Rowitz On Leadership

In the 1940s, George Orwell wrote an essay entitled “Why I Write.” He stated that he knew he wanted to be a writer by the time he was six years old. He experimented with words throughout his childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood. He tried poetry, as well as stories. We write for many reasons. He argued that we write out of sheer egoism—i.e. we want to be seen as wise or clever. Second, we write because of the excitement of our language or to see our words on a page for posterity. We also write to create an historical record of our times. Finally, we write to make a political statement. A political purpose often enriches our writing by tying it to reality. Despite the political purpose of writing, Orwell in his 1946 essay on “Politics and the English Language” believed that “political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

In my blog posting for November 2009, I discussed my need to learn and my personal commitment to lifelong learning. All leaders need to make this commitment to themselves personally and to the people that they lead. Not only do I need to learn, I also need to write. Like Orwell, I have loved seeing my words throughout my life on paper and now in my books, articles, and on this blog. I wrote adolescent poetry during my teens, explored language in all those papers I wrote in college and in graduate school. Writing articles and books has been self-fulfilling for me. I feel that I am leaving a stamp on my professional culture and perhaps on my legacy. Writing allows me to explore the ideas of others as well as myself. Learning and writing have become part of who I am. Writing and learning help me to be a better teacher and coach to others. As a synergistic leader, I have been able to tie my own thinking to the thinking of others to hopefully create more than I started with. My students and my academic professional colleagues also enrich my thinking. In my practice work as a meta-leader, I learn and share with my professional and community partners.

The important message of this article is that I want to encourage others and especially other leaders to write as well. In public health, we do wonderful and important work. However, it is important for us to stop and smell the roses and take the time to document our good work. So many good ideas and programs are lost because we do not write about them. We often find that we constantly reinvent our best practices over and over again because of our lack of documentation through technical reports, articles, and books. Our writing is about politics, practice, and evidence-based inquiry. Here are a few guidelines for beginning the practice of writing:

1. Keep a leadership journal in which you jot down your ideas and thoughts about activities in which you are engaged
2. Set aside a designated time for writing. Begin with one hour a week and increase it to at least one hour a day if possible usually at the start or end of your workday
3. Write a first draft for ideas without a concern for spelling and grammar
4. Rewrite to improve style about once a week.
5. If needed, find a friend or colleague to read your work and make suggestions
6. Use social networks and other Web 2.0 tools to test and expand on your ideas with others

An interesting question is whether profiling works. These days, we seem to use profiling techniques to find everything from potential terrorists to murderers to people we feel will do a job best. The television show “Criminal Minds” is all about profiling. In his book WHAT THE DOG SAW, Gladwell questions profiling and its general utility. The question for my readers is whether we can profile the best and most effective leaders. The answer may be no. Your leadership skills are affected by the context in which those skills are utilized. If your approach to dealing with others is authoritarian and you enter an organization in which democracy prevails, your approach to governing that organization may be resisted. Trust will evaporate, and you will not be effective. People with strong skills will leave. You will tend to hire people who will go along with your authoritarian approach. The culture will change . The democratic organization will evaporate and the organization will no longer be the same. This does not mean that the organization will fail, but its creativity may wither and its successes be diminished. This organization needed a democratic leader. In this example, the context variable was ignored.

BUT WAIT. Something is not right here. I have profiled an authoritarian leader in a negative way. Not all authoritarian leaders or in fact democratic leaders are alike. It is true that some leaders are very command and control oriented. The context like for example a need to respond to an emergency will function best in a command and control organizational context. And yet, some authoritarian leaders are very paternalistic with much concern for the people who work for them. Although they feel most comfortable in a strong hierarchical organization, they will recognize the talents of their direct reports and promote them or give other forms of rewards. There are democratic leaders who will promote teamwork and collaboration, but retain all decision-making for themselves. They may or may not garner trust, but still lack the personal skills related to empathy.

In his many books on leadership, Blanchard and his colleagues argue that context is ever-changing. Leaders often need to vary their leadership style to fit the circumstances of different types of events. Organizations are not static. They change and expect their leaders to be flexible and also resilient. Leaders make decisions on their feet by pulling information from multiple sources, other leadership experiences, an understanding of the skills of others as well as an understanding of the culture in which they work, many different skill sets and tools, and be responsive to the communities that they serve. Leaders take these unique set of factors and synergistically put them together to create unique solutions to the many challenges facing their organizations and communities.

