Health Systems in Action: an eHandbook for Leaders and Managers

2. LeADiNG AND MANAGiNG: CRitiCAL COMPeteNCieS fOR heALth SYSteMS StReNGtheNiNG 2:7
needed training and equipment for the astronauts, and tracking progress toward the moon
shot. Strong management skills will decrease the amount of energy you and your team
waste when procedures and processes are overly complex, not clearly related to desired
results, and unfair. Your ability to manage will enable you and your team to move efficiently
toward a desired future.
Managing without leading. This is like being a mouse on a treadmill—you may engage
in a lot of activity and expend a great deal of energy, but it will get you nowhere. Concentrating
only on managing, you lose track of the vision, the changing environment, and the
need to prepare for the future. If you lead well, you will increase the energy and commitment
of your team and gain the support of the stakeholders who are so critical to success.
principles of developing managers who lead
The more an organization recognizes the importance of the management and leadership
skills of its staff, the better it will function. Worldwide observation of the practices of managers
who enable themselves and others to face challenges and produce results have led to
a few simple principles for developing managers who lead.
Focus on health outcomes. Good health management and leadership result in measurable
improvements in health services and outcomes. Only if you focus on real organizational
challenges and commit publicly to producing measurable results (thus making yourself
accountable) will your improved management and leadership skills make a difference.
Practice leadership and good management at all levels. Your leadership and management
skills matter to your team and to those who benefit from your team’s improved performance,
no matter where or at what level you work. Your skills are relevant whether you
are a community health worker or director general, a supervisor or the dean of a medical
school.
You can learn to lead and manage better. Three processes can help you learn and
improve your leadership and management practices: challenge, feedback, and support. If
any one of these is left out, you are unlikely to learn and grow in your role as a manager
who leads.
Learning to lead and manage takes time and practice. Leading and managing comprise
skills, knowledge, and attitudes that you learn through much practice. The earlier
you become aware of what it takes to manage and lead, the better.
Sustain progress through management systems. Health gains can be sustained only
by making sure that leadership and management practices are used in all health services
and supported by organizational systems and processes for managing governance, planning,
human resources, finances, medicines and other health products, and information.
© 2010 MANAGeMeNt SCieNCeS fOR heALth HeAltH SySteMS In ACtIon