Career development and professional recognition

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There are many ways to develop skills, understanding and expertise in leadership. This section describes some of the experiential ways of doing so elsewhere but the more you can reflect and learn more about yourself, your service, organisation or system, the more effective leader you will be.

General examples of leadership guidance and self-development are widely available, online, through your employing organisation and professional associations. Highlighted below are a few examples and resources specifically for doctors or available in healthcare in the UK.

Stretch assignments

The findings from our research highlighted a dissonance in workplace-based leadership development. On the one hand, postgraduate doctors reported that there was an assumption that leadership activities would be learned on the job by observation and immersion, however many also felt that they weren’t ‘stretched’ (or challenged) enough in terms of their leadership development. This raises two areas to be addressed. First, ensure that there is time for learning to undertake various activities, use purposeful observation as a technique for drilling down into how various leadership and management activities are actually carried out. Ask for feedback on your performance, just as you would with a clinical skill, and identify specific areas to improve along with appropriate opportunities.

Once you have the basics under your belt, then (if you are interested) it is helpful to seek out additional opportunities to develop more advanced knowledge and skills. This can be as routine as offering to act up when a more senior leader is absent or lead an activity relevant to your next stage of development. For a more immersive experience in a specific area, you may be able to negotiate a secondment to another area of tour own organisation or to another organisation; carry out visits to see how certain things are done differently (such as service reorganisation) or shadow a more senior leader (such as a clinical director or head of a service). For all these activities, you need to be clear about what you are aiming to learn and gain from the experience and how these fit into your longer-term career development. This approach is part of what is called ‘job-crafting’. Job crafting involves tweaking your existing roles and responsibilities to better reflect your own strengths and aspirations, while you still fulfil your responsibilities, you work with your line manager or supervisor to try out new things (task crafting) or do things differently. Job crafting also involves a mind set shift, in that you are aiming to get more fulfilment from your job through seeking more meaningful experiences (this is cognitive crafting). Finally, it can involve relational crafting, so that you purposefully work on building, strengthening and extending work relationships.

Networks

Building professional networks is a vital part of effective leadership, it is through the people we know and the connections we have that we can help make more meaningful changes, develop our careers, learn from others, and keep our ‘ear to the ground’ about topical issues and what is going on in our world.

Professional networks can form organically through our work and engagement with colleagues in organisations, colleges and other associations. Sometimes connections need to be formed purposefully and it can be useful to join professional associations and networks within and outside the profession to meet like-minded people and learn new perspectives. Offering to be involved in initiatives both within and outside your organisation and profession can enhance your capabilities and provide new insights, whilst enabling you to meet more people.

Formal courses and programmes

Courses and programmes can be helpful in enhancing your knowledge (horizontal development) and skills as well as build your CV.

Multiple leadership programmes are available through national and local healthcare organisations. Postgraduate certificates and masters’ programmes in health professions, medical and clinical leadership are offered by several universities in the UK and overseas, many of which can be undertaken at a distance.

Professional and training organisations will also have leadership and management development activities available of varying duration and focus.

Consider taking advice on what to look for so that the programme best meets your needs. For example, choose an accredited programme, look up who the facilitators or course leads are, consider whether the learning approach will suit you, and the relevance of content and focus.

Examples of leadership development programmes available are in the resources section below.

Clinical fellowships

For those interested in either blending clinical work with formal leadership development or taking substantive time out of training programmes or careers, many fellowships exist, at local and national levels. Some organisations are willing to support specific secondments to other organisations.

Fellowships are primarily experiential and involve a combination of on-the-job shadowing, leading or having an active role in the delivery of programmes or projects, mentoring, action learning, formal and informal education. Some fellowships are linked with a postgraduate award whereas others include workshops and training on specific topics. Benefits highlighted consistently by fellows are the networking opportunities, getting out of their ‘comfort zone’ and learning new (non-clinical) information, time to reflect on career direction and priorities, and undertaking a significant piece of work that contributes to healthcare improvement.

Examples of fellowships available are in the resources section below.

Mentoring

Many doctors find that mentoring is useful.

A mentor is often called ‘the guide on the side’, someone to whom you can turn to ask their advice. Healthcare and educational organisations often have formal mentoring schemes through which individuals are allocated or select a mentor as they start a new job or role but on a more informal basis, a mentor can be sought from people you already know and respect and can help support career development or transition to new roles or responsibilities.

