The definition of leadership, to me, is three-part. First, leadership is the act of role-modeling. Second, leadership is the act of guiding an organization and its members to reach common goals. Third, leadership is a position or rank within an organization that requires specific attributes to perform at that rank effectively. Therefore, my definition of leadership is an organization’s use of personnel who have specific attributes required to act effectively as a role models to the organization’s members to guide the organization to the accomplishment of common goals.
There are five main traits that must be attained if a leader wants to be coined as great, effective, and successful. The traits, in a very particular order, are the ability to role-model, experience, an unwavering sense of ethics, consistency, and patience. Some would argue that motivational, inspirational, and professional should be on the list of main traits of an effective leader, perhaps even in place of those I have listed. While those traits are admirable and valuable, if a leader possesses the five main traits on my list, he/she will spontaneously, almost robotically, be motivational, inspirational, and professional.
Having the ability to role-model is the key trait of any successful leader. Working in a leadership role demands a visionary presence and voice to model the way to organizational success and goal achievement. (Smith, 2013) Organization members look to their leaders for behavior cues. “In simple daily acts, effective leaders set an example for others as they Model the Way – from the stories they tell, the way they allocate their time, and the language they use to the recognitions, rewards, and measurement tools the choose.” (Kouzes & Posner, 2011)
Why is role-modeling the key trait of an effective leader? The answer to this question is simple; if the boss doesn’t care about the vision of the organization, the members will follow suit. American businessman and co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation, Rick Tumlinson, states, “We accept the things-as-they-are world in which we are comfortable.” If the organizational leader models laziness, procrastination, reactiveness instead of proactiveness, and/or little self-awareness of performance towards his/her professional and organizational goals, then this is the lackadaisical environment that will be cultivated by the leader. In today’s world of entitlement, you only live once (YOLO), instantaneous gratification, and “just give me the highlights”, laziness and procrastination have become epidemic. These attitudes are comfortable, especially if they are fostered by the organization’s leader.
The second-most important requirement of a great leader is experience; more specifically, pertinent experience. “At the start of one’s career, an individual typically works in a technical area and distinguishes himself or herself through technical expertise, outcomes, and innovation. For example, a cardiac surgeon may distinguish himself or herself on successful outcomes, a low mortality rate, and the introduction of new procedures.” (Rihal, 2017) Experience in any field does not come overnight. Experience is like a savings account. A working professional takes situational incidents throughout their career and add them to their experiential savings account to draw from later when similar situations occur. Everyday processes and procedures are easy to learn and perform, almost absent-mindedly. It’s when out-of-the ordinary circumstances arise that experiential currency is formed. When an organizational member reaches the point of no longer having to make withdrawals from their experience savings account, they are, in theory, ready for promotion to leadership. The self-confidence that comes from having a large experiential savings account is equal to the confidence and comfort that comes from having a large actual savings account.
Pertinent experience is defined as specific and specialized knowledge of a field of practice. Examples of fields of practice are Emergency Medical Services (EMS), medical education programs, or playing in the National Football League (NFL). As an EMS educator, I do not have the pertinent experience to play for the NFL, regardless of my obvious higher level of knowledge from my couch in comparison to the referees on the field. On the same token, an untrained NFL wide receiver who is squeamish around needles would not be an effective EMS agency shift supervisor.
Ethics and role-modelling go together. “Leaders who lead ethically are role models, communicating the importance of ethical standards, holding their employees accountable to those standards, and- crucially- designing environments in which others work and live.” (Trevino, Mayer, & Epley, 2018) The importance of an ethical leader is exponential towards organization success. An unethical leader can damage an organization’s financial stability, membership morale, community opinion, and/or legal right to practice or provide services. Unethical behavior is infectious within an organization. Unethical behavior can send a message that risky behavior is the only way to get ahead in the organization. (Johnson Ph.D., 2012)
Because of so many technological innovations, changing ideas among the medical community in so many different fields, and a widening generational gap, leaders must be flexible but consistent in their leadership. An effective leader must have a consistent mood, behavior, and decision-making so that his/her team knows where he/she is coming from. (Shedd, 2011) Just like our children, our employees learn how to behave through reinforcement and punishment and through observation. And, just like children, our employees pay more attention to the actions of their leaders than their words. (Roberts, 2016) Inconsistent leadership causes employee mistrust, confusion, frustration, and inconsistent performance by the employees. (Wofford, 2012)
Patience is last on the list but, is an extremely attribute in an effective leader. Patience shows maturity. Patience as a leadership trait is defined two ways. First, patience means the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. (Dictionary.com) Patience in leadership also means purpose, approachability, tolerance, independence, empathy, nurturing nature, confidence, and endurance. (Eich, 2016)
My ideal leadership position would be the position of EMS education program director or course coordinator for my local community college. A few months ago, I realized this dream and was hired as the EMS education program director for Alvin Community College in Alvin, Texas. EMS education course coordinators have the overall responsibility for conducting an emergency medical services (EMS) training course(s) under the direction of an approved EMS training program. (Texas Department of State Health Services, 2017) *My title at the college is program director. My title according to Texas Department of State Health Services is course coordinator. These titles are used interchangeably. Because this is about my leadership role at the college, I choose to use the program director verbiage.*
“Striving to produce elite EMS professionals who are ready at a moment’s notice to provide timely, expert and committed life-saving care to the sick and injured.” is the vision statement I designed for our program.
The culture of my program is supportive, communicative, fluid, and innovative. My instructors and I have created a supportive culture by designing instructor-present student mentoring pods, shadow the program director for a day, and be an instructor for a day. (All FERPA information is protected when students shadow us.) When I took over the program, there was such a disconnect between the students, the instructors, and the program director. The instructors and program director were not approachable. The students complained that the program director and instructors mostly just sat around drinking coffee and talking trash about the students. This perception had to be changed. The mentoring pods and shadowing opportunities have really shown the students that the instructors and me really do care about their success and what it really takes to be an instructor and the program director. I firmly believe that we have earned the trust and respect of the students by offering transparency and support.
Medicine, especially EMS medicine, is ever-changing. Whether it be teaching techniques or EMS profession innovations, my program attempts to stay as up-to-date as humanly possible. My program embraces change and innovation to ensure modern learning. The way changes are communicated to the instructors and students has been updated as well. Because of innovative technology, students no longer have the excuse of, “I didn’t know.”
My change strategy is simple. Unless immediate change is required, changes are not made until the end of the semester. During the last couple of weeks of each semester, I sent out reminders every other day about the changes that will be occurring the following semester. Small changes are usually related to college policy, forms, syllabi, instructors, class times, and clinical sites. Significant changes are related to curriculum changes (i.e. American Heart Association (AHA) guideline updates), substantial staff changes, or accreditation updates. By being proactive and communicative each semester, the confusion and frustration that can come with change that affects all program members is significantly reduced.
In conclusion, leadership requires hard work. Change is inevitable. By keeping the vision of the program or organization the focus, leaders can stay the course and be successful. Consistency and communication are paramount to program and/or organization success. Program and/or organizational success should be measured against whether the vision statement rang true.
