Collective Leadership: Remote Telemonitoring in Healthcare

This essay examines collective leadership in the healthcare sector, contrasting it with traditional hierarchical models. It highlights the benefits of collective leadership, such as improved decision-making, increased self-direction, and enhanced sustainability, using the author's experience with implementing remote telemonitoring for heart failure patients as a case study. The essay also addresses the challenges associated with collective leadership, including accountability issues and potential delays in strategy execution. To mitigate these challenges, the author suggests utilizing theories like Aligned Contributions and Kotter’s 8-step change process, along with the Shared Leadership Approach model. The importance of skills such as listening, responsibility, and communication are emphasized for fostering a collaborative and effective leadership environment within healthcare organizations. Desklib provides access to similar essays and study resources for students.

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 1
COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE
Student Name
Institution Affiliation
Facilitator
Course
Date

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 2
Introduction
Although leadership in most cases is taken as a responsibility of a single person in an
organization, the current development trends in the field of healthcare have appeared to change
the traditional model of leadership to treat leadership as a dynamic process that entails an
exchange of ideas between several actors who are embedded in a networked relationship beyond
a single leader. This is known as collective leadership and which has emerged to challenge the
traditional notion which bestowed leadership to a single person (Nica, 2015, p.118). It is a
perspective that embraces the fact that many people within an organization may lead, or that
structures, processes, and groups may exercise leadership to advance organization networks
towards a common goal.
Collective leadership is a process through which people gather to pursue a change
strategy in an organization. Through this leadership approach, participants are able jointly to
envision how an organization should be, shape their actions and decisions and focus their past
experiences and interactions to realize desired results. Collective leadership provides conditions
and increases the capacities to motivate group members and make them feel valued in
contributing to organization goals (Popescu and Predescu, 2016, p.273).
Recently I have participated in a joint team hosting a session on collective leadership
within the Alliance Non-Profit Leadership which entailed the implementation of remote
telemonitoring technology for heart failure victims. It’s through my participation in this context
that I realized championing for collective leadership is highly challenging. Also, I had an
opportunity to familiarize myself with the thornier side of this leadership approach as well as the
various ways on how to make it work within an organizational setting. For the purposes of our
meeting, we first defined collective leadership within the context of the organization. We

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 3
defined it as a shared leadership where authority and accountability would be broadly distributed
to enable more staff members to participate in the leadership of the organization (de Zulueta,
2016, p.1).
In consideration to the challenges which were expected after changing the organizational
structure, we also had to brainstorm on various ways through which the organization would
benefit from a shared leadership approach. We saw that collective leadership will open a room
for better decisions hence increasing the effectiveness of the organization leadership (Chreim and
MacNaughton, 2016, p.200). This was associated with the fact that there would be multiple
perspectives in any proposed agenda hence resulting in more effective decisions than when a
single person is entrusted with all decision made in the organization.
A collective decision is also expected to increase self-direction and motivation within the
organization. This would be an easy way of motivating different teams to come up with their
own solutions and have a focus towards own growth and development. This will also mitigate
the challenges commonly faced by managers related to resistance to changes or directives. Just
as young children are encouraged to be internally motivated and adopt a hardworking
mindset, managers can also motivate those around them (Günzel-Jensen, Jain and Kjeldsen,
2018, p.110). There will be a shared responsibility in all the projects undertaken in the
organization which reduces the chances of overworking a single manager unlike in the traditional
models where few people usually feel are burdened and often end up being highly exhausted
because everybody is turning to them. However, when responsibilities are shared, the pressure on
managers will be minimized because of the redistribution of responsibilities.

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 4
There will an increased engagement and investment. This is in consideration to the fact
that when leadership role is shared and cultivated, people will be engaged more as compared to
when one person has been bestowed with all the responsibilities. Following the sharing of
responsibilities, people will become more energized and hence push investment goals ahead.
This is because of the fact that people possess a sense of ownership goals which they helped to
create in one way or another and are always eager to see them turn into reality. Lastly, the
organization will realize sustainability (Grady, 2016, p.255). This is in consideration of the fact
that sustainability is often an elusive approach in absence of collective leadership. Also, if all
decisions in an organization are based on one person and unfortunately he or she leaves the
organization for greener pastures, dies or retires, the organization activities will definitely grind
to a halt. In contrast, under a collective leadership approach, organization activities will be
slightly adjusted and proceed smoothly.
The other aspect of sustainability will be its ability to sustain any changes or
improvements within the organization settings. A good example can be perceived in a quality
improvement initiative where the quality of check-up programs is the focus of change. If this
kind of change is steered by other people instead of doctors and nurses it is less likely to be
continued (Boak et al, 2015, p.332). However, when driven by a partnership between the doctors,
nurses and all those supporting the change, the possibility of it being sustained is very high. In
this dynamic of “power with” and “power over,” involving doctors and nurses in the
collaborative partnership will play a major role in leading the change process.
Although collective leadership is perceived as a simple and straightforward approach in
most cases, the bitter truth is that the approach is very complicated than the abundant and

