Module Four: Health Leadership

     

Principles of Leadership

World leaders of 1945: Churchhill, Roosevelt and Stalin

Effective leadership of any kind is built upon a few broad principles. In the past, leaders were frequently chosen for their technical proficiency-their ability to speak, design, or perform a skill. Leadership today demands a broader skill set that more closely matches the actual expected responsibilities. Effective leaders are:

Committed to the mission
Leaders are both guides and motivators. As guides, they must create and embrace the mission of the organization, including the inevitable fine-tuning of the mission as experience is gained. As motivators, they must be capable of communicating this mission in a manner that inspires others to become committed, whether inside or outside of the organization.

Forward-thinking
Society, or rather the market, is continually in flux. Organizations that stay exactly the same are unlikely to remain relevant. Leaders must constantly assess the marketplace in light of the organization's mission and then plan for the future based upon this assessment. Such decisions should not be made in isolation. Consideration of internal input from investors and employees as well as external input from clients and partners predictably results in greater success.

Capable of broad oversight
Leaders carry responsibility for developing and overseeing every aspect of the organization. This usually involves personnel, finances, record-keeping, public relations, government relations, and so forth. Many of these duties can and should be delegated to skilled individuals. Nevertheless, successful leaders must assure that they are being performed well.

Efficient conflict managers
Leadership is very much a social function. Beyond its visionary elements, the day-to-day role of leader frequently involves problem-solving. Inevitably, questions and conflicts encountered by people in the organization are brought to the leader for resolution. Decisiveness, affirmation, and good listening skills are qualities that aid leaders in successfully resolving these conflicts.

Credible role models
Credibility is vital to successful leadership. It can be aided through academic credentialing and a good track record, but no qualification contributes to a leader's credibility as much as does setting a good example. Leaders who themselves demonstrate innovation, punctuality, work ethic, and responsibility are far more likely to inspire these attributes among their followers (Kouzes and Posner, 2003, p. 129).

Such skills can and should be studied, but they are most effectively developed in the real world of leadership responsibility, where progressive experience and skill is acknowledged through the allotment of greater responsibility.

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