As the head of a department you are bringing on several new members of staff. These young staff are asking for mentorship. While staff have been paired in the past, they almost never met and seldom did the mentee or mentor find the relationship effective. What are the expectations of a mentorship programme and how … Continue reading Mentorship
You are reviewing the performance of the department as a whole. Within your department there are widespread calls for accountability. How do you achieve accountability without disenfranchising your staff? While goodwill and desire drives performance, there must still be accountability for job performance. This may be at an individual or a group level. Accountability requires … Continue reading Accountability for Group Performance
Several leadership vacancies will be available soon that are key to your success in effecting change. Several members are lobbying you for themselves, or others, to fill the roles. Several of the groups need major overhauls, but not all members of the group see the need for change. Should you just appoint people to the … Continue reading Recruiting New Leaders
In your department, there are leaders who report to you. Many have been leaders for a long time. Several of the groups are restless for change and others have longstanding disagreements among members. How do you gain an understanding of how well the leaders and/or groups are functioning? This post deals with how to evaluate … Continue reading Reviewing Leaders
As you plan for your agenda for change, you begin to wonder about the current organizational structure in your department. Several key roles within the department have been created specifically to meet the skill mix of the incumbents and to basically find a place for them. If your agenda for change is to be successful, … Continue reading Organizational Structure & Committees
You have developed an agenda for change. But now it’s time to put the plan into practice. You’ve engaged your team in discussion about strategies to encourage change and enhance individual performance. Many argue you need to tie performance to compensation, while others state the key to performance is punishment and singling out poor performers. … Continue reading Incentivizing Performance
Your clinical group lacks a strategic plan. You are asked by members of your group to allow them to have input into your plans for its future. It occurs to you that one approach to develop, gain feedback, and communicate a shared agenda for change would be to bring people together at a retreat or … Continue reading Vision, Mission, Values and Strategic Direction (Planning for a Retreat)
You have an ambitious agenda for change. While the specific initiatives are clear, you want to have an overarching approach to increase the potential for successful implementation. What should that approach look like? How do you maximise buy-in from everyone affected by the changes? A recurring theme throughout all my posts is the need … Continue reading Engaging in the Change: Co-creation
You have started as the head of a clinical group. During the selection process, you articulated several important changes, both short- and long-term, needed for the group. However, you realize many of the members in the team see different priorities. How do you bring everyone onto the same page? To be a transformational leader, an … Continue reading Laying the Groundwork: Developing an Agenda for Change
PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR CLINICAL LEADERS 