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 5
oversimplified literature presented on collaboration (Muls et al, 2015, p.635). The simplistic
theories tend to mislead people that hierarchical and general approach to leadership challenging
while collaboration is simple. Well, the collaborative approach has helped in the development of
passion and engagement in many organizations but the accountability factor, as well as the clear
execution of strategy, has been a challenge in most of them.
In a collaborative leadership approach, the presence of many leaders and where each has
an authority to issue commands, whenever a mess occurs within the organization there has
always been a challenge of isolating the person responsible. This is in consideration of the fact
that people rarely admit their mistakes. In such scenarios, the problem resolution process is also
affected and that slows down the decision-making process within the organization setting
(Brewer et al, 2015, p.410).
In addition to slowing down the problem resolution process, the issue of accountability
puts an organization at the risk of losing its resources like money and other assets. This mainly
occurs in cases where one leader commits a crime and can’t be easily identified in consideration
to the fact that the organization leadership is done collaboratively. The organization in such a
case is wholly held responsible and if it’s a matter of fines or any other kind of penalty imposed
following the breach is paid by the organization (Willcocks and Wibberley, 2015, p.350).
In regard to the execution of organization strategies, most of the organizations face some
delays because consultations must be sought from all the leaders. This has been the source of
delayed strategy execution process and which comes with its own drawbacks. For instance,
delayed execution of strategies risks an organization being overtaken by its competitors hence
suffering an opportunity cost. Also, delayed execution of strategies may end up costing an

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 6
organization in terms of resources like money and other assets. A good example is where a
strategy to counter power loss within a hospital is delayed leading to the death of infants under
incubators. In such a scenario, the hospital is held responsible for compensating the mothers
which are a loss on the side of the organization. To remain focused on the execution of strategies
and accountability, the organization is expected to find a way of blending both concepts for it to
be fully networked and collaborative (Cullen-Lester and Yammarino, 2016, p.23). Also, the
obtaining the best of the teams’ innovation and creativity while maintaining focus and discipline
on the execution process is the best in both but establishing such a culture and environment has
always been a challenge.
Considering the fact that collective Leadership has proved to be a complex process and
which is often described as a “messy” process, several established theories and frameworks will
be followed as guidelines. The first theory will be the theory of Aligned Contributions. This
theory will act as the drawing board stipulating the contribution of each party in the attempts to
be made by the organization to achieve its desired results (Cullen-Lester and Yammarino, 2017,
p.33). This is in contrast to the traditional top-down approach which has had all powers bestowed
to the director of the organization making all the decisions for the organization. The aligned
commitment and coordination from all the participating partners will all play crucial roles in the
decisions made within the organization.
Whenever changes are required, the organization will adopt Kotter’s 8-step change
process, a model which was first introduced by John Kotter in Harvard business school and
which entails the use of eight-step sequence to collectively execute and manage changes.
Considering the fact that the leadership within the organization will be undertaken collectively,
the eight steps will always be put into place before any decision can be made (Acharya et al,

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 7
2017, p.2). The eight steps will be, creating a sense of urgency among the leaders, building a
guiding coalition among them, forming a strategic vision and initiatives collectively, enlisting a
volunteering team, enabling actions by removing the barriers, generating short term win goals,
sustaining acceleration and finally instituting the changes (Garland et al, 2018, p.71).
The Shared Leadership Approach model will also be used in managing the changes
into a collective leadership. This is in consideration to the fact that when leadership models
will change from individual model to a collective model, both the roles and the
responsibilities of the leaders will have shifted as well. Through this model, the best
approaches to be used in the sharing of leadership roles and responsibilities will be
followed in order to avoid any collisions which may result due to such a change. Conflict
resolutions will also be followed as stipulated in this model for the purpose of minimizing
collisions in the course of duty (Auffray et al, 2016, p.75).
Conversation is the main medium in a networked and collective leadership organization.
However, conversation approaches usually changes depending on the way people think, feel and
act and may end up changing the way leaders perceive each other in a collective leadership
model. This calls for some unique skills and abilities for the success of a networked and
collective leadership. For that matter, if an organization wishes to survive under the collective
leadership, it must understand some of the skills and abilities that will help it lead collectively
and in a conscious manner. Research has identified some skills and abilities each with its own
impacts but when to put together, they create a favorable climate in a collective leadership
approach.
Listening skills are paramount in a collective leadership model. This is in consideration
of the fact that leadership in this model takes place collectively and there are frequent

