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Personal Philosophy of Leadership
Chris Beuning
Northwestern University
Foundations of Leadership
481
Russell Roberson
August 19, 2012
Contents
I.Abstract
II.Introduction
III.Leadership Core Values
A.Specific Values
B.Assumptions
C.Beliefs
IV.Leadership Assumptions
A.Leadership Experiences
1.Positive
2.Negative
B.Assumptions based on experiences
V.Personal Leadership Beliefs
A.Purpose of leadership
B.Who should decide who leads?
C.Is leadership behavior influenced by internal or external forces?
D.Can people who have caused others harm be good leaders?
E.How do leaders gain credibility?
F.Who are your modelsof good leadership and why?
VI.Summary/Conclusion
VII.References
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I.Abstract
Strong leadership and leadership skills are a critical part of progress, achievement and growthforpersonal, team and organizational effectiveness. Core leadership values such as excellence, collaboration, self-respect, competency, creativity, wisdom, honesty and integrity resonate with me and guide the path I take in my current role as well as in the continuation of my leadership journey. I strive to keep these values as part of both my personal and professional life while continually reviewing and updating them in that journey. They form the foundation of my personal leadership developmentas well, both as an informal leader and as a member of a team.
I believe that while leadership is critical to the well-being and growth of both the individual and the team,it is not reserved strictly for those with formally assigned management or leadership positions. Strong leadership is also important from the ground level, from within teams and at the informal team leadership level. These skills also contribute positively to the interaction of team members, followers or supporters and theassigned leaders and further strengthen collaboration within and between both small and large teams.
Establishing core values is important, but they must be incorporated into behaviors and actions in all settings to truly have an impact on personal leadership philosophy. Modeling these values through behaviors brings them to life and gives them meaning within personal and team leadership settings. Strong leadership skills and needs may change over time and with the situation. They depend on group and organizational dynamics, but they are critical to effective team building and forward movement and allowing groups to recognize, accept and grow through periods of change. A strong ethical code, embodied in core values, is critical to the acceptance of a leader, particular in times of challenge, conflict, or significant change. Recognizing the importance and value of diversity and meeting the needs of each group member is also important for leaders. Strong effective leadership incorporates these skills into daily practice and reflection.
Personal Philosophy of Leadership
II.Introduction
The research and development of a personal philosophy of leadership deeply intrigues me. My current role involves being a member of several working teams which interact with one another in many ways. I do not have an assigned leadership position at this time and do not wish to take on a formal role with typical management responsibilities. My interest is in building on the informal leadership role I have established as a Clinical Pharmacy IT Analyst and continuethat personal growth. My passion is being able to use my knowledge about medications the medication use process and our Electronic Health Record (EHR) in a health care setting and research new options and functionality to improve our systems, keep our patients safe and make use of the data we collect using our EHR. Completion of the Masters of Medical Informatics program is a big part of meeting this goaland bringing the pieces together. I truly enjoy working with members of other disciplines to brainstorm options and I enjoy being a resource on the areas within my expertise while continually expanding and increasing the depth of that expertise. My desire is to improve my personal and team leadership skills and strengthen my leadership from the “ground level”as part of these and future teams.
Much of my literature review focusedon pharmacy professional publications, particularly a series of short articles by a well-respected pharmacist mentor who has been extremely active in the American Society of Health System Pharmacists (ASHP), a volunteer pharmacy organization. Her focus is often helping to cultivate leadership skills at a personal level within the profession of pharmacy. My journey in leadership over the past few years, as well as my hope for future growth has taken me into areas peripheral to pharmacy, but always drawing on my knowledge of the medication use process and as a practicing pharmacist. Whatever my future roles hold for me, I will always be a pharmacist by profession and training, with a strong beliefs in the importance of leadership in this area.
This paperexplores my philosophy of personal and team leadership and accountability, leading from an informal position, the promotions and progression of a professional group with leadership, the importance of commitment to core values, and the benefit of modeling behavior based and relationship focused theories such as Transitional Leadership Theory. These elements comprise the foundation of my leadership tenets: I can make a difference as an informal leader; I will contribute to the goals and advancement of the Pharmacy and Pharmacy IT profession; I will model my actions in both leadership and teammate roles based on core values and foster relationships based on a leader-follower relationship model.
III.Leadership Core Values
A.Specific Values
Positive, livable values form the foundation of leadership development and achievement. Some of the values that resonate with me include honesty, integrity, self-respect, collaboration, wisdom, trust, creativity, competency and excellence. These values are key to internal leadership as well as interactions with others. Defining and incorporation of these values into daily practice can be a part of the development of a personal leadership philosophy. “The genius of leadership lies in the manner in which leaders see and act on their own and their followers’ values and motivations.” (Drenkard, 2012, p. 148) This statement underlines the importance of building leadership on solid values and character.
