Karlene Kerfoot

The People Side of Transformations

All leaders in health care today are charged with the responsibility of transforming present practices into new and different ones that are needed for the future. The structural side of transforming is ultimately easier than the human side. However, the most frequent failures come from not concentrating sufficiently on the behavioral side of the change. Structural and psychological change must occur simultaneously and embrace each other for best results.

Leadership: Believing in Followers

The only hope for ongoing vitality in an organization is the willingness of a great many people scattered throughout the organization to take the initiative in identifying problems and solving them. Without this, the organization becomes inert, maladaptive, and descends into entropy. When leaders demonstrate, by their words and actions, that they truly believe that everyone in the organization is capable of taking on leadership activities, the organization and its people thrive and survive.

Management Is Taught, Leadership Is Learned

Management can be taught. Leadership must be experienced to be learned. The great leaders have evolved their abilities through on-the-job experiences that prepare them to lead by a variety of successes and failures. The quicker you get started on this journey to leadership, the more time you will have to build a legacy of positive outcomes. The patient care unit manager is a very valuable person. However, we need many more leaders who can think out of traditional boxes, lead people enthusiastically into the new world of health care, and transform our profession and the health care system to more effectively meet the health needs of our society. The best we can do is to empower people to start this journey of leadership early and seriously in their careers.