The Emergency Budget and the Need For Effective Leadership

The press are becoming increasingly frenzied as they build up to the new coalition government’s emergency budget next week.

The news is  – cuts, deeper than ever, no-one gets out alive and the like.

There can be no doubt that the health service will be challenged, along with everyone else.  Resources will become increasingly stretched.  These are going to be testing times.  The question is; how are we, and our teams going to respond?

Many will be feeling despair and fear.  For many of us the spectre of work cuts might be very real.

The climate is ripe for self destructive behaviour.

People clamour to make themselves indispensible so that if the axe falls it will not fall upon them.  This in turn can lead to an individualistic approach which is ill suited to healthcare provision.  Organisations experience politicisation of teams, where individuals look to recruit alliances, mutual support and canvass for themselves and their chosen candidates.

Gossip, rumour and finger pointing can increase just as morale decreases.

And yet this is a time that calls for leadership on both an individual and a team level.

How will we discipline ourselves so that we do not fall into the above patterns of behaviour?

Will we get support?  Consider personal coaching or, at the very least, reading some books that might help – Stephen Covey’s 7 habits of Highly Effective People is a world leader.  If some of the contents seem cheesy and clichéd then that is only because it is the leading book in its field.  It is only cheesy in the same way that Romeo and Juliet is.

How we govern ourselves, in a responsible and principled fashion, will enable us to remain focussed upon our roles and goals as we travel through the turbulence ahead.

The qualities and skills we develop as individual position quite naturally to be considered for future leadership roles.  What is more, leadership is not only a question of appointment or job title.  It is a question of character, skills, restraint and behaviours.  Many of those can be learnt.

If you can keep your head and hopes, keep your dreams and orientation true, then you will keep heading in the right direction, come what may.  Hopefully you will take others with you, both colleagues and those we are providing services to.

If we can help with leadership, conflict or team communications training then please do get in touch with us at Harrison Training or speak to us at the conference next week.