Becoming a leader in aged care
An organisational specialist at the University of Adelaide has uncovered how strong leaders think and what they do to make the companies they lead more adaptive over time.
As part of her PhD (based on 25 years' experience), Dr Fiona Kerr says her research shows that leaders of truly adaptive organisations (organisations with the capability to successfully evolve) possess a unique set of skills and thought processes; and simply being strong and successful is not an effective basis for leading and shaping an innovative organisation.
Dr Kerr, systems and neural complexity specialist at the University of Adelaide’s Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Innovation Centre, describes 'good leaders' as those with the ability to create and guide a flexible organisation by establishing and maintaining a shared understanding amongst colleagues, guided by deeply held and clearly stated values.
She says strong leaders are pragmatic optimists and are trustworthy, with the ability to make complex decisions, have a high level of self awareness (emotional and stress regulation), and sound communication skills and combine analysis with intuitive reasoning.
As Australia's population rapidly ages, the aged care industry faces a changing regulatory framework, heightened frailty levels of residence, increased community expectations, skilled workforce issues and remaining financially viable in an ever changing economic world. The demand has never been greater, changes more rapid and innovation exceeding all expectations.
“Good leaders strive towards building a trustworthy work environment with a high level of honesty, listening, and the support of information ‘cascading’ through the organisation with minimal controls and blockages,” Dr Kerr says.
“Such leaders also create a low blame/high risk culture. Employees are encouraged to try new things and learn from what did and didn’t work. Strong leaders have a good radar – a solid idea of how their employees are progressing,” she adds.
According to Dr Kerr, good leadership can actually change employees’ brains for the better.
“Effectively leading an organisation actually changes the way people think and changes their brains – they become better at dealing with complex problems and they grow to be more creative.
“However, this doesn’t mean organisations shouldn’t be necessarily managed. Maximum creativity comes when there is a boundary, which identifies tangible goals, within which to be creative,” she says.
Dr Kerr says her findings can help people improve their leadership style and also aids those recruiting for the top job.
“For those wanting to be better leaders, it’s important to understand the difference between controlling and steering,” she says.
“Steering allows people to flourish and think more analytically and creatively, while controlling restricts staff – it’s about telling and showing people what needs to be achieved but not how to get there.”
Leading aged care into the future…
Exploring the topic of aged care leadership is the upcoming Aged Care Leaders Symposium – a one and a half day event being held at Crown Conference Centre, Melbourne on 23 and 24 July 2015.
Designed for chief executive officers, chairs, board members and high level executives in both the profit and not for profit sector, the symposium will expose delegates to aged care leaders, offering them strategic and proven advice to gain an advantage in the sector.
The symposium is co-chaired by David Baker, DPS Publishing's chief executive, and Klaus Zimmermann AM, past national president of Aged and Community Services Australia and former chief executive of Eldercare.
“It is our intention to offer a symposium throughout Australian Capital Cities annually and to offer a program for our high level executives to be better able to lead the aged care sector through the myriad of issues that it faces now and in the future,” Mr Baker says.
