A qualitative evaluation of shared leadership barriers, drivers and recommendations

Shared leadership is a management model based on the shared governance philosophy. Assumes those individuals or teams performing tasks are best equipped to provide meaningful improvement. The changing image of the current leadership model is one that resides in relationships rather than with a singular person. The key concepts are accountability, partnership, equity, and ownership. When shared leadership was initiated at St Joseph's Health Care, London, Ontario, in 1998, there was a commitment by management and staff to ensure that it was successfully implemented. In order to determine areas for improvement in the implementation process, continual evaluation is necessary. Reports from various staff members, prior to the project, indicated that the shared leadership implementation plan had not been fully realised. Therefore, a qualitative evaluation project, utilising focus groups and interviews, was completed. The purpose of the study was to identify the drivers, as well as the barriers affecting the implementation process. Several recommendations for improving the process were determined by the participants of the study. The result of the project was a collection of four themes, common to the discussions of barriers, drivers and recommendations. The internalisation of the concepts specific to the shared leadership model was found to be vital. The effectiveness of the council framework, including the council structure, processes and membership was also important. Communication of outcomes arising from the council was crucial. The final theme to be identified included those Humanistic Needs that addressed the relationship aspects of this model. Furthermore, the relationship between these themes was explored in the context of the external forces affecting the shared leadership model.