About This Topic

Welcome to Individual Leadership.  Leadership is an area of immense importance to every organization. In health care we work in a complex, rapidly changing environment. If a health care organization drifts passively, it will fail. Effective leadership is needed to anticipate changes and to respond with alacrity to unanticipated changes.

Much has been written about leadership. Any bookstore has a whole section on leadership and management. There are also many books and courses on leadership in health care. In 2007, the Maternal and Child Health Leadership Competencies Workgroup released the MCH Leadership Competencies.  Still, leadership is often an enigmatic concept. It is talked about by many and practiced by few. What is leadership? Can anyone be a leader? We will discuss these questions and others in this lesson.

An MCH Leader inspires and brings people together to achieve
sustainable results to improve the lives of the MCH population.

Adapted from: George, B. (2006, October 30). Truly
authentic leadership. U.S. News & World Report, 52.

Some people are uncomfortable discussing leadership, believing that it is a role reserved for only a select few individuals who reach the top of their professions or organizations. Perhaps you feel leadership is not part of your behaviors. We hope to demonstrate not only that each of us can be a leader, but also that each of us is a leader!

This lesson will discuss the concept of individual leadership. This is leadership in everyday life.  Each of us exhibits leadership as a student, teacher, parent, child, spouse, sibling, employer, or employee. The case study for this lesson comes from the MCH critical thinking leadership competency.

Upon finishing this topic, we hope that you will recognize the importance of leadership to your family, your employer, and to every organization of which you are a part.

 

What You Will Learn

By the end of this topic, you should:

• Understand the definitions of leadership.
• Know the characteristics of a leader.

To Get The Most From This Lesson...

• Proceed through the sidebar items from top to bottom. Take the quiz last.
• Understand the importance of leadership in every organization, particularly in maternal and child health.