Leadership Frameworks Strengthen Healthcare Leadership Development

Leadership frameworks are powerful tools in the healthcare leadership development classroom or mentor relationship. We explore why leadership frameworks are valuable, what they do, and how teachers and learners of leadership development can apply them to sustain learning.

Why leadership frameworks matter

Leadership frameworks are potent additions to leadership development plans. Frameworks provide clarity by defining the capabilities or skills required by leaders. They enable budding leaders to identify gaps in their current repertoire, and to focus learning plans on specific areas to improve. For participants in formal leadership development programs, frameworks guide curricula. Healthcare-specific leadership development frameworks are particularly valuable to healthcare leadership learners.

What different leadership frameworks do

Healthcare leadership learners have access to an abundance of health-specific frameworks to guide their development. Examples include the Canadian LEADS Collaborative’s LEADS framework, the British National Health Services’ Healthcare Leadership Model, and the Healthcare Leadership Competency Model from the American National Centre for Healthcare Leadership. Whether they are deemed frameworks or models, all have common elements. They describe the building blocks required for leaders to effectively influence others to achieve desired results. Some frameworks focus on minimum required skills to manage effectively. Others, including LEADS, focus on an ascending set of capabilities to which leaders can aspire even if not all want to achieve them. Frameworks help learners identify targeted areas to develop as they improve their leadership capabilities. The selection of framework to use in learning or the curriculum depends on desired learning outcomes.

Fostering learning by role modeling leadership frameworks

One of the most persuasive ways to teach leadership is to role model the consistent use of a leadership framework. Credible, authentic leaders match their actions to their words. They bring their chosen leadership framework to life by demonstrating its capabilities at every contact with their learners. They candidly call themselves out when they find their behaviour is not congruent with their chosen framework. For example, I role model LEADS framework capabilities with my community college leadership learners by listening attentively, by fostering effective teamwork, and by encouraging systems thinking through questions and stories. And if I happen to interrupt someone while they speak, or do something to stifle innovation, I call attention to it, and use it as a teachable moment to contrast my behaviour with the capabilities identified in the LEADS framework. Teacher role modeling of effective leadership framework is a vital adjunct to having leadership learners demonstrate application of the framework.

Sustaining learning by letting learners live the frameworks

Learners developing their leadership capabilities must live their chosen framework’s capabilities themselves. Teachers or mentors developing leadership curricula and learning experiences can ensure such opportunities arise repeatedly throughout their teaching. Building a teamwork component into assignments provides a rich opportunity for debriefing about the experience and identification of leadership capability strengths and gaps. Sharing theory on leadership and management functions such as influence, strategy development, budgeting, and leading change can engender discussion on how the framework’s capabilities contribute to these activities. Much as repeating a vision again and again can foster its achievement, tangibly tying the framework to learning activities and role modeling it at every opportunity contributes to learner understanding of why and how to apply new leadership capabilities.

Leadership frameworks are assets to leadership development curricula and learning plans. They focus learning towards specific outcomes by enabling the identification of gaps, and building blocks to leadership. Frameworks are best learned when they are role modeled and lived by all participants in the learning environment.

Sue LeBeau has been teaching leadership development to healthcare professionals for over two decades