What do employers want in early and developing leaders? - Healthcare

Employers do not expect newly qualified professionals to display exemplary leadership behaviours from the beginning. These are honed over time and often not required in first roles. However, they will want to see evidence that the underlying personal values and qualities are in place. They will test these through interview, life history and, when in role, appraisal and development opportunities. Employability rests on your ability to demonstrate these personal qualities, above all self-awareness, alongside your professional skills and potential for development.
Most good employers will offer you the opportunity to discuss your development needs, usually annually. This is often called a ‘development review’ and is usually linked to a discussion about your performance at work. Doing some preparation before this review is an extremely good habit to form. Think about what you have done well at work, what you would like to improve on in the next 12 months. Crucially, think also about what skills you might need in your next role; start to prepare for it now by seeking to develop those skills before you need to rely on them.


What are the component behaviours and personal qualities that influence leadership effectiveness?
Having an understanding of what people may be looking for is an essential component of ‘employability’. This enables you to consider how you can demonstrate ‘fit’ between your personal qualities and work or life experience and what the organisation wants. It also helps you to tailor your personal and professional development as you develop your career.Component leadership behaviours
In their model, Holti and Storey (2013) identify nine component areas that they believe contribute to good leadership in healthcare settings. First among them is the ability to inspire shared purpose. Other components relate to the ability to manage oneself, to manage others and resources, to develop and promote a vision for improvement of health services and to make that vision a reality. It is important to note that every component in Holti and Storey’s model is expressed in terms of the impact of behaviours and actions, not about beliefs and attitudes. This model suggests that it is what you do which is the most important part of leadership (how others experience you). The merit of this approach is that it suggests that you can change what you do, even if you find it harder to change how you feel. In this model, leadership can be practiced and if you are strong in one or more areas you can focus your development in other component areas. This model lends itself to ‘stages’ of development: from ‘developing’ to ‘competent’, through to ‘excellence’. In this way, a common framework of behaviours can be built on throughout the course of your career.Personal qualities
Personal qualities, such as self-awareness and self-management, are the bedrock for leading others. Important as they are, they are not the whole story. The additional component concerns the ability to relate to others, to empathise, to understand what motivates and to consider others’ perspectives on issues and situations. Described variously as emotional intelligence, EI or EQ, this component is about how you connect to others in authentic relationships. Actions and behaviours that do not resonate with your true self can result in negative impact on your personal well-being and affect your relationship building with others (Kernis and Goldman, 2006).

What sort of leader are you?

Time for reflection

Thinking about you, now, what would you consider to be your natural leadership style? Think about an occasion when you have been called upon to show leadership:
What was the situation?
What did you do?
What was the outcome?
How did others react to you?
How did you feel?
What was the easiest part for you?
What was the hardest?
What would you like to have done differently?
You can assess your leadership capabilities through a series of assessment tools, which your employer may use during leadership development exercises. Some of the most commonly used tests are:
MBTI (or, Myers-Briggs Type Indication): How we perceive the world and make decisions (http://www.myersbriggs.org/my-mbti-personality-type/mbti-basics/).
Belbin: Describing the sorts of roles we prefer to play in a team (http://www.belbin.com/).
Firo-B: Considers how we relate to one another. How we want others to behave and how we tend to behave towards others (https://www.cpp.com/products/firo-b/index.aspx).
SJT (or, Situational Judgement Test): For doctors in training. Describes a series of complex scenarios which a doctor may come across. The test considers situational judgement, or how one came to a decision (http://sjt.foundationprogramme.nhs.uk/).
360° Assessments: Self, peer and manager assessment of the extent to which we behave in ways which conform to a paradigm of leadership. The object being to receive feedback from others on how the individual is perceived and compare it to their perception of self.
The purpose of each of these tools is to help answer the question: ‘What is it like being on the receiving end of me?’ They give you a sense of how you tend to approach situations and other people now. They describe the benefits and pitfalls of these styles or behaviours. Equipped with this self-knowledge and an insight into how your colleagues work, you will be able to think about your development needs as an individual, a team member and as a leader.