Riaz reasons

Thanks to Samantha Riley at the NHS South East Coast for leading me to this thoughtful blog by Riaz Dharamshi, a junior doctor working in London. I am adding it to my blog roll. Excerpts:

We often get distracted by the challenge of creating change in the NHS, and forget that a lot of leadership involves enabling people to perform at their best. I was reminded about how bad we can be at supporting each other during a conversation I had with some colleagues: we were talking about doctors who struggle with the different pressures that the job entails, and one of them said that when working for consultants who don’t provide enough support, some doctors flounder, while others just deal with it and get the job done. I pointed out that not doing anything about an unsupportive consultant did not amount to "dealing with it."

Leadership involves a great deal of personal reflection. It is very difficult to change and improve an organisation if you are not prepared to change and improve yourself.

Leadership is about examining your ability to help other people reach higher, from the ordinary and the mundane, to the truly gifted; it is not just about talent spotting, it is about nurturing your colleagues every day.