What does personal professional development mean?

Professional Development Series #2: What does it mean to be an effective leader?

Professional Development Series #2: What does it mean to be an effective leader?

As healthcare professionals most of us know what a department leader is on a basic level. But do we really know you what it means to be an effective team leader in a healthcare environment, whether it be in the form of a formal or an informal leader?

A formal leader is a leader by virtue of the position title to influence others to reach an organizations goals. What many people don’t know is that informal leaders are just as important to an organization. Informal leaders possess courage and risk-taking abilities that allow them to create influence without the benefit of titles. What kind of leader do you want to be?

Formal leaders benefit from the informal leaders ability to challenge the status quo and offer alternatives. On the other hand informal leaders see benefits from formal leaders through their ability to orchestrate debate and articulate ideas to a group of individuals. For these reasons both types of leaders are important to an organization.

Good leaders dare to be different. Take advantage of what makes you unique and use them to separate yourself from others. Separation will allow you to motivate others to perform better.

How do you differentiate yourself as a leader?

Effective leaders are similar in one crucial way: they possess a knowledge and understanding in each of these areas.

Though becoming an effective leader contains a degree of difficulty it is something that can be learned through time and commitment.