Thanks to Dr. Bob Augustine for this invitation. Also, thanks to the members of this forum who have decided to discuss the critical topic of leadership.
By way of introduction, I am an SLP and I have worked in health care settings and academics over the course of my long (Im old!) career. Currently I am the Provost (Chief Academic Officer) at the MGH Institute of Health Professions, a graduate school in Boston. I oversee faculty, curriculum, research, and programs for 1600 students in a variety of health disciplines (including SLP). I have the good fortune to think, discuss, and debate issues of leadership almost every day.
A few years ago, I had the chance to give a leadership workshop for the Texas SLH Association. In preparing for that talk, I did a lot of reading and self-reflection and concluded that there were six skills that strong leaders needed to develop: Communication, Relationship Skills, Innovation, Management Skills, Guidance and Directing Skills, and Professional Competencies in the Discipline. I proposed that these skills, which are all used in clinical practice, could be generalized to a variety of professional contexts beyond the clinic. I developed a self-assessment tool that those in attendance could use for reflection on their own leadership competencies. Not surprisingly, in the workshop we found that as a group, the SLPs and audiologists reported strength in communication, relationship, management, and disciplinary (clinical) skills and knowledge. Skills in innovation and in guidance were more challenging for these professionals. Interestingly these skills tended to be highly developed in the clinical setting with a client, but for this group it was challenging to think about applying innovation or guidance skills when working with peers, with those they supervised, or larger groups or systems. Over time, I have become increasingly convinced that this short list of skills can be useful in developing leadership.
For today, I ask that you think about Innovation for a moment. Innovation involves the introduction of "another way" or a variety of alternatives to achieve a desired outcome. It requires simultaneous focus on the outcome (Ask: what am I trying to achieve?) and one or more possible paths to arrive there. It also requires the ability to think beyond the limits of a current situation, perhaps testing the limits or tolerance for change (Ask: What is in my way?). If you can think of a particular challenge that needs attention in your work life, and can identify a desired goal, you might want to generate a variety of alternative approaches to arriving at the goal. That is the basic principle of innovation. The challenges come when obstacles are identified and need to be modified in order to meet the goal. I challenge you to think about a particular challenge and generate alternatives to achieving them. Done well, this will challenge your creativity and vision, and will require you to reconsider assumptions (and rules!). The process can be a bit uncomfortable, but it can lead to great solutions! In general, balancing the need for innovation with the need for organization and management skills is a real leadership challenge! Despite the challenge, this balance is essential for good leaders.
Regardless of title, I believe every member of our discipline is called to learn to lead. In many cases, small acts of leadership are the most important and the most impactful. Think of the audiologist who advocates for insurance benefits for their client, the SLP who rearranges schedules to see one more patient who needs attention. Imagine the professor who bravely confronts issues of honesty and integrity in her classroom. Think of the ways that clinicians use their skills to influence practice, advance interprofessional practice, lead improvement projects, honor accomplishments of others, and manage conflict to improve quality of care. Consider the busy clinician who agrees to chair an important committee. Stepping away from the day to day in order to benefit others or advance the field requires leadership. Some of the most challenging leadership decisions involve using courage and intellect to speak truth to those in power.
------------------------------
Alex Johnson
MGH Institute of Health Professions
Boston, MA
------------------------------