Leadership Dispatch – 14 December 2022
Welcome to our December edition of the Leadership Dispatch.
Introduction By Kerry Moody
This month as my thoughts turn to end of the year, I have been reflecting on my year of cold water swimming and how the commitment to myself and my wellbeing had a positive impact on my life. I am not suggesting that the south east workforce comes to join me in the cold winter Sussex sea, (though all are welcome) but I can see the similarity in how we as leaders continue to support our staff wellbeing during an uncomfortably resourced winter for Health and Care.
There are a couple of things that joining an eclectic group of cold water swimmers has taught me, which provide some parallels to our leadership resilience:
Self-Care is non-negotiable; In the sea I need all the right gear to help me get through the winter. I’ve had after-drop once and now pay close attention to my body. As leaders, paying attention to how we feel is equally important. Noticing if you are not feeling your best can be an opportunity to invest in getting the support you need. Our offer for Bitesize coaching, with specially trained coaches can provide you with the headspace to focus on your next best steps.
Community can make us feel safe; Swimming alone in any weather is beyond my level of comfort and expertise, and even with my group there have been days I’ve not gone in the water when others have and days when I felt a level of shared energy to get me to take that first step. Our Leading Transformation for Integrated Care programme provides an opportunity to join virtual sessions to work with others in understanding current challenges and opportunities, whilst learning, sharing and growing with others in similar situations.
Paying attention to purpose: Getting out of a warm bed and driving down to the beach in the sunshine is easy. In the colder months, with dark starts and damp days I have to focus on the fact that the sea will provide a short, sharp, shock which gives me hours of positive reward. It can be a difficult time to prioritise your own development and yet for those who do, your growth can help to support you in building a workforce with inclusion and compassion at the centre. Our Growing Your Workforce programme, aimed at Emerging Leaders, provides a range of virtual and online learning with Action Learning and access to coaching or mentoring alongside.
Never turn your back on the waves! Learnt at my own cost, after many a mouthful of salty water. The sea can be rough and unexpectedly changeable at times. As leaders we can also see better and know what is coming, when we look forward and nourish ourselves and our teams. Rising Strong from Mental Health to Mental Wealth is an offer to create positive ripples of impact on your family, team and patients in a way that has resilience at its core. Supporting Growth Through Adversity where we consider positive growth through adversity models and how we frame our experiences and learning for ourselves and others as we move forward in our leadership could also be a helpful session for unexpected times.
Population Health Through Community Development – a half-day event where we will start to explore the link between community involvement, local economic development, and population health – with a particular emphasis on shifting our thinking and practice in terms of our workforce challenges. Further details can be found here – Population health through community development maximising the impact of anchor institutions
There are more helpful offers to support leaders through continuing times of challenge and transition detailed in the slide deck below Which include the following system leadership programmes:
System Convening Masterclasses:
Please do have a look and book onto any offers that are of interest.
If you have any questions or would like to chat through any of the above, do feel free to get in touch with our team by contacting us via [email protected].
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