The fact that not all leaders are alike does not mean that there are not universal traits that seem to apply to all leaders. In my February 2010 posting, I listed a series of books that I would place on any public leader’s bookshelf. Many of these books address key leadership traits and skills that they find in most leaders. Many of the books selected for my 2009 and 2010 Book Club do the same thing. However, each leader uses their personal leadership strengths and skills in unique ways. The secret is in the interpretation and translation of these skills and traits which are affected by context into practice. Not all leaders do it the same way. Organizational and community culture are important filtering factors.

Over the last two decades, public health leaders and by extension human service leaders have struggled with the need to build the infrastructure of the public health and the human services system. Since the publication in 1988 by the Institute of Medicine of THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC HEALTH, the issue of the human services system and its infrastructure has been on the table. This article will address some of the building block issues related to strengthening the infrastructure of public health and other health and human services systems. First, the most important building block relates to people. Workforce development is a key building block. The education that each professional has before entering the human services arena is not sufficient over the long run. Lifelong learning and the ability to adapt to changing realities is critical to the future adaptability of the human services fields. Second, public health has spent the last twenty years promoting the core functions and essential public health services paradigm and has developed its programs on the basis of these core service dimensions. Strengthening the infrastructure of public health will require support for this service paradigm and the data systems necessary to support this paradigm. I would argue that this paradigm is applicable to most human services systems as well as to the emerging concerns related to emergency preparedness and response. A common language and governing paradigm are critical components for building infrastructure.

Third, it is important to assess the health of the people in our service areas on a regular basis so that our human services systems are more responsive to emerging health and mental health needs of the public. It is for this reason that the development of model service standards and assessment tools become important to a nimble public health and human services system. Public health leaders have pointed out to me over the years that assessment strategies have been a real strength of the public health system. Assessment as well as other epidemiologic techniques are also strong components of the human services system and its infrastructure. The fourth enhancement to infrastructure building is an increasing awareness that a performance management approach to organizational effectiveness and the various tools that measure performance are also important aids in strengthening our health service systems. Closely allied to performance measurement as a fifth factor is the incorporation of quality improvement methodologies into the culture of our human services and public health infrastructure. Leaders need to support this cultural shift. Another technique which is emerging as important for the improvement in quality of agency programs and services the community balanced scorecard methodology

Development of an accreditation system for local public health agencies creates a level of excellence as well as trust and credibility for public health. Recognition of the good work of public health raises public awareness as well. These standards of excellence for agencies also build infrastructure. A voluntary accreditation program for local health departments will be implemented in 2011. The seventh building block is closely tied to accreditation and that is certification. Certification refers to the individual and standards of excellence for the work of the public health professional. Certification can be tied to the field of practice of the individual as well as to evidence of management or leadership skills in practice Health administrator and Board of Health member certification would be beneficial to the successful direction of local public health and human services agencies. Accreditation informs us of the quality of the work of the agency and certification tells us how effective these professionals are in these quality organizations.

It is impossible to build infrastructure without well trained leaders. Most of our professional education programs do not include much if any management and leadership training. There are now a number of public health leadership programs to train health professionals in management and leadership. These programs explore the differences in the practice of leadership in governmental and not for profit agencies in contrast to business organizations. Leadership is a critical building block in infrastructure capacity-building. Finally, all of the above concerns need to be addressed if we want to reach more positive health outcomes. The effectiveness and efficiency of the work of our organizations needs to be measured against the successes of our work on health outcomes.

I have often been asked for book recommendation on leadership. It is an interesting question to contemplate what books I would want to see on the bookshelf of a public health or human services leader. Over the past six months, I have put together my baker’s dozen of titles which I would like to see every leader read. I am sure that each of you would add a few different titles. Here are mine.

