THE HEALTH MANAGER IN THIS ISSUE ON LEADING MANAGEMENT TEAMS ISSUE 4, 2016 INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (IMDP)

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1 INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (IMDP) THE HEALTH MANAGER ISSUE 4, 2016 IN THIS ISSUE ON LEADING MANAGEMENT TEAMS EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE: NATHALIE LE-LEOTARD PARTICIPANT PROFILE DR LUCIA GONZALEZ- FERNANDEZ SHAMSUN NAHER union-imdp.org

2 WELCOME TO THE HEALTH MANAGER ISSUE 4, 2016 LEADING MANAGEMENT TEAMS Dear Reader, Welcome to the fourth issue of The Health Manager on Leading Management Teams. In this issue, we speak with The Union s Global Human Resources Director, Nathalie le-Leotard, about why organisations around the world are shifting from traditional, hierarchal styles of people management to a more inclusive participatory approach. We also talk with IMDP alumni, Dr Lucia González Fernandez, HIV-TB-Hep C Advisor for Médecins Sans Frontiéres and Dr Shamsun Naher, Programme Manager for BRAC s Malaria Control Programme, to discuss their past experiences in participating in the Leading Management Teams course and the effect and benefits of training on their organsations and colleagues. Leading Management Teams provides leaders and managers with managerial dynamics that are necessary to deliver high-performing teams and allows team members to build inter-personal relationships in diverse work-settings. We hope this issue of The Health Manager will give you insight on how important it is to have a successful management team in order to effectively and efficiently implement your public health programmes. JOSÉ LUIS CASTRO EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE UNION Cover Photo Credit: Cédric Vrolant/The Union

3 INSIDE THIS ISSUE Letter From the Executive Director by José Luis Castro 2 Executive Perspective: Nathalie le-Leotard 5 Participant Profile: Dr Lucia Gonzalez-Fernandez 7 Ways Leading Management Teams Can Improve Your Team s Performance 9 Participant Profile: Shamsun Naher 10 The IMDP is a Union programme implemented by Vital Strategies. The Health Manager is published by The Union s International Management Development Programme (IMDP). Executive Director: José Luis Castro. Director of Publications: Kerensa Haffenden 2016 The Union. 3

4 LEADING MANAGEMENT TEAMS REGISTER AT UNION IMDP.ORG DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES This five-day course will help participants appreciate and develop the managerial dynamic necessary to elicit a high performance from staff and bring an awareness of leadership styles and strategies to interact with different kinds of people at work or elsewhere. Participants will gain an experiential understanding of how to build inter-personal relationships that can balance the task of managers and leaders. They will gain insights into why adopting a coaching and mentoring style of managing can be highly productive in task accomplishment and gain an understanding of how to go about building a positive culture at work. The course combines exercises and case studies from real health management situations and roleplaying simulations. Participants will address specific managerial problems from their own countries and strategic issues affecting public health programmes globally. BENEFITS OF TRAINING Master the principles of staff development such as providing feedback, coaching and mentoring Properly assign personnel in order to better plan and execute strategy Build personal relationships that can optimise performance Develop adaptable leadership styles and strategies Improve the productivity of staff One-year complimentary Union membership WHO SHOULD ATTEND Junior- to senior-level managers, leaders and directors, who manage diverse teams, deliver or manage high impact programmes, and face challenges from their teams, partners or larger communities in national health programmes or organisations. DATE LOCATION LEVEL COURSE FEE LANGUAGE 28 November 2 December 2016 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Junior- to senior- level managers 1,650 USD Course fee includes tuition, training material, lunch and two tea breaks. Residential package fee available at 2,610 USD (course fee USD for accommodation and breakfast). English UNION-IMDP.ORG/COURSES/LEADING-MANAGEMENT-TEAMS-2 4

5 EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE: NATHALIE LE-LEOTARD THE UNION GLOBAL HUMAN RESOURCES DIRECTOR Nathalie le-Leotard is The Union s Global Human Resources Director, responsible for the strategic direction of The Union s HR policies, and for management of its 750 staff worldwide. She spoke to The Health Manager about why organisations around the world are shifting from traditional, hierarchal styles of people management to a more inclusive, participatory approach. Q Nathalie, what do you consider the most important trait for a leader to possess in order to run an effective organisation? A I would say the number one rule is to have both charisma and humility. It s easy to find people with charisma, but humility is way more difficult. Leaders with a clear vision and humility will drive loyalty within their management team, which is a crucial ingredient for success. When you surround yourself with experts who are loyal and ethical, you have the sense of unity that creates a strong management team. Q You're describing a model that differs greatly from a traditional, more hierarchical management style. Is it possible, and advisable, for all organisations to take on the approach you describe? A In a smaller organisation, it can be okay to have a more hierarchal, traditional style. But as you grow bigger and reach a critical mass and a threshold of over 50 employees, the leader can no longer be a jack of all trades. You hit a wall. You need to surround yourself with strong people you can trust, because they are Photo: Courtesy of Nathalie le-Leotard 5

