Fueling leadership in yourself: a leadership development program for all types of health-care workers
ISSN: 1751-1879
Article publication date: 10 May 2021
Issue publication date: 3 August 2021
Abstract
Purpose
Leadership development may be a key strategy to enhance job satisfaction, reduce burnout and improve patient safety in health-care systems. This study aims to assess feasibility of a leadership development series in an effort to invigorate a collaborative culture, create peer networks and elevate autonomy in daily work.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors implemented a collectivistic leadership development series titled Fueling Leadership in Yourself. The series was designed for all types of health-care workers in the medicine service at a tertiary referral center for veterans. Two series of leadership development sessions with varied experiential learning methods were facilitated by content experts. Subjects focused on leadership approaches and attributes applicable to all roles within a health-care system. The authors collected participant perceptions using pre- and post-series surveys. Primary outcomes were understanding and applicability of leadership concepts, employee engagement in leadership, satisfaction with training and work environment and qualitative reflections.
Findings
A total of 26 respondents (of 38 participants) from 8 departments and several role types increased their knowledge of leadership techniques, were highly satisfied with and would recommend the series and found leadership principles applicable to their daily work. Participants continued to use skills years after the series.
Practical implications
Short, intermittent, collectivistic leadership development sessions appear effective in expanding knowledge, satisfaction and skills used in daily practice for a diverse group of health-care workers.
Originality/value
Novel programmatic aspects included inviting all types of health-care workers, practicing universally applicable content and using a variety of active, experiential learning methods.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Dr Eric Young – former Chief of Staff at the Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System – who provided support for implementation of the Fueling Leadership in Yourself program. We would like to thank Rachel Ehrlinger for support in preparation of the manuscript.
Citation
Houchens, N., L. Sivils, S., Koester, E., Ratz, D., Ridenour, J. and Saint, S. (2021), "Fueling leadership in yourself: a leadership development program for all types of health-care workers", Leadership in Health Services, Vol. 34 No. 2, pp. 98-111. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-06-2020-0037
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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