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 8
consultations and sharing of ideas between two or more leaders to whom leadership has been
delegated. To avoid unnecessary collisions and mismanagement, the leaders must possess
responsibility skills. These skills will enable each leader to act in a responsible manner and avoid
being careless which may land an organization into troubles. Communication skills are also very
important in this kind of leadership approach. This is in consideration to the fact that the
leadership is bestowed to more than one person and must be coordinated in such a way that
organizational goals are realized. This calls for communication from time to time in the course of
projects.
In the implementation of remote telemonitoring technology for chronic patients to
facilitate regular check-ups without necessarily visiting the clinic project, the first consideration
will be setting the objectives of the project which will act as the drawing board to regulate all the
activities to be undertaken within the course of this project. All the stakeholders taking place in
the course of the project will also be guided by the set objectives to ensure that all are moving
towards the same direction.
Setting the strategies for realizing the objectives will be the second phase of the
implementation process. Basically, the strategies will be used as guidelines on how to approach
the implementation process and to avoid collision between the teams. The systematic approach to
the implementation process will also be set at this point which will enable the participating teams
to work in a coordinated manner within different lines of duty and responsibilities.
Thirdly, the activities to be undertaken during the course of project implementation will
be outlined and each team involved in the implementation process assigned its line of activities
to avoid resource wastage as a result of a redundancy factor. Considering the fact that the teams

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE 9
will be working in a collaborative manner, division of labor will simplify the implementation
process as each team will be undertaking a distinct activity under strict coordination.
Each team will be allocated its own resources which will support its activities during the
course of implementation. This division of labor will simplify the implementation process
because each team is given the roles it can perform best in the project. Different people will be
selected from each team and given responsibilities to ensure that the teams are supervised and
lead in the right manner. The leaders selected from each team will also work in a collaborative
manner which increases the efficiency of the project. Lastly, each team will be given a
performance timeline to which success in the allocated duties will be evaluated to ensure that
they are on the right track and finally the results based on each team will be gauged to ensure
that the objectives are met.
References
Auffray, C., Balling, R., Barroso, I., Bencze, L., Benson, M., Bergeron, J., Bernal-Delgado, E.,
Blomberg, N., Bock, C., Conesa, A., and Del Signore, S., 2016. Making sense of big data in
health research: towards an EU action plan. Genome medicine, 8(1), p.75.
Acharya, B., Maru, D., Schwarz, R., Citrin, D., Tenpa, J., Hirachan, S., Basnet, M., Thapa, P.,
Swar, S., Halliday, S. and Kohrt, B., 2017. Partnerships in mental healthcare service delivery in
low-resource settings: developing an innovative network in rural Nepal. Globalization and
health, 13(1), p.2.
Boak, G., Dickens, V., Newson, A. and Brown, L., 2015. Distributed leadership, team working
and service improvement in healthcare. Leadership in Health Services, 28(4), pp.332-344.

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE
10
Brewer, M.L., Flavell, H.L., Trade, F. and Smith, M., 2016. A scoping review to understand
“leadership” in interprofessional education and practice. Journal of interprofessional care, 30(4),
pp.408-415.
Chreim, S. and MacNaughton, K., 2016. Distributed leadership in health care teams:
Constellation role distribution and leadership practices. Health care management review, 41(3),
pp.200-212.
Cullen-Lester, K.L., and Yammarino, F.J., 2016. Collective and network approach to leadership:
Special issue introduction. British Journal of Nursing, 24(12), pp.23-38.
Cullen-Lester, K.L., and Yammarino, F.J., 2017. Collective and network approach to leadership:
Special issue introduction. British Journal of Nursing, 24(12), pp.33-38.
Günzel-Jensen, F., Jain, A.K. and Kjeldsen, A.M., 2018. Distributed leadership in health care:
The role of formal leadership styles and organizational efficacy. Leadership, 14(1), pp.110-133.
Grady, C.M., 2016. Can complexity science inform physician leadership
development?. Leadership in Health Services, 29(3), pp.251-263.
Garland, J., Berdahl, A.M., Sun, J. and Bolt, E., 2018. The Anatomy of Leadership in Collective
Behaviour. Genome medicine, 8(1), p.71.
Muls, A., Dougherty, L., Doyle, N., Shaw, C., Soanes, L. and Stevens, A.M., 2015. Influencing
organizational culture: a leadership challenge. British Journal of Nursing, 24(12), pp.633-638.
Nica, E., 2015. Moral leadership in health care organizations. American Journal of Medical
Research, 2(2), p.118.

COLLECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTHCARE
11
Popescu, G.H. and Predescu, V., 2016. The role of leadership in public health. American Journal
of Medical Research, 3(1), p.273.
Willcocks, S.G. and Wibberley, G., 2015. Exploring a shared leadership perspective for NHS
doctors. Leadership in Health Services, 28(4), pp.345-355.