Week 1: Advanced Leadership and Health Management Course with The University of Lahore

The ancient Chinese parable, ‘The Wisdom of the Mountain’ highlights another key leadership principle²³. It tells of an enlightened master, Hwan, and his disciple of twenty years, Lao-li who both reside at the top of a mountain.

Despite his determination, Lao-li struggled to reach enlightenment during this time. He consequently told Hwan that he would leave the mountain and, with it, his search for wisdom. Hwan told Lao-li he would join him on his descent, but first asked him what he could see from their position on the mountain peak. Lao-li responded by describing the rising sun and the many picturesque mountains surrounding them. They then began their journey.

Once they had reached the foot of the mountain, Hwan once again asked Lao-li what he could see from their position. This time, Lao-li described animals in the meadows and the bustling town ahead.

Hwan asked Lao-li what he had learned: his question was met with silence.  The master explained that their journey bore close resemblance to the journey to enlightenment. Without seeing the views from both the top and bottom of the mountain, the mind is closed off to the full view, and thus is closed off from the learning that the full view can provide.

In this parable, being open to learning, reflecting, and looking at problems from different perspectives is key to both personal development and good leadership. It also highlights that, at first, a leader may not have the whole view, but awareness of this limitation will help illuminate the best steps forward to overcome it.

This harks back to multidisciplinary leadership in healthcare and emphasises the importance of continued learning and self-management. Combined with effective communication in multidisciplinary working to engage different stakeholders, this also contributes to evidence-based decision-making. Leaders can evaluate evidence from a variety of sources and insights to make as balanced and widely beneficial a solution as possible.

At an organisational level within the WHO, these principles are central to multiple aspects of their previous and current strategic plans. Inward reflection and evaluation, and functional reviews launched in regional offices, underline where strengths lie and where improvements can be made^24,25. Combined with continued innovation, collaboration, research, training, and upskilling, the needs and assets of the surrounding communities can be better understood and considered in decision-making²⁵.

Within the programme, these elements were developed over several sessions.

At the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Simulation Centre, the Simulation Team led interactive sessions concentrated on evidence-based leadership and decision making. Gathering and analysing evidence, with consideration of multiple human factors, created a solid foundation for balanced problem-solving and effecting change in these scenarios. A later session by guest speaker Tina Purnat on ‘Combating Misinformation: Leadership Evaluation and Decision-making’, emphasised the importance of evaluating evidence, systemic thinking and the impacts of misinformation on decisions and organisational outcomes, and dealing with misinformation in decision-making.

The WHOCC Team’s Ela Augustyniak, Celine Tabche and Rachel Barker on ‘Principles of Communication in Healthcare Settings’, and ‘Health Literacy, Active Listening, and Feedback Techniques’, worked to recognise personal styles of communication, and to develop techniques for rapport-building and effective feedback.

Building on these essential skills, a session run by guest speaker Dr Richard Pinder on ‘Communication Strategies for Diverse Stakeholders’ focused on identifying key stakeholders and using tailored communication and effective engagement strategies for collaboration, decision-making, and leadership.

This could then be put into practice with ‘Action plan development Roleplaying’ exercises run by Professor Salman Rawaf and Celine Tabche, which required application and leadership in a hospital outbreak context, and ‘Case Studies and Group Discussions on Continuous Development’, also run by Celine Tabche, involving the analysis and reflection of stakeholder engagement and governance in real-world scenarios.