Neil Goodwin
Neil Goodwin is a director of GoodwinHannah and visiting professor of leadership studies at Manchester Business School.
Recent activity
Blog Posts (36)
-
More management, less leadership please
Not everyone can be a leader but many more can be managers and take greater control of organisational life around them.
-
Nursing, society and older people
The argument about whether nursing should be a degree-based profession is merely a displacement activity. The real issue is about the link between nurse training and how society wants its older citizens to be cared for.
-
Acquisitions are not just a business process
Acquisitions won’t work unless attention is paid to issues other than just the business process of one organisation acquiring another.
-
Lessons to learn from Barclays
Bob Diamond appears to have seen nothing, heard nothing or known nothing. So said the Treasury Select Committee. But is it possible for chief executives to know everything that is going on in their organisation? Clearly not, but they do need to know what they should know.
-
The introverted leader's time has come
Has the time at last arrived for the introverted leader in this brash, noisy and personality driven world? I think so. In these uncertain times we need leaders who can project calm reassurance rather than attempt to rouse us with fine oratory or hector us with their visions of what may be.
Neil Goodwin contributes to:
Comments (19)
-
Comment on: More management, less leadership please
Thanks for the above comments, I'm most grateful. I have reflected on what you have all said and re-ordered my own thinking as follows: 1. At times of austerity life is about choices and this includes investing in leadership development. If it can't be demonstrated to have a positive result then it should be changed or dropped. A year is sufficient time in any leadership programme to draw interim conclusions. 2. From a patient perspective (and like many I have been a patient) what I believe is needed to provide efficient and effective services is good quality management and administration - we have neglected both over the years at the expense of leadership, which we also have inappropriately elevated in importance above the other two. They are all of equal importance. 3. Improving management and administration does not always require leadership. As John Kotter said, sometimes you need more management and less leadership, and sometimes vice versa. I believe that now is a time for more management. 3. The NHS is rightly judged by those who have control over its future on bottom-line performance (finance, quality, safety patient experience, etc). As a tax payer I judge it that way too and will be assured by seeing improving and sustainable bottom-line performance. If staff development investments cannot demonstrably contribute to that then - to be provocative - they will have largely been in vain. 4. Sadly but inevitably given the nature of yet another scandal, the Francis report will adversely impact on the reputation of NHS management; however, it is of course only a small proportion of managers who let the side down. I assume Francis will also comment on board capability where, based on my own inquiries into adverse board governance, much development is still required. Mid Staffs has clearly demonstrated that regulation is not the complete answer which, in my view, is having a greater focus on building good quality local boards and local management. 5. What all this says to me is twofold. First, we are in the early period of a very difficult time for NHS management and I'm not sure I have yet seen sufficient evidence from people and organisational development investments to date that a firm enough foundation exists to create universal success. Success, we can be certain, will be at best distinctly patchy. Second, changing the language - by introducing 'management' and 'administration' alongside 'leadership' will help dispel the perception that leadership is only for the few and is somehow superior to management and administration. This is, I strongly believe, an important signal for the clincial professionals who in contrast to the hierarchical approach of management, deliver care on an integrated, multi-disciplinary and often non-hierarchical team basis. Somehow we have to bridge this gap between these two styles, which for me means reinventing management so that its aproach and style mirrors that of the clincial professions. 6.Finally, it may seem strange for a leadership academic to question what is, in essence, my livelihood. But looking at the issues facing NHS managment and the clinical professions today, although leadership does have its place I'm no longer convinced it is the answer we often think it is.
-
Comment on: Military-style leadership doesn't suit the public sector
Sarah's absolutely right. First, the ability to explain to others what's happening in the world around them is a consistently underrated leadership skill. And second, a simple, easily understood approach is best. Leadership is an important process but that's what it is - a process - not an end in itself. Keeping it as simple as possible is more than half the battle of making it work. My favourite explanation is that it's a threefold process: one, it's about developing relationships; it's developing a simple, easily understood vision; and three, it's creating an implementation network to get things done through others.
-
Comment on: More management, less leadership please
I agree Karen and thanks for responding. Of course my blog is presented in black and white terms to be deliberately provocative, as I know you know. By bottom line performance I do of course mean not just quantitative measures but also qualitative stuff such as quality, safety and patient experience; measures that are just as important in other industries that have to balance resource consumption with quality, efficiency and delivery as we know. I think the problem is past NHS performance is variable so delivering a consistent bottom line has been challenging over the years. So whilst we may need a different approach to leadership culture in some parts of the NHS we also need a greater focus on the managerial 'what' to increase the probability of delivery. It's a tough trick to pull off and to be somewhat flippent the worst of all worlds would be to end up with a better leadership but worsening delivery! Finally, continuing to be a little provocative I would argue that managers - at whatever level - are only as good as both their bottom-line (however we define that) and their last decision because delivery and decision-making are what people look to them to do (using appropriate process of course).
-
Comment on: Military-style leadership doesn't suit the public sector
Good points Blair. The NHS historically has been over-fond of both searching for leadership models elsewhere and/or repeatedly inventing its own leadership model(s). What the NHS should do more of is to regularly remind itself that leadership is ninety-nine perspiration and one percent inspiration. In short, stop overcomplicating the process, and just get on and do it.
-
Comment on: Nursing, society and older people
I completely agree.
