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High-Potential Healthcare Leadership Model
Based on a comprehensive review of existing research
on high-potential healthcare leadership and the
executive interview findings, we developed a four-factor
model of High-Potential Healthcare Leadership. This
model was developed to focus on those factors that are
most relevant to leadership readiness in hospital
organizations, while also remaining user-friendly for a
range of practical applications. Summarized below, the
model includes four key factors of high-potential
leadership competencies:
Analytical Aptitude: This factor consists of personal
characteristics and competencies that are associated
with analytical abilities, including Strategic Insight,
Comfort with Ambiguity, and Innovative Thinking.
Strategic Insight involves examining problems from a
multi-faceted hospital perspective, demonstrating a
systems-view on the problems facing one’s
department, and avoiding ‘silo’ thinking and decision-
making. High-potential leaders demonstrate Comfort
with Ambiguity by remaining open to new and diverse
ideas and effectively coping with an increasingly
complex healthcare environment that presents
competing priorities and frequent changes. Emergent
leaders exhibit Innovative Thinking by reflecting
critically on existing practices and procedures and
encouraging divergent views and perspectives from
coworkers and colleagues across the organization.
Below, a Nurse Manager of General Medicine
describes the importance of Strategic Insight:
[High-potential nurse leaders] come with more of a global
perspective than that a me, me, me perspective. When a decision
is made or something goes into action, they’re questioning it but
not in a way that they’re questioning against it. They just want to
know why and if this was the right thing and what would they
have done in this situation. You can tell that they’re thinking
outside of the box and thinking on more of an institute level,
versus my assignment, my patients, and my problem.
• Strategic Insight
• Innovative Thinking
• Comfort with
Ambiguity
Analytical
Aptitude
Leadership
Capability
• Drive to Lead
• Professional
Credibility
• Develops People
• Leads Change
• Communication Skills
• Collaboration Skills
• Organizational
Awareness
People
Savvy
Learning
Agility
• Self-awareness
• Seeks Feedback
• Learns from
Experiences
• Perseverance
under Adversity
People Savvy. The People Savvy factor includes a set
of competencies and skills that reflects high-potential
leaders’ ability to build relationships and demonstrate
basic, yet often assumed communication skills. Emergent
leaders display Interpersonal Skills by demonstrating
strong reflective listening skills, exhibiting effective
written and oral communication skills, and adapting
their communication style to diverse audiences,
including peers, supervisors, patients, and stakeholders
across the organization. Such leaders also effectively
engage others in decision-making, forge strong
relationships with colleagues across specialties and
departments, and consistently give credit to others
(Collaboration Skills). Finally, Organizational Awareness
is the ability to effectively network with colleagues,
understand organizational culture and its impact on
decision-making, and recognize organizational
politics. Below, a CMO notes the importance of
Communication Skills:
You have to have a great capacity for listening and you have to be
able to reserve judgment until you’ve heard all sides of a situation,
which is not necessarily something that’s easy for us as physicians to
do. We’re used to looking at it from our view, from our specialty,
from those things that we know to matter most based on our area
of expertise. You need to acquire the self-awareness to be patient
enough to listen to all aspects of an issue, and then to incorporate
all that you have heard, which means you really do have to listen so
that you are getting the major points that everybody wants to
express on all sides of the issue. (CMO)
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