6 experts who together will contribute more to success than you ever could on your own. The rate of change is so rapid all over the world now in order to move things quickly, as we all now must, we need to surround ourselves with strong people. Strong, loyal people thrive and produce the most when they are granted the autonomy to take initiative within their field, in a participatory management structure. Q What are some shortcomings of the traditional, more authoritative approach? A The number one limitation is that you tend not to listen to the people who are the experts. You as the leader have the bigger picture, but your team are the experts who know more than you do about their respective areas of expertise. In an exchange where the leader provides the bigger picture and the experts perhaps offer challenging views, you get more out of the discussion. You have a debate; you go deeper into the fundamentals. It s richer. You get to look at all the different angles of an idea or issue. Typically this makes organisations stronger and more effective. You avoid blind spots. The diversity of experience, and the ability to challenge and be challenged, brings more quality and depth to what you, the leader, are trying to implement. Leaders with a clear vision and humility will drive loyalty within their management team, which is a crucial ingredient for success. Q How do people respond when they are working in such a collaborative environment, as opposed to a more traditional one? A When people don t feel they are involved at the heart of decision-making, they don t buy into it. So when you start implementing something, they are less committed to translating it into performance. They may think, We re doing this today, but tomorrow it could well be something else. There s a disengagement, and disengagement is the enemy of performance. Commitment doesn t flow from the classic authoritative model. It comes when people participate in the decision-making, and buy into it. Q Does this point of view apply generally around the world, or just in some cultures and societies? A All of the academic literature written in recent years about high performing teams has one thing in common: a more collaborative approach brings a greater chance of success. 6

7 PARTICIPANT PROFILE: DR LUCIA GONZÁLEZ FERNÁNDEZ HIV-TB-HEP C ADVISOR MÉDECINS SANS FRONTIÉRES HOLLAND Dr Lucia González Fernández currently works as an HIV-TB-Hep C advisor for Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders), Holland. In 2014, when she was working for Columbia University s ICAP program in Swaziland, she attended IMDP s Leading Management Teams. "Both my current and former positions have involved working across countries and time zones, with multicultural, global teams. Team members have different work models, different motivations, different levels of engagement. I took the IMDP course because I wanted to learn how to create teams with strong dynamics that do innovative work and keep everyone engaged. To my surprise, the course didn t so much teach me new leadership skills as help me reflect on and identify those skills I already have, and show me how to best use those skills to improve team dynamics and performance. I really grasped how far soft leadership skills such as paying attention to others non-verbal communication, or using active listening to understand team members needs and priorities can take you. As part of the course, I created a personal action plan, which included practicing just these sorts of approaches. Since then, I ve been incorporating them into my daily activities, and trying to Photo: Courtesy of Dr Lucia González Fernández 7

8 bring this sensitivity to other members of the group. As I ve transitioned into new roles, I ve come to recognise how much this approach can help me understand the visions and capabilities of others. Interestingly, these skills take on some complexity when working with a multicultural team. I ve learned that common behaviours at work may mean different things to different people, depending on their background. So keeping communications open, and listening and observing without judgement, are really important. "I really grasped how far soft leadership skills-such as paying attention to others non-verbal communication, or using active listening to understand team members needs and priorities-can take you. For me, one of the most important aspects of Leading Management Teams was that participants come from around the world, so discussion happens in the framework of a multicultural team. It s not based simply on the behaviours or customs of one single dominant culture, such as my own western one. That was particularly helpful for me, and it s a major reason I d recommend it to others." 8

