Leadership answers Flashcards
What is the difference between leadership and management?
The key difference between leadership and management is that leadership is motivating people to bring about change in a new direction, while management is directing resources and people in a system that is already established.
Leadership - personal to encompass change and managing people
Management - goals oriented, systems and processes makes sure that the system works, rota coordinator.
leadership - directing colleagues
management - overseeing them
what is compassionate leadership?
o Compassionate leadership involves a focus on relationships through careful listening to, understanding, empathising with and supporting other people, enabling those we lead to feel valued, respected and cared for, so they can reach their potential and do their best work. There is clear evidence that compassionate leadership results in more engaged and motivated staff with high levels of wellbeing, which in turn results in high-quality care
My example: Trauma and Orthopaedic LFG lead, tasked with relaying concerns of SHO’s to the faculty to implement change due to concerns of unsupported SHOs. Sat down with SHOs to gauge concerns individually, ensuring psychological safety and confidentialty and sensitivly relayed concerns. Open feedback and channels of communication between seniors and juniors.
what makes a bad leader?
A bad leader often exhibits traits that hinder team dynamics, productivity, and morale. Examples would include lack of integrity, poor communication, lack of psychological safety, authoritarianism with disregard for others’ views, lack of empathy and unpredictability.
Example I’ve seen:
A bad leader creates a culture of fear and lack of psychological safety, leading to poor communication and uncertainty. An example of this is in my roles as an SHO on T&O where some seniors were previously shouting at SHOs particularly in the trauma meeting and undermining their plans without constructively offering ways of improvement. Traits such as authoritarianism, undermining behavior, and disregard for others’ views result in SHOs feeling fearful to escalate concerns. Unclear plans and absence of constructive feedback further contribute to inefficiency and confusion. In contrast, good leadership involves clear guidelines, effective communication, and constructive feedback to foster clarity and collaboration.
when have you not been a good leader?
As Street Doctor President, I faced challenges with team engagement between March and June - exam season, which led to the cancellation of key sessions for our delivery partners. On reflection, this was due to a lack of proactive communication and not effectively considering team availability in planning.
This experience taught me the importance of strategic planning, collaborative leadership, and adaptability. By implementing a rota system that incorporated team availability into session planning, I improved engagement and ensured operational efficiency. This reinforced my commitment to clear communication and inclusive decision-making, fostering a more cohesive and motivated team.
when have you seen bad leadership?
A bad leader can create a culture of fear, where psychological safety is compromised, leading to poor communication and uncertainty. As an SHO on T&O, I witnessed this firsthand in trauma meetings, where some senior colleagues would shout at SHOs and undermine their plans without offering constructive feedback. This authoritarian and undermining behavior created an environment where SHOs felt too fearful to escalate concerns, and unclear plans contributed to inefficiencies and confusion. The lack of psychological safety hindered team collaboration and growth, as team members were reluctant to share their ideas or challenge decisions.
In contrast, good leadership fosters a culture of trust, clarity, and constructive feedback. By providing clear guidelines, effective communication, and actively encouraging feedback, I have been able to build an environment where everyone feels comfortable voicing concerns and contributing to decision-making. This collaborative approach ensures that the team works efficiently and cohesively, ultimately leading to better outcomes for patients.
Through these experiences, I have learned the importance of fostering psychological safety, offering constructive feedback, and maintaining clear communication. These leadership principles will directly benefit my growth as a Core Surgical Trainee, helping me contribute to a more supportive, efficient, and high-performing surgical team.
what are the qualities of a good leader?
Transformational Leadership – Inspires and motivates teams by setting a vision, fostering innovation, and encouraging personal and professional growth.
Servant Leadership – Prioritizes the needs of employees, empowers them, and focuses on their well-being and development.
Democratic Leadership (Participative Leadership) – Encourages team involvement in decision-making, values input, and fosters collaboration.
Coaching Leadership – Guides and mentors individuals, helping them develop their skills and reach their full potential.
Authentic Leadership – Leads with honesty, transparency, and self-awareness, building trust and credibility.
Charismatic Leadership – Inspires and influences teams through strong communication, confidence, and enthusiasm.
Empathetic Leadership – Builds relationships by understanding and addressing team members’ emotions, challenges, and motivations.
Visionary Leadership – Focuses on long-term goals and innovation, guiding teams toward a compelling future.
Situational Leadership – Adapts leadership style based on the team’s needs and circumstances, switching between directive and supportive approaches.
Inclusive Leadership – Values diversity, promotes fairness, and creates an environment where everyone feels heard and respected.
Challenges you faced during leadership ?
Street Doctors Example
Delegation, taking on too much responsibility,
Loss of engagement and motivation in a large team
motivation in a large team – hard to hold everyone accountable
when have you shown compassionate leadership?
While leading a STARSurg audit across five hospitals, I initially took a **Pacesetting leadership **approach, expecting all team members to meet strict deadlines. However, when one hospital lead struggled to keep up, missing deadlines and causing coordination issues, I recognized that a Commanding or Transactional response—simply demanding results—would not be effective.
