Leadership is front and centre of the thinking of many of us, as the world lurches from crisis to crisis. There is something like desperation for a resolution of situations that threaten to throw large proportions of the world’s population over the proverbial cliff, if leaders can’t find constructive ways to resolve differences.
Closer to home, we have had a series of disruptions and transformations in health leadership, as various Western Australian health leaders have moved on. These include, of course, former AMA (WA) CEO Dr Bennie Ng, and we wish him well in his future endeavours. We also recently lost a colossus of health leadership, with the passing of Professor Bryant Stokes.
So, what’s leadership, and what makes it work in a health sense? We could broadly define leadership as “the conscious and goal-oriented influencing of people”. Which probably makes leaders of most of us in one sense or another. That’s important because we probably yearn for the kind of leadership we are asked to provide ourselves or wish we could provide in our own leadership roles.
In healthcare, leadership is expressed less through title than behaviour under pressure. Evidence from clinical, organisational and public health consistently points to three qualities that underpin leadership people trust and follow.
First, empathy translated into action. In health systems, empathy is a leadership capability expressed when leaders listen to clinicians and patients; then adjust policies, workflows or resources. It builds psychological safety and trust, and is linked to lower burnout, improved wellbeing, and safer patient care (Zhou et al., Relationship between empathy and burnout as well as potential affecting and mediating factors).
Second, adaptive judgement under uncertainty. Health leaders often need to act without complete information, particularly during outbreaks such as the COVID-19 pandemic, service surges or reform. Adaptive leaders decide early, communicate uncertainty honestly, and revise course as evidence evolves, sustaining morale and public trust in crises (London, Causes and Consequences of Adaptive Leadership).
Third, trust built through visible, consistent behaviour. In healthcare, authority alone has limited force. Credibility comes from aligning words and actions, explaining decisions fairly and transparently, strengthening engagement, retention and organisational resilience (Babalola et al., When do leaders build trust through behavioral integrity?).
Together, these qualities support care today while sustaining the people, services and systems needed for tomorrow. Stewardship counts for a lot here.
All right. Now to apply some of these principles to the global order. Fingers crossed for leadership where it matters.