1. Stephen Covey, THE SEVEN HABITS OF HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL PEOPLE. Covey is one of the most read of the leadership authors. This book has become a classic in its discussions of the seven habits of being proactive, oriented to end actions, dealing with important things first, having a win-win orientation, increasing understanding of other people’s positions, being synergistic, and oriented toward continuous improvement.
2. John Gardner, ON LEADERSHIP. The complexity of modern day events and increasing complexity of our organizations has pointed up the need for strong leadership. It is important that leaders understand the needs of the people they work with and the needs of people outside their organizations. Gardner explores these issues extensively in one of the most important leadership books in the field.
3. Peter Senge, THE FIFTH DISCIPLINE- This book lays the groundwork for the need for leaders to be systems thinkers. The archetypes of systems thinking is also developed.
4. Ronald Heifetz, LEADERSHIP WITHOUT EASY ANSWERS. By studying famous leaders, Heifetz explores leadership and what makes leaders succeed and sometimes fail. This book is the one that begins the exploration of adaptive behavior which Heifetz explores in later books like LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE.
5. James MacGregor Burns, LEADERSHIP- Burns, who is an historian has written an excellent book about the differences between transactional and transformational leaders.
6. Daniel Goleman, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE. Goleman is credited with being major voice in recognizing the importance of emotional intelligence skills for leaders. EI involves Self awareness and awareness of others.
7. John Kotter, LEADING CHANGE- This is an excellent book about change and how it works.
8. Ken Blanchard, LEADERSHIP AND THE ONE MINUTE MANAGER. The Blanchard books are all based on the idea that different situations require leaders to act in different ways. He uses stories to explain his leadership principles.
9. Edward De Bono, SIX THINKING HATS- This is one of my favorites. It presents a great tool for generating new ideas and solutions to old problems.
10. Bernard Turnock, PUBLIC HEALTH:WHAT IT IS AND HOW IT WORKS- This is the best book for leaders who want to understand how public health in the United States works.
11. James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, THE LEADERSHIP CHALLENGE- This is a very practical book that explores the five practices that make great leaders.
12. Max DePree, LEADERSHIP IS AN ART. This is a wonderful little book. Leadership is about ideas. It is about relationships and drawing your personal strength from others.. The art of leadership is trusting others to find the way to do things in the most effective and efficient manner. Servant leadership is very important.
13. Warren Bennis, and Burt Nanus, LEADERS– This classic book addresses such issues as the importance of character, ability to build organizations and systems, the importance of passion for work, need for a vision, ability to communicate, trust through positioning, and the ability to empower others. It was hard to choose between this book and Bennis’ ON BECOMING A LEADER

It would be interesting to see what books you would put on your bookshelf. The only challenge for me is that when this bookshelf was completed, I wanted to add a second bookshelf with other books. Reading about leadership is always a fun activity. That may be why, I wrote my books. In your comments, I hope you will add your favorite books.

During my holiday break and on my walks on the beach,  I have found my mind wandering to many different topics that will impact our leadership activities in the new decade.   In this New Year, I will share some of these important challenges for my leadership colleagues. First, we seem to be in an anti-intellectualism period in our history.   I remember the historian Richard Hofstadter  addressing this issue over fifty years ago.  I think this trend is worse today than it was back in the 1950s.   We seem to ignore science unless it fits our political philosophy.   We do not value education very much.  This is dangerous.   The status quo is not acceptable.   As a nation, we need to move forward.  It is through education, training, science and change that we can move ahead.  Investment in our future is critical.

Second, we are in a constant battle to maintain governmental and private funding for training our health workforce and  supporting bench and practice research activities.   We seem to spend so much of our valuable time on defending what we do.  Our country is in dire financial meltdown.   It will only be possible to grow if we continue to educate our children and ourselves, fund research to improve our health and mental health, and continue to improve the qyality of life of our population.  We seem to spend so much time writing our grants and then waiting months for a decision.

Third, we must address extremism in our society both from the right and the left.   The majority of our population will suffer is the extremists take control.   It is through collaboration and consensus that we grow.   We cannot let the extremists take over.   History has shown that extremism leads to decay and destruction.   We must find ways to use our leadership to build the future and not destroy it.  We cannot sit on the guidelines and wait.   We need to show that working together is critical.   We do not need the political right and left telling us no when positive change is suggested.

Fourth, we must get beyond the creativity gap.   Old ways of doing things limit our options.   Leaders need to be innovative and constantly search for creative ways to address the challenges in our society.  Creativity takes us beyond traditional problem-solving to new levels of thought and action. 

Fifth, Leaders must put people first.   Our growth must not put money first.  Health reform is humane and necessary.   Promoting the health of all our citizens is just the right thing to do whatever the cost. We talk much about the fact that we are a society with strong religious beliefs and orientations.  Yet, we forget this when we try to do things to improve our society through better health, education, and service.