9 WAYS LEADING MANAGEMENT TEAMS CAN IMPROVE YOUR TEAM S PERFORMANCE ü WHAT'S DIFFERENT ABOUT LEADING MANAGEMENT TEAMS? WHY DO WE NEED A SEPARATE AND DISTINCT COURSE? The difference is in what management teams have to deliver. While most other teams are task and deliverablefocused, Management Teams equally need to look at building the organisation, and therefore necessarily have to work closely with each other, even when functional objectives sometimes seem to oppose each other. ü ARE THERE ANY SPECIFIC AREAS THAT THIS COURSE EMPHASISES? From the name 'Leading Management Teams' we know that it is about developing leadership attributes and related behaviour. Building a coaching relationship with your management team rather than directing. Also, to prepare leaders to deal with uncertainty and ambiguity. This could be the single most game changing mental switch that a leader needs to make. ü WE HEAR THE WORD 'EMPOWERMENT' OFTEN. HOW DOES THAT RELATE TO LEADERSHIP? Of the many words that are freely used and sometimes overused in management the word empowerment perhaps stands out as one of the least understood and therefore not practised. We all know we want teams to be empowered. However, the leader needs to step back to allow the team to figure itself out. In the early days, the leader may want to have the team establish goals, however as the teams get comfortable with their own personal and collective power, the leader needs to transfer ownership to the team. That is the difficult part for the leader. It requires a handsfree, tether-free approach - letting the team find their own levels of peak performance. For the team, it is imperative that they understand what ownership means. The role of the leader in transition is to help the teams understand this. ü ü THAT SOUNDS LIKE A LOT OF HEAVY WORK. HOW WOULD THE COURSE HELP US GET THERE? Agreed. The work is heavy.. in its impact. The leader only has to change something in his or her mind. The course on Leading Management Teams brings together senior management and leaders in training from others around the world. The activities in the course helps each individual try out different perspectives right then and there. They get to see changes from a management perspective to a leadership perspective. They also get the benefit of shared experience and inputs from other public health professionals in their field. WHAT WOULD BE THE ONE BIG THING THAT ONE WOULD MISS BY NOT BEING IN THIS COURSE? Taking the learning to action. The activities and the space provided for practising the learning then and there helps us get into the habit of thinking through the process of converting to action, even as we learn. In today's world the simple tap of a key gets us inputs on almost any topic we need. It is extremely true for management topics where impressive libraries are available to many. However, the gap is in figuring out the action needed and also for us to see the impact or outcomes of those actions in the real world. The Leading Management Teams course is designed to cover this gap. 9

10 PARTICIPANT PROFILE: DR SHAMSUN NAHER PROGRAMME MANAGER-MALARIA CONTROL PROGRAMME BRAC DHAKA, BANGLADESH Dr Shamsun Naher is Programme Manager for BRAC s Malaria Control Programme in Bangladesh. Malaria is a major public health problem in certain areas of Bangladesh, and BRAC, a multi-national non-governmental organisation (NGO), is working in partnership with the National Malaria Control Programme to strengthen and expand malaria control activities in these areas, both directly and through other NGOs. Dr Naher s responsibilities include managing grants, coordinating various stakeholders, supervising the implementation of activities in the field and managing human resources for staff both in the field and on-site. "I work in partnership with a variety of organisations local and international NGOs, government and community-based groups, research institutes, and so on. The job requires strong communication and management skills, and I felt I could use a course that would help me develop these skills especially as they relate to human resources in the field. So I enrolled in IMDP s Leading Management Teams. 10 Photo: Courtesy of Dr Shamsun Naher

11 The course turned out to be a lot of fun. I was surprised at how informal it was. There was no official presentation it was all very participatory and practical. In fact, one of the best things about it was how everyone got involved people were really enthusiastic. " The course turned out to be a lot of fun. I was surprised at how informal it was. There was no official presentation- it was all very participatory and practical. I also learned even more than I expected. The training covered effective team management, ways to engage people, coaching, situational leadership, and more. I learned how to move beyond my comfort zone and realize my own potential. In the end, I came away with all kinds of lessons that I have been able to apply to my day-to-day work. I even held a workshop for my colleagues, where we talked about leadership, positive thinking, coaching, and other management issues. When I get the opportunity, I plan to conduct more of these kinds of trainings. When I see employees who have leadership potential, I m planning to send them to this course, as well. It s a great opportunity for high-quality learning and it s fun!" 11

12 INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME (IMDP) THE HEALTH MANAGER ISSUE 4, 2016 The IMDP is a Union programme implemented by Vital Strategies Vital Strategies 61 Broadway, Suite 1010 New York, NY USA Tel: (+1) Fax: (+1) imdp@theunion.org union-imdp.org union-imdp.org