1.6 Week 1 round-up

This week, you have been on a journey through a number of different ways of thinking about leadership, recognising that there is no simple definition of such a complex phenomenon, but rather a range of aspects and issues, which can each illuminate elements of your and others’ leadership behaviours. The overall purpose has been for you to clarify the kinds of leadership that are currently shaping the public services in general and the public sphere, and how particular services or teams within these are run. If you work in or with the public services, you should now have a better understanding of where you fit and the direction you want to set for your development during this course and afterwards.

Next week, you will investigate how leaders can better organise the work of their team and look at related resources to deliver or enhance public value. As an example, an NHS-commissioned review of the research literature – on the nature of leadership needed to meet current challenges in health services – led to the development of a model of 11 leadership ‘elements’ (things that people in senior roles need to be doing). These were organised under three main categories:

• to provide and justify a clear sense of purpose and contribution
• to motivate teams and individuals to work effectively
• to focus on improving system performance.

You can now go to Week 2 [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] .