Rotational Leadership Programme Julie Conner Programme Manager

Current theory and practice argues that a paradigm shift is needed in terms of how public services are organised because traditional approaches based on hierarchy do not work Future leaders will need to have the ability to work across services and organisations

The changing needs of patients with complex medical conditions have created particular challenges that can only be tackled if leaders work together across healthcare organisations. Systems leaders will bring about the changes needed in this complex environment by working across services and organisations to remove obstacles. Myron Rogers (2015)

Purpose of the programme To gain increased insight and connectivity into the Essex system and deepen a collective understanding of the behaviours that enable people to lead successfully across and between organisations

Objectives To have a greater understanding of the challenges facing leaders across Essex wide health and social care organisations by stepping in their shoes. Create a cohort of system leaders who can take a broader view; who can design and deliver system solutions to the problems across all parts of the care pathway. To develop leadership that is shared, distributed and adaptive. Develop specific capabilities associated with systems leadership

The structure of the programme based on 18 month rotation band7/8 managers organisation Manager rotation and organisational team Acute A D C B CCG Community Mental Health

Rotations Rotations could be clinical or non clinical e.g. could involve the rotation of HR Business Partners/ Finance Accountants who can support managers taking a system wide perspective

The type of Selection Criteria Able to demonstrate leading in complex systems Enthusiastic and willing to use distributed approaches Humility Able to build relationships Self aware Able to challenge senior people in a way that gets them to reflect not reject Able to live with uncertainty/ experimentation

Preparing Rotational Leaders Pre- shadowing to learn about team operations Intensive Induction day Master classes Action Learning Coaching

Teams Teams should be stable- not going through major change Conduct diagnostic of the team to act as base line measurement of team effectiveness/ resilience Support teams at each rotation point ( reflective feedback to manager and assessment of aspirations, hopes and fears for new manager coming to team Development day to set the context of distributed leadership Provide individual support for band 6 manager who will be managing team at operational level

Benefits Improved patient experience A spirit of collaboration and collective working amongst partner organisations The opportunity to learn from others, to benchmark and test ideas The discovery of behaviours and relational aspects of leading across systems that help or hinder

Hosting Organisations Pipeline of senior management with experience of managing across a range of services Improved network of relationships across organisational boundaries Improved speed of resolution of issues across care pathways Refreshed challenges and knowledge added to the organisation

Individual Confidence in operating across organisational boundaries and at a system level Enhanced career opportunity

Teams Opportunity to develop strong trusting relationships For each team member to be acknowledged as a valued member of the system with a unique contribution to make to how the service function (A shift away from the target-terror relationship that exists in many teams) Greater opportunity to develop and learn new skills A sense of fulfilment

But……. What if? Managers feel out of their depth especially if critical incident occurs Ensure a support network is on hand for staff; clinical manager/ mentor/coach/als/ robust induction The team feel abandoned and hard to adjust to new manager every six months The team will be supported at the beginning of the programme to develop as a cohesive resilient group of people to develop a shared language for expressing these concerns Systems leadership requires honesty, trust and openness. This may be in conflict with organisational culture. A key task for rotation leaders is to inspire trust in the team. Talk straight, demonstrate respect, create transparency, confront reality, listen first, extend trust

And what if…? There is a lack of trust and openness between organisations. Change happens at the speed of trust! The job of the organisational leader is to inspire trust. Make the creation of trust a specific objective. It must become like any other goal that is focused and improved on. Organisations can get good at it.

Thank you QUESTIONS?

@NHS_HealthEdEng #insertcampaignhashtag