Personal strengths and limitations in clinical healthcare leadership

¶ … Clinical Leadership in Health Care Settings

Effective leadership in any organizational setting is a key to success, and the health care industry is certainly no exception. To help identify opportunities for improvement, this paper provides an analysis concerning the author's perceived strengths and limitations while serving in a clinical leadership capacity within the health care field. An assessment of traits and attributes that are regarded as important for "success" and the rationale in support of their selection is followed by an individualized definition of "success" and how it can be measured. Finally, a discussion concerning ways to enhance professional skills during my career is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

Review and Discussion

Although more experience will be required, one of my main strengths is the ability to interact with other health care professionals in a courteous, intelligent and meaningful way. While every organizational setting is unique, there are some strengths that have been consistently shown to contribute to effective clinical leadership, including these "people skills" that are characteristic of charismatic and transformational leaders (McMurray, 2007). Because numerous disciplines are involved in tertiary health care settings, this strength is an important component of effective clinical leadership (McMurray, 2007).

Other personal strengths that contribute to being an effective clinical leader include my sense of humor which has proven its value time and again in helping to defuse tense and difficult situations as well as my commitment to hard work, diligence, teamwork and cooperation. In addition, honesty is always the best policy in a health care setting and this is another personal strength. A skills audit indicates that there are some limitations to my current skill set, though, that detract from my ability to lead effectively, including most especially a lack of hands-on professional experience as an administrative clinical leader.

One of the constraints to identifying traits and attributes that are regarded as effective clinical leadership is the paucity of a timely and universally accepted definition. In this regard, Mannix and Wilkes (2013) emphasize that, "Effective clinical leadership is offered as the key to healthy, functional and supportive work environments for health professionals. However, as a concept it lacks a standard definition and is poorly understood" (p. 10). Despite this lack, there have been some traits and attributes that have been consistently associated with effective clinical leadership that can identify individual resources, including goal setting, motivating and supporting others to work towards mutually agreed-upon objectives (Mannix & Wilkes, 2013). In addition, research has shown that effective clinical leadership also involves a good sense of self-knowledge, self-awareness, and centeredness as well as the ability to manage the stressors that are inherent in health care settings in order to maintain good health and mental acuity (Garms, 2013).

One of the most straightforward ways of measuring leadership success in the health care field is its impact on clinical outcomes. For instance, as Balik (2011) points out, "To benefit those who entrust to us their care, we fulfill our promise of patientcentered, safe, effective, efficient, timely, and equitable health care services" (p. 111). From a personal perspective, improved clinical outcomes could also be regarded as a successful outcome, but there will also be individual aspects that will weigh in the measure, including the extent to which personal and professional goals have been achieved and the prospects for success in the future. Furthermore, personal success can also be related to individual satisfaction with the work being performed. When people enjoy their work, they will likely feel more successful irrespective of many of these other considerations.

To help overcome my existing limitations, I intend to continue my higher education to acquire the knowledge and expertise needed to become the most effective clinical leader possible. In addition, attendance at in-services and staff training and development opportunities will also help me overcome my existing limitations (Manderscheid, 2009). Finally, specific coursework in developing transformational leadership skills and interorganizational partnering will provide me with the tools and background I need to become a more effective clinical leader in the future.