Leadership and Effecting Change in Public Health

This article explores the role of leadership in effecting change in the healthcare sector, with a focus on a case study of a General Practitioner in Australia. It discusses the challenges faced by healthcare professionals and the importance of leadership qualities in driving transformation and community development. The article also includes a self-assessment tool for individuals to evaluate their own leadership capabilities and areas for improvement.

Running head: LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH
Leadership and Effecting Change in Public Health
Student’s Name
Institution

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 1
Leadership and Effecting Change in Public Health
Part I: Scenario of Helen
Leadership has unique applications in the healthcare sector and has found significant
impact in the healthcare sector. In Australia, nurses and healthcare workers play a crucial role in
effecting service delivery and helping affected patients. The Health Workforce Australia (2013)
has provided a framework for leaders working in the healthcare sector. The purpose of the
framework is to provide guidance and guidelines for nursing professions to follow and
participate in effecting change within society. Helen’s case, a 35-year-old General Practitioner
(GP) shows the role that clinicians can play in transforming and initiating change in their
respective societies. The advantage of serving in a challenging environment is that it prepares the
individual to play an active role in self-improvement while at the same time playing a role in
community development.
According to Health Workforce Australia (2013), Australian healthcare sector faces
significant challenges such as balancing increasing burden of chronic diseases, ensuring a
continuous focus on quality and safety medical service delivery, and ensuring sustainability and
continuous availability of healthcare workforce. Helen’s region is not immune on these
challenges. According to the case study, Helen has been tasked with the responsibility of
administering awareness and sensitizing residents in Warnambool on cancer and promoting
healthy of the population rather than targeting individuals. Helen’s role in Warnambool is a clear
indication of how nurses and general practitioners are faced with challenges in their respective
communities. Nevertheless, a person in Helen’s position deserves leadership qualities. Health
Workforce Australia (2013) has provided leadership framework for GPs like Helen and this
could play a significant role in transforming and helping society where she works.

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 2
Health Workforce Australia (2013) Australia recommends that all leaders should lead for
improvement. An analysis of Helen’s case indicates how leadership qualities could help her in
effecting change in her respective society and transforming the lives of people she serves. Health
Workforce Australia (2013) states that everyone owns leadership. When Helen is assigned the
responsibility to work in Warnanbool, one expects that she will use her skills to effect change
because she owns leadership It is for this reason that she is expected to become an influential
public health leader in her society and community at large. In spite of this requirement as
explained in Health Workforce Australia (2013), the community which Helen is expected to lead
appears skeptical of her role in community and views her as a young person with questionable
leadership skills. According to the case, Helen is expected to participate in health promotion,
finding the suitable resources for the community, finding disease prevention interventions, and
finding suitable resources that could help in transforming her community.
According to Algahtani (2014), leaders are expected to be creative and think critically to
tackle the challenges they face in their respective positions. Even though the society in Helen’s
environment is skeptical of her leadership qualities, one cannot underestimate the fact that she
has to be an active agent of change in transforming society and the people she is serving. Health
Workforce Australia (2013), developing capable leaders builds health leadership capacity. One
cannot underestimate the impact of this strategy when one explores the role of Helen in the
community she is assigned to lead. It is evident that Health Workforce Australia is determined to
develop and empower young leaders by placing them in challenging positions. According to the
case, Helen is expected to compile a report at the end of her service to show what she has done to
the community. Indeed, it is for this reason that she is contemplating teleconsulatations and
telesurgery with the goal of improving service delivery to her community.

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 3
The goal of Health Workforce Australia is to develop people-focused leaders. Helen’s
position at Warnambool is to equip her with relevant skills and develop her existing skills by
prepring her for future leadership role in the community. The Health LEADS Australia which is
a national approach is a transforming initiative intended to transform society while at the same
time preparing a community of social leaders that are prepared to play a continuous leadership
framework. The LEAD framework intends to prepare leaders to lead themselves, engage others,
achieve outcomes, drive innovation, and shape systems. It is evident from the role that Helen is
playing in Warnambool that she is performing in accordance to this framework. She is working
as a GP and she has to lead herself while at the same time leading others. She is also supposed to
engage community and her co-workers in effecting change. In the end of her service, she is
expected to compile a report that shows her achievements or outcomes for what she has done for
the Warnambool community. As a driver of change, Helen is thinking about the teleconsultations
and telesurgery to mitigate the challenges that the community faces. It is expected that she will
have an impact on shaping systems if she successfully drives and implements change in her
assigned roles and responsibilities.
According to Health Workforce Australia (2013), LEADS is a point of reference for all
professionals working in any setting. If Helen is aware of this framework, then she will not be
detracted with what the community views on her role and duty in the society. Consider for
instance, where the society views her as young and inexperienced in driving change in her
assigned position. While one would expect that the task is too much for her, LEADS will act as
an empowerment tool by showing her what she is supposed to do for herself and the community
she is serving. This is an example of leadership strategy explained in Elton (2016). Saravo,
Netzel, and Kiezewetter (2017).explains that leaders are always a “work in progress.” Helen is

