It was recently announced that Sir David Nicholson has been appointed head of the NHS Commissioning Board in England. In a career spanning more than 30 years in the health service, Sir David Nicholson has risen from management trainee to the top job, NHS Chief Executive.
He will take up his new post from next April, as the Board starts operating in shadow form. The Board will oversee the network of GP consortia that will take charge of running local health services from 2013.
With the health service gearing up for what has been dubbed the biggest re-organisation in its history, he says the changes will present a huge challenge to hospitals in particular, and called on them to be ready to adapt to the changing landscape. He also said he wanted to see doctors leading the case for reform, saying “without getting them on board the NHS faces a fight to convince the public on the need for change.”
However, he also said ".. but of course a lot of the changes that we are moving forward to now we have been moving forward and thinking about for many many years. For the last 20 years now we have been working with GPs about how to get them involved with commissioning and shaping services."
Bringing about change is the main concern of a leader – if there is no change there is no need for a leader. Maintaining the status quo is a management function and since change happens all the time managers also need to be leaders.
How are you at instigating change? How can you bring everyone with you? Do you go for Revolution or evolution?
Only a very limited group of people like shocks, so how can this lesson be transferred to business practices? Do staff look forward to a sudden U-turn, a drastic sea change, a complete transformation? Most people would want to feel in control and intensely dislike being taken aback or proved wrong.
Does your company value stability over rapid shifts? How can you foster progress and work towards achieving a competitive advantage while balancing the old and the new?
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