Sixth, climate change is real.   We must stop making it a political issue.   We must pay attention to scientists and environmentalists.   The future of our planet requires it. We need to stop criticizing  leaders like Al Gore who are trying to get us to address our planet and do the right thing.

Seventh, a colleague of mine( Dan Swartzman) has stated that this is the 30th year of 1980.   The me generation and its followers seem to lack a concern for others.  The selfish gene seems to dominate our society.   We need to find ways to make us(the United States) our priority and not me, myself, and I.  We need to nurture our compassion, our concern for our children and grandchildren and our future.

Lastly, our society does not respect or value government work and workers.   These workers spend many hours each week in service to the residents of our communities and states.   They are often professionally trained and work fot salaries much below the private sectors.   Our teachers  must be included here.  Today, they are being forced to take furloughs in many states where our battling legislators refuse to address the service needs  and growing budget deficitis of our states and municipalities in a rational manner.  Government work needs to be valued.

These are a few of my reflections and thoughts as I walk the beach and prepare for my return to  the world of this new decade filled with hope, promise, and challenge.

In several blog articles , I have discussed meta-leadership in terms of where the perspective takes us in the future. In THE LEADERSHIP CHANGE TRIANGLE(Feb. 2009), I discussed the importance of reciprocity in the development of relationships inside and outside the public health agency. The article also discussed transformational leaders as those systems thinkers who are concerned about policy development, new applications of the systems perspective to change initiatives, and the importance of maintaining ethical standards in these change activities. In META-LEADERSHIP 2.0(April 2009), the issue of networks was discussed and the need to be aware that our partners are often embedded in a number of different network relationships. There is also a need to recognize the importance of the differences in culture in the organizations that our partners represent. Meta-leadership is also affected by the impact of the Internet on our activities. THE RURAL PUBLIC HEALTH SYNERGISTIC LEADER(June 2009) explored the issue of partnerships in small communities where large organizational entities do not exist and where leaders must develop skills to engage both community grassroots leaders as well as organizations to address community priorities in all sorts of public health initiatives. The meta-leader must develop into a synergistic leader who works to create new organizational models that are innovative and adaptive to the communities that they serve. The synergistic leader works to increase the value of the relationships built so that there is more that what was there at the beginning. In SILOS AND PARADIGMS(May 2009), I discussed the difficulty in working across organizational silos where governing paradigms increase barriers between these silos. Leaders become paradigm busters who redefine boundaries and remove barriers to change.

The concept of connectivity that is used by the proponents of meta-leadership simplifies complex relationships between partners. This may be partially due to the fact that the meta-leadership model was initially developed to explore relationship-building in a public health emergency environment. The future requires that we be able to move not only across silos but also across different public health challenges. Arthur Himmelman has argued that it is important to look at the building of relationships as moving from a form of networking to more complex collaboration. However, this clearly takes time to accomplish. Meta-leaders tend to become expert at building relationships across silos. Once connectivity occurs, the partners often address short term solutions to a crisis situation. Heifetz and Linsky in LEADERSHIP ON THE LINE(2002) stated that short term fixes do not change the system. It is long term change that is adaptive and that leads to transformation. Connectivity must not only involve relationship-building. The leader must be able to pull together a different set of leaders for transformational change. The synergistic leader sees beyond the gathering of the partners to the structures that will be needed to change systems for the better. Synergistic leaders understand complexity and how changing technology affects the models that are developed and the changes that are needed for communities to function at a higher level of adaptability. The types of connections that get created with given subsets of partners becomes an important part of relationship management needed by synergistic leaders. Perhaps we need to explore this more under the rubric of “connectivity connections.”

Connectivity connections are impacted by the commitment of other partners from within the silo or from organizations outside of the one of which you are a member. Even with the best of intentions, the leader may not be able to get other organizations or individuals to play the game. In addition, the levels of connectivity or the structures developed to contain the meta-leadership group may take the form of a coalition, an alliance(issue-oriented relationship) or a contractual partnerships(See Rowitz,2009, Chpt. 9). The life-span of the connectivity connection will also vary depending on the reasons why the connections exist.

Synergism is about the end product of the connectivity connections leading to value-added results. The synergistic leader understands systems and complex social relationships. Transformation guides these leaders from policy development to strategic implementation of these new transformational policies.

This posting is partially based on the American Public Health Association session on Silos and Paradigms, November 9,2009