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 4
an example of a work in progress because she will keep learning and developing relevant skills
throughout her service at Warnambool. As a leader of people and personal leader, Health
Workforce Australia (2013) expects that Helen will have developed sufficient leadership skills to
lead self and lead her subordinates in any leadership position that she will be assigned to serve.
Part II: Leadership Self-assessment Tool
I undertook the leadership self-assessment test with the goal of understanding my
leadership capabilities and whether I am ready to serve in a challenging environment. The tool
was obtained from the National Health Service UK (2012). The tool serves the purpose of
delivering quality healthcare service to patients in the healthcare setting. I completed all the
seven sections of the tool. In the first section, I scored five in the first column which is for
demonstrating personal qualities. The Harvard Business Leadership (2017) explains that good
leaders have to demonstrate personal values when working with others. Additionally, Sarto, and
Veronesi (2016) emphasize the need for leaders to always evaluate their skills with the goal of
identifying the need for improvement. I agree with the scores I obtained in this section because
they are a reflection of who I am when it comes to service delivery and when I am working with
others. I often exhibit self-awareness, acting with integrity, and managing myself even when I
am managing others. I am also concerned with personal development. When I am free, you will
find me in the library YouTube reading and contemplating on motivational speeches. I want to
become better every day because I understand that a leader is a work in progress.
I was surprised with the scores I obtained in the section of working with others. I
expected to score everything green, but I had five greens and three yellows. I think that the tool
provided true results because I have not been good when it comes to being a team player.
Sometimes I find it difficult balancing individual interests with group interests, especially when

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 5
working with people of diverse cultures. I did not have a green score in the section of working
with teams. This indicates that I should work on improving myself and develop team leadership
qualities that could help me become a better person.
The section of managing resources showed that I am not a good manager. I scored three
greens, four yellows, and one red. This is not surprising because I understand how I have often
failed to manage a few resources that have been placed under my care. Nevertheless, I found that
I am good at managing services. I had seven greens in this section and one yellow. I obtained the
same scores in the section of setting direction. The scores in these three sections reflect who I am
and what I have been working towards achieving in the past. In the sixth section of the tool, I
also scored seven greens and one yellow. I am a visionary leader that will always operate within
a defined framework. I always have vision for the team I lead and those that seek my service. I
was, however, surprised that I need to improve on the last section where I had four greens, two
yellows, and two reds in the section of strategic planning. I think that these results do not
contradict my leadership skills and abilities. I have often struggled with strategic planning and
hardly find it easy delivering strategies for the teams I lead. I am glad that the tool helped me
identify my strengths and areas of weakness.
Reflection on myself in Helen’s Leadership position
Leadership in nursing entails overcoming challenges and developing opportunities to help
others (Sonia and Cummings (2017). The leadership self-assessment tool has helped me identify
some of my strengths and how I could fit in Helen’s position. Considering that I am a determined
person who can lead and effect change in any given environment, I think that I could serve in
challenging environments similar to those of Helen. However, there are some of the changes that
I will have to make to my leadership style and qualities in order to fit in the environment. One of

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 6
the key areas of improvement will be to address the team leadership qualities. It is evident from
my scores in team leadership that I will struggle delivering the mission and vision that I could
have when serving the community in Warnambool. As a team leader, it could be possible if I
addressed the limitations of team leadership exhibited in my scores. Anandaciva, Ward,
Randhawa, and Edge (2018) explain that nurse leaders are always prepared towards working to
improve themselves. To address the limitations that I have identified in the second section above,
I think that the following action plan will help me become a team leader.
Area of weakness Action Plan
Goals
Measurement of
Success
Target Date Evidence of
Achievement
Personal Values To become better
in ethical
qualities July
2019
Academic
performance in
humanity
disciplines
20 July 2019 Self-satisfaction
from what I do,
positive
comments from
friends and co-
workers
Working with
others
To become better
in creating and
managing
relationships
with co-workers
by Aug 2019
When I increase the
number of friends,
when I increase
networking skills,
when I perform
better in building
relationships and
nurturing others.
10 Aug. 2019 Self-satisfaction
from what I do,
positive
comments from
friends and co-
workers, positive
feedback from
friends and

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 7
people around.
Managing services
To develop and
nurture skills and
techniques of
managing
services by Nov.
2019
(McDonald,
2014).Becoming
responsible when
handling tasks,
deliver safe and
effective services,
support team
members in
carrying out their
responsibilities and
empowering them,
use feedback when
working with
colleagues and
patients
10 Nov. 2019
Self-satisfaction
from what I do,
positive
comments from
friends and co-
workers,
satisfaction from
my patients,
positive
complements
from co-workers
Summary and Conclusion
This exercise has helped me identify how leadership can be a positive while at the same
time a challenging experience. I thought that I am a competent leader, but after taking the
leadership self-assessment test, I realize that there are areas of weaknesses and gaps that have to
be addressed. Leaders are supposed to stay committed and focused on improving themselves and

LEADERSHIP AND EFFECTING CHANGE IN PUBLIC HEALTH 8
others. From my performance in the leadership self-assessment tool, I think I have a lot of work
to do to address my limitations. I have taken the responsibility of addressing the weaknesses I
have identified through this exercise. I believe that the action plan I have developed will help me
and prepare me to become an active and efficient leader in the area of my specialty. .

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