** This article is the fifth in a series on health leadership during the pandemic and is informed by nearly two years of national and international research studies by the Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL).

By Jaason Geerts

The landscape of leadership development is resettling after the seismic shift that began in the early months of 2020. During the pandemic, most formal development programs have been canceled or postponed, in favour of crisis response and recovery. Two years of real-time, on-the-job, in completely unfamiliar circumstances, trial-by-fire also present an enormous opportunity to consolidate leadership development and advance systems transformation.

Trends in leader and leadership development

The Canadian College of Health Leaders (CCHL) has observed several consistent trends thus far during the pandemic.

Individual leader development

Demand for support and development from individual leaders has spiked, especially given the general hiatus on formal leadership initiatives. Desired programming has included:

• micro-learning on targeted and timely topics – what tools will help me with my patients or staff tomorrow?
• our Community for Practice (called The Circle) that people can access at their convenience and engage with others
• peer discussion formats in a psychologically safe space where participants can share experiences cathartically, be vulnerable confidentially, find reassurance that other intelligent, competent leaders are also having difficulties, and exchange examples of what appears to be working at their institution (best practices). Many executives have gravitated to this format, grateful to connect with colleagues facing similar pressures
• executive coaching and mentors on demand, particularly external to the organization
• earning the Certified Health Executive (CHE) credential, which validates the importance of leadership and value of evidence-based development. 

Leadership development across departments and organizations

Although much has been on hold, some organizations have managed to introduce the following programs:

• structured forums with senior or executive teams (SLT/ELT) to devise a leadership plan to achieve strategic priorities, especially in light of the shifted organizational context
• formally debriefing pandemic lessons among leaders and staff at all levels to contribute to service and system improvements, increase staff engagement, and decrease turnover and absenteeism
• think tanks featuring a brief presentation, followed by small group discussions and full group summaries. Topics include leadership learnings, health HR, burnout, pandemic lessons, and innovation
• 360 assessments and aggregate reports that provide individuals and organizations with a snapshot of key strengths, areas for improvement, and the dispersion across levels of leadership for the sake of self-awareness, succession planning, and leadership development
• building internal capacity by training and licensing those who can develop and lead programs internally.

HR/OD Think Tank

The remainder of this article is informed by a recent Think Tank hosted by CCHL for healthcare HR/OD professionals across Canada. Participants were asked, “What training, development, or support do leaders in your organization need most in the next 6 months?”

The two priority populations mentioned were executives and new managers. 360’s and succession planning were cited as priorities for executives. Topics for new managers included business acumen, emotional intelligence, leading remote teams, navigating change, and establishing a just culture.

Keys to success

To develop leadership capacity, the key success factors that emerged were:

• Outcomes-based (i.e., expectations of tangible results)
• Relevant (that it’s clear to participants why now)
• Contextualized and personalized
• Multi-modal, varied, and flexible

Leadership Development Priorities for 2022

With an eye to 2022, five leadership development priorities should be on every VP people’s radar.

1. Emergency preparedness, strategic foresight, and adaptability

It is vital that organizations ensure that they have capacity and training to manage future pandemic waves and crises. To maximize the learning, preparing for emergencies should include anticipating future trends and opportunities through strategic foresight exercises and a focus on becoming a highly adaptable organization.

2. Promoting and training diverse leaders to advance strategic priorities in the endemic context

Leader turnover has been seemingly incessant and much more is expected shortly, which is an opportunity to select replacements who have the capabilities and potential to lead in and beyond the endemic context. HR and executives should actively pursue ideal candidates with a priority on diversity.

3. Increasing the efficiency of high-quality care using available resources

The urgency of the pandemic response has forced creative innovations, collaborations, and ways of leading. Now, as we face the massive service backlog with a depleted workforce, it is critical to discuss how to optimize efficiency without sacrificing quality or staff wellbeing. This involves ‘getting to no’ – making hard decisions about what should be cut or managed elsewhere to devote most attention to the vital imperatives.

4. Prioritize diversity

Talent management, including succession planning and training, should prioritize qualified diverse candidates in terms of selection committee participation and development program participants and faculty.

5. Develop the culture of a leadership organization

A “leadership organization” elevates the concept of a learning organization exponentially by respectfully enabling staff at all levels. It involves embedding the importance of leadership into the organizational DNA and integrating common leadership language in all HR/OD functions: job descriptions, selection criteria, performance evaluations, etc.

These organizations aren’t handcuffed by stagnation or excessive bureaucracy, nor are they haunted by the ghosts of brilliant ideas that never had a chance to find flight. All staff are encouraged to innovate at their discretion without requesting permission, in alignment with organizational values and priorities. Outcome data are measured transparently and some failures are expected, but staff are accountable to the overall, not the every time. The result of this culture? Continuous and quantum improvement is a natural expectation and consequence organization-wide.

Conclusion

The defining question for health leadership in 2022 is whether systems want to operate or optimize? (The latter includes performing surgical procedures). This deplorable trial-by-fire for leaders has generated incredible lessons that are available on request, which, if actioned and resourced, could improve our work and healthcare provision, as well as igniting transformations and culture shifts to become leadership organizations. This is the way forward.

Dr. Jaason Geerts, PhD, is Director of Research and Leadership Development at the Canadian College of Health Leaders.