healthskills
begin with the end in mind
that doesn’t appear on any organisational chart?”. Gobillot is strong on the notion that leadership is contextual; using as one example that of Churchill. Churchill was perceived as a very effective leader during the war period but was then rejected by the British people in the general election that immediately followed. He goes on to write about the ‘connected leader’ working in an informal organisation made up of relationships of people working within and outside of the formal structures. So the ideas of distributed (non hero) leadership have been around for sometime – I wonder why we are only now beginning to recognise their value? Is it because of Gobillot’s ideas of contextual leadership? Has it taken the breaking down of formal PCT structures and the ‘birth’ of loose structures that GP Commissioning necessitates to bring Gobillot’s (and others) ideas to the forefront? Gobillot proposes 5 steps to ensure that your organisation is fully connected to its stakeholders and is therefore resilient: • Understand the ‘actual’ – the make-up of the social networks in which they operate • Map out the ’real’ gap – understand the gap between the ‘actual’ inspirations and the ‘formal’ accountabilities • Evaluate your impact – understand the impact you have • develop connected leadership characteristics – there is always room for the development of effective leadership behaviours • Build a supporting context – a leader is nothing without a supporting context The development of collaborative leadership behaviours will be essential if we are to deliver the reforms that are essential to ensure the survival and growth of the NHS. Take time to reflect on your social networks and collaborative skills. By Anne Tofts 13