Leadership for health care in the 21st Century: A personal perspective

Harold C Slavkin

University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

Abstract: From my perspective, there is no infallible step-by-step formula for becoming an effective or transformational leader. My assertion is that leadership can be taught and learned. Specifically, a person can observe and internalize select models of leadership from unique environments, and then use these “lessons learned” to foster a potential for leadership by learning about what’s worked for others. By selecting “best practices” one can readily and selectively apply those lessons learned to one’s own situation. Leadership opportunities abound in a broad array of environments including health professional education (eg, medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, dental hygiene), academic health sciences centers, specific clinical disciplines in acadême, or in private as well as nonprofit clinical practices (eg, primary care, various specialties), domestic as well as international health policy, large and small hospitals and clinics, and a myriad of health care industries such as insurance, major pharmaceuticals, information technology, supplies, and the industries that embrace equipment manufacturers and distributors. I hope this “personal perspective” prompts and encourages the reader to think about leading and leadership, and qualities that often describe leaders such as integrity, being trustworthy, “learning organizations”, and leading genius within the health care enterprise at this time in the 21st Century.

Keywords: leadership, learning, best practice, health care, education