Leadership in Action

Webinar November 2016

TO BE USED WITH PERMISSION ONLY

What is Leadership?

• Definitions

– Adaptive Leadership

– Relational Leadership

– Collective Leadership

• The NSW Health

Leadership Program

A different framing: Leadership as

a Relational and Adaptive Practice The focus of leadership action can generally be categorised as:

When to use Leadership Action?

• In situations without

a known solution

• Challenges that

also known as

‘wicked problems’

Leadership action is messy!

Observation

Intervention

Engaging in leadership action

• Challenging the status quo

• Challenging deeply held beliefs

• Generating disequilibrium

• Creating uncertainty

• Increasing levels of discomfort

• Bringing to the surface legitimate

but competing commitments

• Acknowledging that people in

positions of power will not provide

answers or solutions.

Change

and

Innovation

Adaptive Leadership (Heifetz/Linsky 2002)

Technical Problems

• Easy to identify

• Often lend themselves to quick and easy

solutions

• Often can be solved by an authority or

expert

• Require change in just one or two places;

often contained within organisational

boundaries

• People are generally receptive to technical

solutions

• Solutions can often be implemented quickly

– even by edict.

Adaptive Challenges

• Difficult to identify (easy to deny)

• Require changes in values, beliefs, roles,

relationships and approaches to the work

• People with the problems do the work of

solving it

• Require change in numerous places; usually

cross-organisational boundaries

• People often resist even acknowledging

adaptive challenges

• ‘Solutions’ require experiments and new

discoveries; they can take a long time to

implement and cannot be implemented by

edict.

Zone of disequilibrium diagram

Reframing the challenge (Heifetz & Linsky 2009)

TECHNICAL ADAPTIVE

BENIGN

INDIVIDUAL SYSTEMIC

CONFLICTUAL

How to reframe

• Notice when people are moving to the left

• Question the default interpretation

• Generate multiple interpretations

• Observe what is going on

• Audition your ideas (Heifetz & Linsky 2009)

Identifying an Adaptive Challenge

Type or Concept Identifying flag

Persistent gap between aspirations

and reality

• The language of complaint is used increasingly to describe

the current situation

Responses within current repertoire

inadequate

• Previously successful outside experts and internal

authorities unable to solve the problem

Difficult learning required

• Frustration and stress manifest

• Failures more frequent than usual

• Traditional problem solving methods used repeatedly

without success

New stakeholders across

boundaries need to be engaged

• Rounding up the usual suspects to address the issue has

not produced progress

Longer time frame necessary • Problem festers or reappears after short term fix is applied

Disequilibrium experienced as

sense of crisis starting to be felt

• Increasing conflict and frustration generate tension and

chaos

• Willingness to try something new begins to build as

urgency becomes widespread

Identifying the technical and

adaptive workplace challenges

Some possible examples:

• Hand washing

• Completion of discharge

summaries

• Email etiquette

• Privacy and confidentiality →

corridor conversations

Leadership action is messy!

Observation

Intervention

Individual Leadership Challenge

A patient presents to their GP with high blood pressure:

Technical solutions Adaptive solutions

• Prescription of anti-hypertensive

medication

• Medication

• Diet

• Exercise

• Stress management

What is

our

current

reality?

What is

our

preferred

future?

What is

our

current

reality?

What is

our

preferred

future?

Personal Mastery

Not enough tension –

little or no

improvement

Too much tension –

stress, burnout

Collective Leadership (The Kings Fund, May 2014)

• Current and future leadership – at all levels – shapes organisational culture

• A collective leadership approach must be endorsed from the top e.g. the board

• Collective leadership means everyone taking responsibility for the success of the

organisation as a whole

• Embed the development of leaders within the context they are working in

• Collective leadership needs focus on continual learning and improvement of patient

care through dialogue to achieve shared understanding about problems and

solutions

• All staff need to adopt leadership roles in their work and take individual and

collective responsibility. There should be a constant focus on nurturing leadership

and culture.

HETI Leadership Unit

(02) 9844 6551

HETI-LeadershipUnit@health.nsw.gov.au

www.heti.nsw.gov.au