Sometimes it is useful to have a mentor who is a peer and relatively close to where you are in your career. Near peer mentoring is usually time limited, often informal and can provide specific guidance, advice and encouragement based on their recent experience and knowledge.

It can also be helpful to locate a mentor from outside your organisation, especially if you are working in a less than supportive environment.

Examples of mentoring support available are in the resources section below.

Coaching

‘Coaching is a process of unlocking a person’s potential to maximise their own performance and become more effective leaders and managers. It is now an established method for the development and ongoing support of leadership capability in the NHS, principally amongst senior managerial leaders’.

Coaching is different from mentoring in that a coach typically works with you to help you make career or life decisions using a range of coaching techniques.

Examples of coaching services available are in the resources section below.

Professional recognition

FMLM has established a professional recognition scheme for doctorsengaging and working in leadership and management. The FMLM Fellowship is an award, made by an independent panel, that certifies an individual as a medical leader of competence and experience, showing adherence to the Leadership and management standards for medical professionals. Fellowship is awarded at three levels, dependent on experience.

Doctors who are interested in educational leadership and management as related to medicine might wish to seek professional recognition from AdvanceHE or the Academy of Medical Educators (AoME).

Section resources

Videos

Podcasts

Medical Women Talking

You are not a frog

Leadership fellowships: the what, the why, the how

Leadership and management for foundation doctors

Leadership webinar for international medical graduates

Online talks

Gawande, A. (2017) ‘Want to get great at something? Get a coach.’ Ted.com.

Websites

FMLM Leadership commitment for junior doctors

PROPEL Hub

A doctor’s guide to everyday leadership

Articles, books, reports

Ashford, S. J., DeRue, D. S. (2012). ‘Developing as a leader: The power of mindful engagement’, Organizational Dynamics, 41, pp. 146-154.

Dane, E. (2020). ‘Suddenly everything became clear: How people make sense of epiphanies surrounding their work and careers’, Academy of Management Discoveries, 6, pp. 39-60.

Dutton, J.E., Wrzesniewski, A. (2020) ‘What job crafting looks like’, Harvard Business Review, 12 March.

Edmonstone, J. (2009). ‘Evaluating clinical leadership: A case study’, Leadership in Health Services, 22(3), pp. 210–224.

Goffee, R. and Jones, G. (2006). Why should anyone be led by you?: What it takes to be an authentic leader, Harvard Business School Press, Boston.

Goodall, A.H. (2011). ‘Physician-leaders and hospital performance: is there an association?’, Social science & medicine, 73(4), pp. 535-539.

Gulati, K., Singh, A. R., Kumar, S., Verma, V., Gupta, S. K., and Sarkar, C. (2019). Impact of a leadership development programme for physicians in India, Leadership in Health Services, 33(1), pp. 73–84.

Husebø, S. E., and Akerjordet, K. (2016). ‘Quantitative systematic review of multi-professional teamwork and leadershiptraining to optimize patient outcomes in acute hospital settings’, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 72(12), pp. 2980–3000.

Jarosz, J. (2023). ‘The cube of coaching effectiveness’, International Journal of Evidence Based Coaching and Mentoring, 21(1), pp. 31-49.

Petriglieri, G. Petriglieri, J.L., Wood, J.D. (2018). Fast tracks and inner journeys: Crafting portable selves for contemporary careers, Administrative Science Quarterly, 63, pp. 479-525.

Rosenman, E. D., Shandro, J. R., Ilgen, J. S., Harper, A. L., and Fernandez, R. (2014). ‘Leadership training in healthcare action teams: A systematic review’, Academic Medicine, 89(9), pp. 1295–1306.

Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the reflective practitioner. Jossey-Bass, New Jersey.

Spehar, I., Frich, J. C., and Kjekshus, L. E. (2012). ‘Clinicians’ experiences of becoming a clinical manager: a qualitative study’, BMC Health Services Research, 12(1), pp. 421.

Spurgeon, P., Clark, J., and Ham, C. (2011). Medical Leadership: From the Dark Side to Centre Stage. Radcliffe Publication, Oxon.

Spurgeon, P., Long, P., Clark, J., and Daly, F. (2015). ‘Do we need medical leadership or medical engagement?’,Leadership in Health Services, 28(3), pp. 173–184.

Stoller, J.K. (2009). ‘Developing physician-leaders: a call to action’, Journal of general internal medicine, 24, pp. 876-878.

Coaching services