Introduction
A Call for Leadership in Aging
Strategies for Growing Leaders: Lessons from the Literature and other Funders
Early on, the Hartford Foundation recognized that leaders do not necessarily rise spontaneously from within the ranks of health professionals, but need specialized training, nurturing, and support. Fortunately, a large and rich body of literature on leadership development exists, and numerous funders have created leadership development initiatives. The Hartford Foundation was able to draw on this expertise in designing its programs.
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Model of the four key elements of a leadership development program
One message is that leadership skills can be acquired. “Leadership is a measurable, learnable, and teachable set of behaviors,” according to Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, researchers in the field of leadership, who created a model that is used as a central text by the Hartford Geriatric Nursing Leadership Academy.6
Rising to the challenge of leadership in any field requires certain personal attributes along with the ability and desire to motivate and inspire others. But most leaders also need additional assistance. Based on the literature on leadership and lessons from other funders, the Hartford Foundation identified four key elements of a leadership development program. These are formal training, mentoring, peer networking, and a less tangible element that entails encouraging a new generation to answer the call to leadership.
Formal Training
Advanced educational training for most nurses, social workers, and physicians is focused on clinical expertise. Rarely is there an opportunity to obtain formal training in administration or leadership. Once in an administrative or other leadership position, clinicians may be called upon to manage personnel and finances, develop budgets, engage in fundraising, and participate in strategic planning. Health care leaders benefit from programs targeted at teaching business skills.“Treat people as if they were what they ought to be, and you help them to become what they are capable of being.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Management skills are important, but by themselves are insufficient for the type of leadership that will transform health care institutions. In the book Transformational Leadership7—co-sponsored by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trusts—the authors argue that society will not be prepared for the challenges ahead if leaders do not embody the values and characteristics that will alter organizations. Examples include being proactive, serving as catalysts for innovation, functioning as team members, and encouraging organizational learning.
To prepare such leaders, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in its Executive Nurse Fellows Program, identified several competencies that must be taught to current and prospective leaders. These include interpersonal and communication effectiveness, risk-taking and creativity, self-knowledge, inspiring and leading change, and having a strategic vision. The Hartford Foundation has woven the training of these competencies into its leadership development initiatives.
Mentoring
Mentorship has long been recognized as critical for the development of successful leadership and political influence in academic and practice settings.8 Mentors share their knowledge and expertise, offer advice on career development, and help to formulate goals. Mentors also provide important introductions to people who may be potential collaborators, advisors, or partners. Mentors can endow their mentees with credibility, which may prove especially advantageous in a health care environment where the allocation of resources is highly competitive.One analysis of mentoring found that both mentors and protégés have expectations.9 Protégés expect their mentors to be role models and to have the expertise, interest, and demeanor to guide and support them in seizing and using opportunities to develop a successful career. Mentors seek protégés who are motivated for success and leadership, and are a good match with the mentor in terms of career interests and a mutually beneficial relationship.
Mentoring can come from many sources, including colleagues in all settings, peers, and others.10 This broad view of mentoring fosters freedom to share ideas. Opportunities for each person to lead, grow, and achieve are strengthened by multiple ideas, perspectives, and energies.
Several foundations have created leadership initiatives that employ mentorship as a central feature. For example, the Brookdale Foundation Leadership in Aging Fellowship Program requires each Fellow to have a formal mentor (a recognized leader in the field) and assigns a former Fellow to provide additional mentorship. The mentoring relationship helps the Fellow achieve credibility and gain access to other leaders in the field.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Margaret Mead
Peer Networking
The third element of leadership development is peer networking. By developing a network of supportive colleagues, health care professionals have a forum where they can share ideas, elicit feedback, build self confidence, and make career-enhancing contacts. Some health care leaders (e.g., program directors, deans) may feel isolated in their position at their home institution. This makes having a national network of peers especially helpful.Professionals often form friendships with other colleagues in their field. But the type of networking that moves the field of geriatrics forward may not come naturally to all health care professionals. Therefore, the Hartford Foundation and other foundations have learned the importance of providing structured venues for encouraging networking activities among colleagues.
For example, the Andrus Scholars Program, funded by the Helen Andrus Benedict Foundation, focuses on developing social work leaders in aging by providing networking opportunities for second-year master’s level students. In addition to tuition stipends, course work, and practicum experiences, ample opportunities are provided for scholars to network with colleagues, faculty, community professionals, and past scholars.
Answering the Call
In “The Leadership Challenge Workbook,” Kouzes and Posner write:The next time you say to yourself, “Why don’t they do something about that?” look in the mirror. Ask the person you see, “Why don’t you do something about that?” By accepting the challenge to lead, you come to realize that the only limits are those you place on yourself.
For transformational leadership to become a reality, health care professionals must answer the call to leadership and understand the value they bring to their profession.
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation exemplify the concept of empowering future leaders in their MacArthur Fellows program. According to the foundation, “the purpose of the MacArthur Fellows Program is to enable recipients to exercise their own creative instincts for the benefit of human society.”
Health care professionals with a vision for the future of health care must blaze their own unique trail. In 1929, John A. Hartford challenged future generations of leaders with the motto he chose for the Hartford Foundation: “It is necessary to carve from the whole vast spectrum of human needs one small band that the heart and mind together tell you is the area in which you can make your best contribution.”
6. Kouzes JM, Posner BZ. The Leadership Challenge Workbook. 2003. John Wiley and Sons.
7. Kohles MK, Baker WG Jr, Donaho BA. Transformational Leadership: Renewing Fundamental Values and Achieving New Relationships in Health Care. Chicago, IL: American Hospital Publishing; 1995.
8. Stewart BM, Krueger LE. An evolutionary concept analysis of mentoring in nursing. J Prof Nurs. 1996;12:311-321.
9. Yoder L. Mentoring: a concept analysis. Nurs Adm Q. 1990;15:19.
10. Broome ME. Mentoring: to everything a season. Nurs Outlook. 2003;5:249-250.
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