| |
The
Audit Commission, Commission for Health Improvement, Commission
for Social Care Inspection and all the major developmental and
inspection agencies in their reports over the past few years
have stressed that ‘leadership’ is the vital and essential
element in creating effective services and better outcomes for
users and carers. When enquiries report on why things went wrong
in services, then ‘a lack of leadership’ is usually
highlighted.
But what is leadership?
- and -
How can organisations ensure that
they have this vital ingredient embedded in their services?
True leadership is about:
|
|
Setting a clear
vision for the future for individuals, teams and organisations. |
|
|
Being a person
of integrity – and putting values into action. |
|
|
Working from
and assisting others to work from a firm value-base. |
|
|
Developing individuals
and teams so that they achieve their goals. |
|
|
Creating positive
change for individuals, teams and organisations when they
need to adapt to changing circumstances. |
The word and concept of ‘leadership’ is related to
pathfinding, steering, travelling with, showing the way to,
in a number of languages and cultures.
Leadership is not:
|
|
Being some sort
of “super hero” as in a Hollywood movie! You
don’t have to be Uma Thurman or Tom Cruise!! |
|
|
Constantly changing
everything just to keep people on their toes. |
|
|
Abandoning the
value-base so as to achieve short-term wins with no reference
to the bigger picture. |
|
|
Acting as some
kind of “lone wolf” without regard to the creation
of effective teams. |
|
|
Just managing
the status quo. |
|
|
Tied to particular
organisational roles. |
‘Leadership’ (what is sometimes called ‘transformational
leadership’), and ‘management’ (sometimes referred
to as ‘transactional leadership’) are two sides of
the same coin. Organisations need both.
Research clearly shows that organisations need both:
|
|
The active and
positive handling of change through effective leadership,
and the inspiration of the staff group. |
|
|
The management
of ‘here and now’ through systematic approaches
to policy, practice and logistics. |
In industry, commerce and the public sector, effective leadership
is required at all levels, not just at the top.
To try and achieve this in the Health and Social Care field,
the NHS has developed a model which focuses on:
|
|
Personal qualities. |
|
|
Setting direction
for the service. |
|
|
Developing the
service. |
So, if you are looking for:
|
|
work with your
management team on strategic leadership and managing change. |
|
|
Long-term leadership
formation for managers at any level |
|
|
Assisting change
management processes as services modernise, eg Day Services,
Care Management, etc. |
|
|
Crisis resolution
when services fail |
then the NDT has the expertise to help you in this specialist
area while having a excellent track record in Learning Disability
and Mental Health services generally. We know the business.
(See the example of a three-day programme, Leading
to Better Services, and also Peter Gilbert's article, Leading
to Better Tomorrows.)
The NDT uses national and international research and models,
our knowledge of the Learning Disability and Mental Health fields
and our relationship with yourselves, to shape programmes which
are relevant to managers and potential managers at all levels
of the service – strategic and/or operational. We believe
that a practical approach,
working with teams, and drawing from people’s own experience,
produces better and more long-lasting results than sending one
or two people away on an expensive residential course, with
often minimal outcomes for people who actually use the service!
The NDT has a significant track record in working with partnership
boards on strategic issues; has been asked to design a major
programme for frontline managers, linked with the redevelopment
of Day Services; and courses on Leadership and Change Management
have been well received by frontline managers and service managers
in local authorities and mental health trusts.
Lead consultant for the NDT is Professor Peter Gilbert, who
has 30 years of experience in the field as a practitioner, operational
manager and as a director of social services. Peter works for
NIMHE at a national level, holds a university post as well,
and is a published author in this area of work. Hw was the NIMHE/SCIE
Fellow in Social Care 2003, and was facilitator of a national
learning set on social care. (See the article
from the British Journal of Leadership in Public Services.)
Courses draw on a wide range of materials but especially work
by:
|
|
