Management and Leadership are two different mentalities that cannot and should not be separated, because all successful organisations require managers and leaders. Most organisations are reasonably well managed, but poorly led. Competent management is essential in any organisation, given the need for well-documented objectives, reports, evaluations, plans etc.

Leadership is not confined to one or two people at the top of a pyramid. Strong leaders should and must be scattered throughout the entire organisation. If one department runs smoothly and successfully, while the rest are merely coasting along, it is most definitely due to effective leadership. You will find that the person creating that outstanding group behaves differently than the other managers.

If organisations are content to coast along peacefully maintaining the status quo, then administrators or managers are quite sufficient. The danger is that remaining steady in a fast-changing environment causes you to fall behind over time. If an organisation is to keep pace, it must continually undergo real change - strong leadership makes changes happen.

Good leaders:

Are willing to let go of total control in order to create a collaborative environment to allow others to learn leadership skills.

Create values through communication.
Develop responsible followers.
Lead by example.
Focus attention on important issues.
Connect their group to the outside world.
Have vision and give inspiration, motivation, and direction.
Generate a strong connection between the leader and direct reports.
Combine managerial and leadership skills.
Know their objectives and have a plan in place to achieve them.
Inspire others to achieve goals and objectives.
Help team members to give their best efforts.
Know how to give and receive feedback.
Have integrity. It becomes the culture of the organisation.
Are open to the best of what everyone, everywhere, has to offer.
Transfer learning across the organisation.

Appoint the right people in the right jobs. It is more important than developing a strategy.

Create an informal atmosphere – it is a competitive advantage.
Make sure that everybody knows that they count.
Have the courage to be transparent.
Celebrate a job done well.
Never underestimate the opposition.
Recognise real value.

As a leader you must know your own strengths and weaknesses, so that you can build the best team around you. Do a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunity and Threats) on your own abilities, to face what you’re up against, then redefine or develop your own new goals, objectives and priorities.

Always give your team the credit for your achievements and successes. Never take the credit yourself. You must however take the blame and accept responsibility for any failings or mistakes that your team make. Never blame or shame another person for a failing. Their failing is your responsibility.

It’s a known fact that employees imitate their leader’s behaviour. If they move quickly, the organisation will pick up the pace. If they slow down, the pace slows down. All the employees of Chrysler knew that Lee Iacocca worked a ten-hour day. He cut his own salary to one dollar per year in the midst of Chrysler’s financial crisis. Employees are strongly influenced by these behaviours. The most dramatic example of a leader’s role is one CEO’s simple formula for conduct in the organisation: “You may do anything you see me doing.” Modeling behaviour is the most powerful leadership tool today.

When financial difficulties arise in an organisation, people look to their leaders for reassurance. They need a calm, steady person at the helm. A leader does not magnify others’ anxiety by behaving frantically, regardless of the anxiety and stress personally felt. People need a leader who has the courage to stay the course.

The Healthcare Forum in the U.S.A. presents “Emerging Leaders In Healthcare” Awards annually to successful collaborative leaders in the industry. In spite of external influences that shape the systems of health service delivery worldwide today, these leaders are highly successful. The external influences include social values and cultures; the characteristics of the population - the demographics; social morbidity problems such as AIDS, injury, murder, et cetera; physical environment - toxic waste and sanitation but there are also ethological issues in the physical environment.

Fierce pressures for cost containment. Demands for quality improvements. The drive toward patient-centered care. The push for community involvement. Insistent voices of payers, patients, consumers, physicians. Accumulated tensions amid the chaos of change. Balancing all of these demands while inspiring and encouraging the professionals and other workers within the healthcare industry requires a high level of leadership ability. One that insists on the best from everyone involved in a healthcare system -- from doctors to staff, nurses to social workers. And then strives for more. The four executives who are this year's Emerging Leaders in Healthcare have all pushed their systems beyond traditional boundaries into new territory, helping their patients, their employees, their doctors, and their communities to rise to new levels of achievement. At the same time, these leaders emphasise teamwork and collaborative style leadership, so that their co-workers feel like they're participating in the changes, not being victimised by them. Gita Budd, Colene Daniel, Elizabeth Gallup, and Scott Wordelman are winners of this year’s award from The Healthcare Forum and Korn / Ferry International, that honours dynamic, decisive leaders with the proven ability to nurture the growth of the industry in the United States.

Read good books, and take advice from good people, to develop your own understanding of yourself, and particularly of other people's weaknesses. Some of the best books are not about business at all - they are about people who triumph over adversity.

A good leader knows when to manage and a good manager knows how to lead.

By Elsabé Manning

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