In this blog, I will be discussing leadership within the NHS. I would like to start this off by defining what is leadership:
In my opinion, leadership is someone who does more than just lead people. They have to be driven by the right motivation and make a positive impact on the people around them.
For me, a leader is someone who can see how things can be improved and who engages people to move toward that better vision. Leaders need to be empathetic and connect with people to be successful. I have been working within the NHS for just over 13 years, within this period I have learned that there are 3 core skills that leaders of today need to possess:
So why does leadership matter? NHS organisations that invest in leadership:
- Make better decisions
- Get more done in less time with lower costs
- Achieve better results
Furthermore, through research and experience, this is expanded into 3 pivotal reasons below why leadership matters:
Leadership plays a key role in shaping the culture and structure of organisations, to support the staff and improve care, leadership at all levels needs to be collective, compassionate and inclusive. This should also be a part of a continual learning process if leaders are to be successful. An environment where ideas can be valued, the need to remove hierarchy produces a collaborative learning output. There is somewhat a lack of diversity among senior NHS leaders through my experience, the leadership of health and care systems reflect the diversity of the communities they serve. More clinical staff should be supported to move into leadership roles and develop their management skills, this will equip the organisation with a clinical leadership that is associated with higher productivity and better organisational outcomes.
High-quality and focused leadership will be essential if the NHS is to deliver on the many ambitions set out in the NHS long term plan. In my opinion senior leaders who embed a culture of compassion, inclusion and collaboration see a far better return on productivity to those who only seem to micromanage.
Leaders in today’s NHS operate in a weather of extreme pressure, which is increasing by high levels of leadership vacancies and leadership churn.
The task of leading in health and care is also evolving at a rapid pace. For example, health and care leaders are increasingly expected to lead beyond their experience and comfort zone, working as part of local systems to transform how services are delivered. This in return places a stronger emphasis on key relational skills and shared leadership across the many organisations they need to engage with in order to improve the health and wellbeing of the patients.
what can we do to improve leadership?
A good leader needs to discipline. Developing discipline in our professional (and personal) life is a must in order to be an effective leader, and to inspire others. People will always judge your capacity to lead by the amount of discipline you display at work. As I have discussed earlier in my blog, the need for continual self-developing also mirrors the need for critical learning and reflection:
Learn to follow
Develop a situational awareness
Empower the team and resolve conflicts
Before I finish I would like to leave a thought for everyone to reflect on………
Do you lead to inspire or lead with influence for dominance?