Instead, I shifted to a** Servant and Coaching leadership style, having an open conversation to understand his challenges. He was balancing personal issues and job applications, which were affecting his performance. Rather than pressuring him, we collaboratively agreed that he would step back from his leadership role while still contributing in a smaller capacity. This ensured both the audit’s success and his well-being, demonstrating the importance of Emotional Intelligence and Situational Leadership** in high-pressure environments.
This experience reinforced my belief that compassionate leadership—balancing individual needs with team objectives—is crucial in surgery. As a Core Surgical Trainee, I will apply this adaptable approach when managing junior colleagues, leading trauma calls, and working within the MDT to maintain both team efficiency and patient safety.
when have you had to adapt your leadership style?
During my experience organizing a ski trip as part of a committee, I had to adapt my leadership style to ensure the success of the event. Initially, I took a highly structured and results-driven approach, leveraging my strong organizational skills and previous experience to efficiently gather ideas for dates, accommodation, and location. However, this year presented new challenges— a different location and a significantly larger group with diverse expectations.
Recognizing the need for flexibility, I shifted from an autocratic leadership style to a more democratic and collaborative approach. We established weekly strategy meetings, fostering open communication and encouraging team input to ensure all perspectives were considered. By delegating responsibilities based on skill sets and prior experience, I empowered team members to take ownership of their roles, enhancing engagement and accountability.
This adaptive approach not only improved team cohesion and morale but also resulted in a well-organized trip that met the group’s collective expectations. The experience reinforced the importance of agility, active listening, and inclusivity in effective leadership.
This experience taught me the importance of adaptability, teamwork, and effective delegation—all essential qualities for a successful surgeon. Just as in organizing a large-scale event, surgery requires the ability to lead a multidisciplinary team, communicate clearly, and adjust strategies based on evolving situations. By fostering a collaborative environment and ensuring that each team member’s strengths are utilized, a surgeon can enhance patient outcomes and team efficiency. Learning to balance decisiveness with inclusivity will enable me to make critical decisions while also valuing input from colleagues, ultimately leading to better surgical performance and patient care..
Give some examples of Good leadership styles?
Transformational Leadership – Inspires and motivates teams by setting a vision, fostering innovation, and encouraging personal and professional growth.
Servant Leadership – Prioritizes the needs of employees, empowers them, and focuses on their well-being and development.
Democratic Leadership (Participative Leadership) – Encourages team involvement in decision-making, values input, and fosters collaboration.
Coaching Leadership – Guides and mentors individuals, helping them develop their skills and reach their full potential.
Authentic Leadership – Leads with honesty, transparency, and self-awareness, building trust and credibility.
Charismatic Leadership – Inspires and influences teams through strong communication, confidence, and enthusiasm.
Empathetic Leadership – Builds relationships by understanding and addressing team members’ emotions, challenges, and motivations.
Visionary Leadership – Focuses on long-term goals and innovation, guiding teams toward a compelling future.
Situational Leadership – Adapts leadership style based on the team’s needs and circumstances, switching between directive and supportive approaches.
Inclusive Leadership – Values diversity, promotes fairness, and creates an environment where everyone feels heard and respected.
what makes a bad leader?
- A bad leader often exhibits traits that hinder team dynamics, productivity, and morale. Examples would include lack of integrity, poor communication, demeaning and undermining behaviour, authoritarianism with disregard for others’ views, lack of empathy and unpredictability.
Give some examples of a bad leadership style
Bad Leadership Styles (Can Be Harmful if Overused or Misapplied)
Autocratic – Makes decisions independently with strict control, leading to efficiency but often stifling creativity and team motivation.
Coercive – Uses authority and discipline to demand compliance, effective in crises but can harm morale and innovation.
Pacesetting – Sets extremely high standards and expects the team to exceed them, which can cause burnout and stress.
Transactional – Focuses on rules, rewards, and tasks, ensuring clarity but often lacking inspiration and personal connection.
Laissez-Faire – Takes a hands-off approach, which can lead to autonomy in skilled teams but causes a lack of direction in less experienced groups.
When have you united your team together for a setback?
Street Doctors / StarSurg Example
How do you intend to bring your leadership skills into core surgical training?
Leadership - personal to encompass change, having a vision
Multiple roles
- Clinically - MDT working
- Clinical Governance
- Research and Audit
- Teaching
-
Managerially:
In my SHO role, I serve as the Trauma & Orthopaedic representative, advocating for junior doctors by raising concerns and proposing solutions at the Local Faculty Group (LFG) meetings. This role has strengthened my ability to engage with senior colleagues, negotiate improvements, and enhance working conditions for the team.
Personal Development & Application to Core Surgical Training:
These leadership experiences have shaped my ability to work effectively within high-pressure surgical environments, communicate across disciplines, and drive improvements in patient care. In Core Surgical Training, I will continue to lead within trauma calls, engage in surgical education, contribute to research, and advocate for junior colleagues—ensuring I develop into a well-rounded surgical leader.
Why would you be a good core surgical trainee?
