[Leadership in the health services]

The concept of leadership is not centered on strength of conviction or the ability to inspire support from others. Authority requires obedience, which is unlikely to bring about substantive changes. There are three classical types of leadership: bureaucratic (which depends on the size of one's share of power within an institution), prestige (which depends on one's technical expertise and standing in one's profession), and political (which depends on the extent of one's power in society at large). Prestige leadership pertains to an occupation and applies particularly to the health professions, especially the medical profession. Change is conditioned by factors internal to the health field (such as technological innovations and dissatisfaction with remunerations and social standing in some occupations) and by elements in the social context. These elements include historical situations favorable to change (crises) and forces for preservation of the status quo.