Leadership development for clinicians: what are we trying to achieve?

The role of all health practitioners is changing as a result of social, technological and demographic shifts, and clinicians are increasingly required to participate in leadership activities. Worldwide, there are emerging examples of policy agendas, professional standards and competency frameworks and approaches to leadership development for clinicians.

This article looks at what leadership development programmes for clinicians are trying to achieve, the rationale behind them and the outcomes that are deemed to be important. It offers a critical description of competency frameworks and their use in practice.

The UK, along with other Western countries, has embedded leadership and management learning outcomes into professional frameworks for students and qualified clinicians. There is increasing recognition that leadership development is best rooted in work-based activities, reflecting the realities of clinical life, with an emphasis on learning across the education and training continuum.

If leadership is deemed to be relevant 'at all levels', then 'leadership development' must be addressed throughout the education and training undertaken by health professionals. Leadership as a topic is gathering momentum as a key curriculum area. But effective clinical leaders and managers need to be nurtured and supported by the organisations and health systems within which they work and learn. Although a wide range of leadership development activities exist for individuals, without system-wide change these initiatives may not produce the most effective 'leadership', nor the health improvements to which they aspire.