empathy, and emotional intelligence when conducting their work—qualities that are the cornerstone of human-centered leadership.
The Real Cost of “Lazy” Leadership
The irony of the physician’s response was not lost on me. He pointed to a professional bodybuilder in the room as an example of "hard work" and dedication, oblivious to the fact that bodybuilding is often a sport that demands extreme, sometimes unhealthy practices. Praising someone who spends three hours in the gym daily is a reductive view of health and shows an alarming lack of nuance. As someone who once trained in bodybuilding, I know the toll it takes on hormonal health and well-being. The fact that this doctor, a specialist in hormones, couldn’t recognize the contradiction was astounding.
This interaction solidified my belief that human-centered leadership is desperately needed, especially in healthcare.
Leaders in the medical field must be willing to engage with the full spectrum of human experience.
Health is not just about gym hours or work ethic—it’s about meeting people where they are, understanding their unique challenges, and providing informed care that addresses the whole person.
The Urgent Need for Human-Centered Leadership
As Peter Drucker famously said, “Culture eats strategy for breakfast.” The physician’s harmful remarks highlighted the deeper issue at play: a cultural mindset in healthcare that upholds ableist and exclusionary views.
Rather than challenging these narratives, the physician’s rhetoric reinforced them, underscoring the importance of cultivating leadership skills that prioritize empathy, inclusivity, and emotional intelligence, especially in high-stakes fields like healthcare.
We need leaders who can look beyond their own biases and preconceived notions. Human-centered leadership is about engaging with people as whole beings, honoring their diverse identities, and leveraging their unique strengths. It’s about moving beyond blame and judgment to create a culture of care and respect.
This experience reaffirmed my mission to elevate the voices of people living with chronic conditions. We deserve to be seen, heard, and supported–not dismissed or diminished. The future of healthcare—and leadership—depends on it.
Over the next few weeks, I'll be exploring visionary leadership—leadership that thrives in uncertainty and can navigate complex challenges by embracing diverse perspectives.
As seen in this post, true leaders go beyond surface-level judgments, offering empathy and inclusivity to foster understanding and drive meaningful change.
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About Us: I’m Natalie Legrand and with my dear brother Daniel Legrand write The Nourished Leader with Natalie Legrand. We are co-founders of a global leadership development firm - Galanthus International where we help people think differently about well-being and leadership.