Honesty, integrity and self-respect are particularly important to self-management and self-leadership. For me, being honest in self-leadership and personal growth means repeatedly assessing my performance based on input from team members and leadersand continually, objectively repeating this process and making any necessary changes. Holding integrity as a core value means making sure that every inward reflection and outward interaction as a leader or team memberincorporates a comparison with established personal values. Based on that comparison, changes in direction may be determined. Honesty and integrity in this context contribute to the development of self-respect, which is important for sustained credibility,influence and growth in leadership.
These qualities contribute to the concept described by Sara White when she writes about managing yourself so others want to work with you (White, 2008, p. 922). The advice in this column discusses building an internal foundation that supports the development of leadership, teamwork and collaboration. Sara White has written and contributed to many articles for ASHP which is a professional volunteer organization thatcontributes to research for,and education of pharmacists and provides coaching and mentoring tools for pharmacists at all levels of leadership and team involvement. Sara was also a personal mentor to our former Director of Pharmacy. She traveled to our organization several times to speak to our pharmacists. These talks have continued to be a source of inspiration and foster the professional responsibility and personal and professional pride for contribution to excellent and safe patient care.
Introspection and reflection on personal ethics foster the development and growth of personal values. Badaracco describes ethical decisions as self-discovery that go a step further and which he calls defining moments that serve to refocus core values. While the following questions seem straight-forward, they can be provocative. They are “who am I?”, “who are we?” and “who is the company.” The author describes additional questions that can be used to develop answers to each of the first questions. To understand “who am I?” an individual can evaluate conflicting feelings which can define a natural tension between two valid perspectives. After doing this one can look further at which responsibilities and values are in conflict with the values that are important to me. The third consideration involves applying shrewdness and expediency to the scenario to develop a personal plan for what is right and important to the individual. The author describes this as coupling introspection with practical needs. (Badaracco, 1998, p. 95).
Collaboration, wisdom and trust contribute to positive team dynamics and abilities as a leader. Collaboration to me means that being willing and able to work with each teammate or leader related to team efforts or individual development. A strong leader is able to work with each team member in whichever way works best for that dyad. Wisdom comes from experience with technical or practical situations. Beyond the baseline skills, wisdom incorporates that knowledge with the practical application at skill-based and interpersonal levels. Trust involves establishing working relationships with each team member and leader to the point where each believes that the other shares a common interest and goal and will work as a team to reach those and is closely related to the collaboration mentioned previously.
Teams are critical to success in most organizations. Theapplication of each of these values contributes to the cohesiveness and functionality of a team and increase the likelihood of success. Sara White describes the virtue of trust as follows. “When we trust people we can confide in them, believe them and have confidence in their honesty, reliability, integrity, strength and ability.” (White, 2012, p. 928) She also points out that trust must be earned by leaders and offers the following as guidance to those working toward earning trust from their teams. Remember trust is built over time. Take time to put yourself in the shoes of your team. Ask for feedback. Be transparent about decision making, particularly with unpopular decisions or programs. Don’t lie about bad news. Share information regularly. If you can’t answer a question, say so. Be up front if you don’t meet a commitment and hold yourself and others accountable. (White, 2012, p. 929) While this is aimed at those in formal leadership positions, it can also be applied at ground level, or to informal leaders or teammates.
The values of creativity, competency and excellence are a part of strong job knowledge and can be important to the development of confidence from subordinates or teammates. Creativity can be an important tool for finding new solutions to existing or emerging challenges as well as constantly evaluating current state. Being willing to think outside normal boundaries can lead to new ways to address problems. Additionally, involving all appropriate people in the problem solving can lead to additional solution options.
While extensive task knowledge is not necessary for all levels of leadership, it can be a part of the critical foundation for leadership in a non-assigned leader role. Competence in the subject and skill set being overseen increases the credibility of the leader with those being led. Expanding on this, if the leader is able to move beyond competence to excellence in the knowledge areas, particularly for highly skilled, complex or topics with patient safety implications, additional team credibility may be a result.
Northouse describes the Task Theory of leadership and the three types of tasks in that model – technical, human and conceptual. The model weights these three tasks differently based on the level of leadership. At top leadership levels the technical tasks take a smaller role while human and conceptual tasks take larger roles. In middle management roles the three types of tasks have similar importance. At lower levels of leadership, such as supervisory, the technical and human tasks outrank the conceptual tasks. The development of technical or application knowledge can be instrumental in demonstrating strong leadership at a staff or middle level (Northouse, 2010, p. 40).
