11-November-2019

No More Heroes

Dr Darren Leech, a Director at NHS Elect, considers whether the NHS needs leaders who can coach and delegate, not just issue direction and advice. 

In his recent article, published by The Association for Coaching (available as a PDF below), Darren discusses the drawbacks of hero leaders. On the surface they're hailed for their ability to offer guidance, direct and help others, but we learn through reading how this type of leader can be both beneficial and have drawbacks to their wider team. 

Darren writes that leaders who give direction and advice often find their ‘help’ wears thin once a team member has settled and become familiar with their tasks. The outcome of offering constant guidance can either be that staff submit and become dependent, which results in reduced initiative, less resilience and lower levels of resourcefulness amongst other drawbacks, or, in contrast, others see the guidance as controlling and restrictive, which can result in conflict between leader and members of the team. 

The NHS employs a large number of highly qualified professionals who will not need the guidance offered by these hero leaders, therefore other approaches to leadership are necessary. Delegating and coaching are two alternative options which Darren discusses in depth. Coaching moves away from advice or suggestions. The relationship between leader and team member is less dependent on hierarchy and more focused on helping team members work through problems themselves. The coacher will ask open and challenging questions to prompt creative thinking, reflection and options for action, aiming to encourage the coachee to determine their own course of action. 

Darren finishes by writing that research has shown that organisations who invest in developing coaching skills for their leaders have high levels of commitment from their teams, reducing both the dependency of the team on their manager and developing forward creative thinkers.