Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T05:44:30.870Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
This chapter is part of a book that is no longer available to purchase from Cambridge Core

8 - Leadership in perioperative settings: a practical guide

Brian Smith
Affiliation:
Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Ormskirk
Paul Rawling
Affiliation:
Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Ormskirk
Paul Wicker
Affiliation:
Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Ormskirk
Chris Jones
Affiliation:
Edge Hill College of Higher Education, Ormskirk
Get access

Summary

Key Learning Points

  • Appreciate what good leadership is, and what it is not

  • Understand the nature of leadership and whether it is a quality that can be taught or learned

  • Appreciate the qualities of established leaders

  • Identify ways of improving leadership in perioperative settings

People often misunderstand and misuse the terms leadership and management. It is possible to be a good leader without being a manager, or even without having the word management in a job description. Equally, it is possible for a person to be a successful manager without the team perceiving that person to be a leader. The question is what exactly is the difference between leadership and management. There are many ways to distinguish between management and leadership and the following is my preferred definition.

Management is about tasks, systems and processes; leadership is about people. You lead a team and manage a bank account. Leadership is about identifying and delivering a vision.

Leadership is, therefore, about people and about developing and communicating a vision; it is also about creating an environment in which everyone works towards a common goal or objective. To be successful, a leader does not require formal academic learning or training in management techniques (although many may choose to aim for these). The most important point to remember is that a leader cannot be a leader without followers.

Whether good leaders are born or created is a debate that runs and runs. My view is that it is both.

Type
Chapter
Information
Core Topics in Operating Department Practice
Leadership and Management
, pp. 57 - 64
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2009

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Adair, J. (1979). Action Centred Leadership. London: Gower.Google Scholar
Bennis, W. & Goldsmith, J. (2003). Learning to Lead: A Workbook on Becoming a Leader. New York: Perseus Books.Google Scholar
Goleman, D. (2000). Leadership that Gets Results. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.Google Scholar
Tannenbaum, R. & Schmidt, W. H. (1973). How to Choose a Leadership Pattern. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×