How Can We Build Health Leaders? - Gulf Health Magazine

Prof. Tawfik Ahmed Khoja

General Secretary of the Arab Hospital Federation
Former Chairman of GCC Health Council

Evaluating leadership and management development programs in healthcare is more important than ever for good decision-making, taking into account all stakeholders and expected outcomes.

Best practices for training and qualifying health leaders focus on a set of core axes, pillars, and functions that include continuous assessment of health needs, and developing, implementing, and evaluating health policies supported by continuous quality improvement.
Addressing current and future health challenges facing populations requires focusing on developing, organizing, and building the capacity of health leadership and public health professionals and their systems to serve those functions.

This approach would also provide services and take more effective and efficient measures to local communities, by ensuring the level of expertise in the places required by the system and suiting the specific needs of each community.

It requires securing a highly qualified workforce, distinguished training in the field of public health, clarifying roles and responsibilities, effective performance management standards, and establishing standard workforce practices. This includes requiring minimum professional standards agreed upon across the system.
We strongly recommend that all healthcare system workforces have the knowledge, skills, and leadership behaviors to drive the redesign and improvement of essential services.

This will include working collaboratively across health systems, developing new models of care, and further developing the leadership skills of the entire workforce.

Leadership Traits.

It is therefore clear that the new generation of healthcare leaders must be people who are ready to work in a highly alert state. Paying attention to others may reduce distractions and interpret ideas and viewpoints more accurately.

Leaders in the 21st century must be aware of their emotional state, be emotionally mature and self-motivated Self-motivation is something current leaders already possess, but few have developed the other two traits to make a well-developed and emotionally intelligent leader.
My dear friends, they said in leadership that success is not measured by the position a person has reached, but rather by the difficulties and obstacles he has overcome during his pursuit of success.

The leader needs clear visions, but the visions remain useless if they are not circulated in a way that generates vitality, commitment, and belonging. Leadership and communication are inseparable.

The leader’s morals and competence are reflected in the team members he chooses and those who gather around him. Show me the leader and I will tell you about his men. Show me the men and I will tell you about their leader.

Effective leadership seeks to bring about change.
Leadership is responsible for setting direction.
Leadership is responsible for achieving cooperation and solidarity among individuals.
Leadership seeks to motivate employees by satisfying their human needs.
Responsible for motivation.
It is the ability to gather and mobilize the energy and capabilities of individuals towards achieving a common vision.

Successful leadership characteristics:

Communication ability:
The leader’s ability to clarify and communicate goals to subordinates and receive their expectations.
Confidence in self and others:
The leader’s confidence in himself and in the abilities of his subordinates to diagnose problems and make the necessary decisions.
Awareness:
The extent of the leader’s awareness of his influence on his subordinates and the best way to exercise such influence, as well as his awareness of the factors and variables that increase his effectiveness, which includes familiarity with theories and research related to leadership.
Feeling and empathy:
The leader’s ability to understand and know the needs, desires, and feelings of others is different from the concept of compassion.
Research, studies and research

It has been said that the quality of leadership has a direct impact on the quality of service provided at all levels.

In order to build leadership in health, I see the importance of giving these aspects special attention:

1) Establishing networks, connections, and forums for health experts in the country

2) Finding solutions to major health challenges. Supporting a culture of cooperation contributes to the creation of a network of health leaders that brings together local, regional, and international experts to work together to find solutions to the health challenges faced by the population. Strategic cooperation is of great importance in the success of the health system, the public health system, and the capabilities of leaders, and requires the participation of sectors, ministries, and various entities in assuming responsibilities.

3) Developing the capabilities and competencies of all those working in the field of health leadership in general, public health leadership, and future leaders of health care. It is important to promote careers in leadership and public health as an attractive, viable, and rewarding profession that provides opportunities to improve the well-being of the population and opportunities for personal and professional growth.

4) Supporting the national health leadership for postgraduate programs and studies specialized in health leadership. We should support all initiatives in this field and its multiple specializations through training and development processes and allocating the necessary budgets to implement this with all efficiency and ability, and encouraging graduates of medical students and those concerned to join health leadership specializations and send scholarships to distinguished international centers. In this field, they can improve performance and capabilities across the health system.

Based on the above, it can be said that the management and leadership of health facilities are in dire need of a leadership style characterized by efficiency, effectiveness, transparency, honesty, and integrity, and can bear responsibility and face challenges. Likewise, the management of health systems and their facilities is in dire need of the availability of organizational health standards to be able to Perform its mission and achieve its vision in a healthy environment dominated by a positive climate that helps creativity and excellence. Accordingly, we would like to achieve all the lofty and pivotal goals and objectives mentioned above and to strive together to determine the nature of the relationship between practicing effective leadership in health systems and managing their programs and activities in health facilities within the team. The healthy one.

I am confident that with these priority directions to build a flexible, balanced, and effective health system, we will record leadership in adopting this positive enlightened perspective, especially since our rational government, may God support it, has shown a great commitment to achieving the lofty goals of improving the health system and its components and empowering the recipients of health services and preserving them with all their capabilities. And its capabilities on humans, which contributed significantly to achieving a positive impact and improving many health and social indicators significantly and noticeably.

Advice for those who want to develop their leadership skills

Reckoning, then seeking reward from the Most Gracious and Benevolent, and the greatest reward from the One Judge ((And whoever saves it, it is as if he saved all of mankind.
Absolute commitment to health professions ethics
Continue learning and learning
Engaging in research, studies, and writing
Active participation in conferences, seminars and workshops
Always remember that our profession is at its core: it is a humanitarian profession that contains compassion in all its comprehensiveness and integration, and not a work function that is performed.
As a healthcare leader in clinical, supportive, social, and community care settings, you will learn strategic leadership skills, as well as the opportunity to:
Expand your current knowledge of evidence-based care
Gain the skills needed to stay relevant in an ever-evolving healthcare system
Develop strong and strategic leadership capabilities through strategic thinking and systematic planning.