Clinical Skills & Experience
A good surgical trainee:
1. Strong Clinical and Technical Skills
2) Commitment to Learning & Professional Development
3) Strong Leadership and Teamwork Skills
Acute surgical pathology
Managing a post hemiarthroplasty with an acute hb drop escalating accordingly to my ortho registrar and consultant A-E to acutely stabilise the patient, and putting out a major haemorrhage protocol
I recognised the limits of my competence, appropriate triage as well as holistically
Strong foundation in anatomy and a hands-on,
I’ve developed my foundational level of basic surgical principles by conducting MRCS Part A and completed a compliance on BSSH hand trauma cases which I presented
Why do you want to be a surgical trainee?
I am driven to surgery, particularly plastics, because it allows me to combine my passion for:
1) Positively changing patients’ lives in a tangible, hands-on way.
2) Challenging myself, particularly in pioneering work such as facial palsy reconstruction.
3) Innovation through research and audit, ensuring continuous advancement in surgical techniques.
4) Working within multiple teams, collaborating across specialties to achieve the best patient outcomes.
5)
I have deepened my interest through multiple placements, publications, and audits with the plastics team at QVH. I was particularly in awe of their dedication to innovation, especially their work on vascularized nerve grafts, a novel technique in facial reanimation.
I was fortunate to carry out
Conclusion
Surgery is the perfect intersection of technical skill, problem-solving, and innovation, allowing me to make a direct and meaningful impact on patients.
An example of being under pressure?
At the beginning of my F2 year, I faced a period of intense pressure while transitioning into a new GP rotation. At the same time, I was balancing multiple competing demands:
Having just sat the MRCS Part A, I was now preparing for the MSRA and my Core Surgical Training application.
Managing academic commitments, including ongoing research projects and publications.
Completing my ATLS course, which required additional preparation.
With so many responsibilities, I risked burnout. To adapt, I took a step back and re-evaluated my approach:
✅ Prioritisation – I identified the most urgent tasks, focusing on MSRA preparation while spreading out ATLS revision over a longer period.
✅ Organisation – I created a structured schedule, breaking tasks into manageable goals to avoid feeling overwhelmed.
✅ Seeking Support – I leaned on colleagues, mentors, and friends, being honest about my workload and sharing experiences.
✅ Maintaining Well-being – I prioritised exercise (going to the gym), socialising, and healthy habits, ensuring I stayed mentally and physically resilient.
Applying This to Surgical Training
Surgical training is demanding, requiring the ability to juggle clinical, academic, and personal responsibilities while working in high-pressure environments. This experience strengthened my ability to stay composed under pressure, adapt to challenges, and maintain efficiency through structured planning. I have developed the resilience to manage a busy workload while continuing to grow clinically and academically, skills that will be essential as I progress in my surgical career.
What makes a good team - give an example of that you’ve worked in
A good team is built on clear leadership, structured communication, defined roles, and a supportive learning environment.
Example: Orthogeriatrics Team as an FY1
During my FY1 placement in Orthogeriatrics, I worked in a highly effective multidisciplinary team:
Clear Leadership: The orthogeriatric consultant provided strong direction, ensuring efficient patient management and safety.
Structured Communication & Teamwork: MDT meetings and daily handovers fostered clear communication, allowing us to make decisions swiftly and collaboratively.
Defined Roles: Each team member understood their responsibilities, enhancing workflow and minimizing delays.
Culture of Learning & Feedback: The team encouraged continuous teaching and open feedback, creating a safe environment for personal growth.
How has your leadership style change?
My leadership style has evolved significantly over time. When I was president of Street Doctors, I initially adopted a Laissez-faire approach, especially when facing challenges like low engagement from team members during exam season. At that point, I took a step back, hoping that the team would self-organize, but I quickly realized that this wasn’t effective in motivating the team or ensuring attendance.
Recognizing the issue, I transitioned towards a more Democratic and Coaching leadership style. I organized a meeting to actively listen to the team’s concerns and collaboratively identified barriers to engagement. We worked together to create a framework for team members to pre-provide their availability, which helped in scheduling mutually convenient sessions. This led to better team cohesion, reduced cancellations, and improved morale, which was a key turning point in my leadership development.
This experience taught me the value of clear communication, collaboration, and adaptability in leadership. By learning to actively listen to my team, address concerns, and adapt my approach to suit the needs of the group, I developed skills that are crucial for a successful surgical trainee. In Core Surgical Training, I will apply this more collaborative and proactive approach to work effectively within multidisciplinary teams, ensure efficient patient care, and adapt to the dynamic nature of the surgical environment. This ability to engage and motivate those around me will help me contribute to team success, enhance learning, and improve patient outcomes.
Teaching Experience
Extensive teaching experience
Regionally + Locally
Teaching patients, AHP’s medical students and fellow doctors in clinical governance
Formal Teach the trainer course and Applying for PG Cert next year
Street Doctors - adapting to audiences, taking on feedback, multimodal format, including interactive lectures, simulations, as different people have different learning style, making the information applicable,
Practical application of teach the teacher course, applying to CST as part of the MDT, medical students, Allied professionals but specifically important to engage patients in their care
