Rowitz On Leadership

Over the last twenty years, I have probably read over a thousand books on leadership and management. A large number of these books present theories about what leadership is and how it works. Many leaders have embraced one theory, combination of theories, or their own theory about leadership and how they practice it . As these theories are examined (see a sample of well-known books that present differing approaches in my February 2010 posting entitled A LEADERSHIP BOOKSHELF), it becomes useful to try to determine the essential skill of successful leaders. To complicate this task, let’s limit the essentials to the five most important skills:

(1)Knowledge with the intelligence to use it- leaders are bombarded with new information on a daily basis from new health data statistics, new public health technical reports, new funding opportunities, and new demands for service based on emerging threats or program emphases. All this new information has to be translated into the context of public health and the governing paradigms that drive public health action.

(2)Empathy and motivation of others- Leaders have learned that the technological expertise that brought them into public health careers has become secondary to their relationships with colleagues and external partners. Leaders struggle to develop the social skills necessary to be an effective leader who is able to collaborate with others with ease. This set of basic skills has come to be called emotional intelligence in recent years.

(3)Risk-taking with action and follow through-leaders need to not only be visionary and creative, they need to be able to take risks and to get their ideas translated into action with well-defined projected outcomes. Every new vision or creative idea has a potential risk associated with it. Many people including colleagues are fearful of change. Risk-taking is the attempt to change the status quo and move in new directions.

(4)Ability to communicate at many different levels- Leaders have to learn to communicate both verbally and in writing. They need to listen to others carefully. They may also have to communicate cross-culturally or to others who do not speak their native language. They need to be able to communicate through the Internet. Social networks can become critical to their work. Most leaders are excellent at using real life events to show how their theories work. They can also be excellent storytellers.

(5)Systems thinkers with an understanding of how complexity impacts their work- leaders understand that they need to concentrate on the big picture. They look at their agency as a whole organization with interacting parts. They see their agency in the context of a whole community. They understand that most of their work is about upsetting the status quo in order to change things for the better. Public health leaders think about the population and how to improve the health of everyone in their geographic jurisdiction. They also understand that the best plans may still lead to unanticipated consequences.

All the other leadership skills that are described by the many leadership writers and by leaders themselves grow out of these five basic leadership skills.