The challenges of leading healthcare organizations and what makes an excellent healthcare leader given the various stake holders and divergent interests

1. Marooned on a Desert Island
Each person on each table write down three things they would need to survive

3. Leadership Challenges in healthcare

4. Kenyans Celebrating Obama’s Victory
Why was he so popular among so many people around the world?

5. Leadership in Healthcare
Many people today are seeking to understand --
and many people are writing about -- the
concepts and practices of leadership. There
are a great many reasons for the strong
popularity of the topic, including that people,
groups and organizations are faced with
changes like never before. Effective leadership
is required to understand and navigate
through the many changes

6. Leadership in Healthcare is….
Unique in that there are multiple
stakeholders:
– Clinicians – Medicine, Nursing & Allied
Health
– Managers
– Bureaucrats
– Politicians
– Advocacy groups
– The Media

7. International IIssssuueess aanndd CChhaalllleennggeess ffoorr
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• Sustainability
• Community/patient expectations
• Clinical governance and accountability
• The way health services are delivered
• Workforce capacity and sustainability
• Political influence and intervention
• Performance improvement & patient safety

8. Tensions between Different Key
Groups
• Politicians – political leaders with a short term focus
and usually politically biased
• Bureaucrats – Responsible for policy development and
its implementation but do they lead?
• Clinicians – Access clinical resources and accountable
for delivering quality patient outcomes. Lead clinical
innovation and service delivery
• Managers – Can lead an organisation / service but are
accountable for the “bottom line” and organisational
performance
• Patients – leading “advocacy” & self-care

9. Wangari Maathai 1940-2011
Nobel Peace Laureate
The need to develop leaders
in healthcare

10. • Very simply put, a
leader is interpreted as
someone who sets
direction in an effort
and influences people
to follow that direction
-- the people can be
oneself, another
individual, a group, an
organization or a
community

12. WHAT IS LEADERSHIP?

13. Is Leading Different than Managing?
Management
• Traditional views of
management associate it
with four major functions:
planning, organizing,
leading and
controlling/coordinating
Leadership
• Yes, leading is different
than planning, organizing
and coordinating because
leading is focused on
influencing people, while
the other functions are
focused on "resources" in
addition to people.

14. CONTEXT OF LEADERSHIP
The particular competencies (knowledge, skills and abilities)
or qualities that a person needs in order to lead at a
particular time in an organization depend on a variety of
factors, including:
1) Whether that person is leading one other individual, a
group or a large organization;
2) The extent of leadership skills that person already has;
3) That person's basic nature and values
4) Whether the group or organization is for-profit or
nonprofit, new or long-established, and large or small;
5) The particular culture (or values and associated
behaviors) of whomever is being led.

15. The boss drives people; the leader coaches them.
The boss depends on authority; the leader on good will.
The boss inspires fear; the leader inspires enthusiasm.
The boss says 'I'; the leader says 'we.'
The boss fixes the blame for the breakdown; the leader
fixes the breakdown.
The boss knows how it is done; the leader shows how.
The boss says 'go'; the leader says 'let's go!'
H. Gordon Selfridge 1864-1947, American-British retail
magnate

16. Skills of a leader • Decision making
• Planning
• Problem solving
• Ethics and social
responsibility
• Creativity and innovation
• Systems thinking
Whether you're leading
yourself, others, teams,
organizations or communities,
there are certain skills that
you need to have

17. Evolution of leadership

18. Successful leadership in Healthcare
• A focus on mission vision and values
• A culture of teamwork and change
• Communication and transparency
• Rewards and recognition
• Leadership development

19. Transformational leadership in
healthcare
• Empowering workers
• Negotiating workplace goals rather than
issuing orders
• Making managers accountable to their
subordinates

20. A list of things a leader must do
• Communicate effectively
• Get out of the corner
office
• Be out there representing
the organization
• Praise employees
• Share your vision
• Make it happen
• Motivate others
• Invest in your employees
• Visit clients
• Don’t micromanage
• Develop a true team
environment
• Surround yourself with
people who complement
each other and your own
skills
• Don’t forget yourself!