B.Assumptions
A personal leadership philosophy incorporates a number of underlying assumptions that are important to the individual leader, and which may vary from those of other leaders. Assumptions for my personal philosophy development include the following. Leadership opportunities are open to all levels within an organization or team and informal or unassigned leadership from the middle can have a very positive impact on teams and outcomes. There is value to giving back professionally and contributing to the growth of the profession. My skill set and knowledge may change and expand over time, but the core professional skill set revolves around being a pharmacist. Recent efforts in the pharmacy community focus on expansion and clinical responsibility of pharmacists. Participating in key organization such as ASHP can contribute to the evolution of these and other pharmacy related initiatives.
Another assumption is that change is a constant variable and all leaders and teams must evolve with that change to succeed. Leaders must be open to that change and willing to re-look at established processes and preconceived approaches. Particularly in health care, regulations and expectations evolve quickly, without an approach allowing rapid assessment and change when needed, organizations will be challenged with meeting these changing requirement. Individual leaders may also experience this type of need for change in individual teams. I know my specific team has faced changes, and the ability to facilitate those changes is critical to the growth and sustainability of the leader. Anticipating, planning for, and adapting to change can also draw from the core values above. During change leaders must be creative, collaborative and supportive.
C.Beliefs
Because leadership is available and important at all levels, I can contribute and make a difference from an informal leadership position. I believe I have already done so, but there is greater opportunity, particularly given the journey of the Masters in Medical Informatics program. Transformational Leadership is one of numerous leadership theories and has been integrated into organizational approaches to leadership and systems improvement, including the Magnet nursing leadership approach (Wolf, 2012). This theory is defined by JM Burns as “a process whereby leaders and followers raise one another to higher levels of morality and motivation (Drenkard 2012, p. 148).” I have seen use of this type of principle in parts of our organization, although it is admittedly not universal. This approach appeals to me as it is based on the dynamics between leaders and followers and assertsthat progress and growth is a result of these interactions and relationships. These benefits are reaped by the leader, followers, teams, the organization as a whole and customers, or in health care, the patients. I feel there is great potential in this model and to incorporation of it into an overall leadership plan.
Change in our culture and in our organizations, and particularly in health care is occurring constantly and at a rapid pace. Teams will not be able to use the same tools and knowledge to reach the same outcomes over time. Leaders and teams must constantly review current state, progress, and future needs in conjunction with changes in the environment. For my role this is largely concerned with the changes in medication use, healthcare, healthcare regulations and new directions and accountabilities. Many of the topics covered in the Masters of Medical Informatics program have provided increasingly complex tools and skills to make these adjustments and provide leadership to others.
Healthcare and leadership within healthcare is comprised of numerous groups, including various professions. In many cases nurses and physicians represent a majority of these leaders, along with partners with purely technical or a combination of clinical and technical experience. Pharmacists often constitute a much smaller number in these groups. Pharmacists have some unique skills to lead to healthcare and Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) teams. We are experts on medications and their interactions with the patient’s or community’s health and can partner with physicians, other providers, nurses and patients to optimize medication use within the IT structure, including Electronic Health Records (EHR's). Most pharmacists in the field of Pharmacy IT find themselves in these positions as part of an accidental pathway. Very few of us have formal IT training and have grown with support from our respective organizations and vendors. Along with our unique knowledge set related to medications, IT pharmacists can also help provide a bridge between the clinical and the technical and in many cases have long standing relationships in place with other clinicians. I have thoroughly enjoyed this process and its challenges and look forward to growing more over time and taking on more challenges.
IV.Leadership Assumptions
A.Leadership Experiences
1.Positive
Positive leadership is based in part on openness, honesty, fairness, transparency, equal opportunities and vision. My current manager is truly the best leader I have reported to during my twenty year tenure at my organization. For approximately the first seventeen years I reported solely to the Pharmacy department. As my role in IT grew, that portion of my job was transitioned under our Information Services department and I currently have dual reporting with eighty percent of my job assigned to Information Services and the remaining twenty percent to Pharmacy in an online, clinical pharmacist position. My IT manager has provided a contrast to the management I had become familiar with. She is open, shares as much information as she reasonably can, encourages each of us to participate, and tailors her interactions with each of us to guide us and focus on what we need to move on and succeed. She has been open during some challenging organizational times with reorganizations and restructure, easing some of our fears. She has also helped each of us see and appreciate where the organization is going in the immediate and more distant future. My manager’s style is exemplary, but is also consistent other leaders in the IS division. The contrast to the management styles in my other reporting relationship has made her style stand out even more. My organization is likely similar to many others, where individuals are promoted from within. In the past the organization has not done an outstanding job of providing these newly appointed leaders with the tools to acclimate to and expand in that new role. Recently better emphasis has been placed on providing this training. I have found new leaders to be better prepared, and I am more able to learn from their experiences.