A beleaguered profession yearning for Lincolns: the need for visionary leadership in the health care profession.
In the current milieu of monumental change in medicine and the health sciences, effective leadership is needed from within the health care profession to address various challenges. A leader needs to be visionary, and must possess the ability to share this vision with others through effective communication. The leader should be fair, trustworthy, sincere, truthful, honest, courageous, and compassionate. He or she should be strong and resolute and be able to lead through persuasion rather than coercion. The leader should possess the attributes and skills to mold organizational change in the desired direction and to deal with reactions of individuals going through the change process. The democratic style of leadership appears to be the most effective, although the autocratic style may be needed occasionally to accomplish a specific task. The noncentered, laissez-faire style of leadership is generally not effective and results in significant frustration among subordinates. The most desirable type of power a leader can exercise over subordinates results from deep trust and effective communication, which make people follow the leader willingly. The health care profession needs to solicit the help of experienced members who have shown leadership to help guide various activities and to serve as mentors for the less experienced individuals. Special courses should be designed and implemented to develop specific leadership skills, which are applicable to various health care disciplines. Practical teaching models, including individuals from various disciplines working together in teams, with opportunities for leadership, should be implemented. Also, an appropriate culture that recognizes and rewards effective leadership in academe needs to be established within academic institutions.
Sachdeva
A K
AK
Department of Surgery, MCP/Hahnemann School of Medicine, Allegheny University of the Health Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19129, USA.
D006801:Humans; D007857:Leadership; D008495:Medical Oncology / Q000193:education*; D017145:Models, Educational; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000628:therapy; D009936:Organizational Innovation; D010348:Patient Care Team; D014481:United States