Guest blog by Air Commodore David McLoughlin OBE QHS MStJ, SOM Past President
During my three years on the SOM Board, a key challenge was determining the future direction of the organisation and reviewing its strategy. Setting the future strategy for an organisation is what leaders have to do (Strategos is the Greek word for a military leader, a General). Less frequently do we review the outcome of the decisions that we make. I am pleased that as a result of the new strategy, membership of SOM has now increased and budgets are in surplus; however wider challenges remain including occupational health’s role in supporting workplaces in the context of COVID-19, widening access to occupational health, and halting declines in occupational medicine consultant and medical specialty trainee numbers.
Addressing such challenges requires collaborative leadership at every level. In the military, there is early formal training in leadership and, over the years, I have observed what works, and what doesn’t. During my last role, as Head of the RAF Medical Services, we had to respond to COVID-19 while maintaining healthcare, providing aviation medicine training to aircrew, and delivering a 24/7 global aeromedical evacuation service. COVID-19 responses included supporting the NHS, delivering testing and vaccinations, distributing vaccines worldwide and repatriating British citizens from Wuhan and cruise ships. It was a busy time with uncertainty and complexity, especially for the RAF aeromedical teams undertaking Wuhan repatriation flights before the virus had spread within the UK.[1]
As a leader, I tried to be as visible, transparent and authentic as possible to the 1500 healthcare workers in the RAF, with the help of multiple letters, videos, social media posts and Townhalls via Zoom. The RAF core values of Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence helped me anchor during these demanding and challenging times. I was also fortunate in having a great team, focussed on the mission. Many of these individuals went on to receive state honours for their outstanding contributions during the pandemic.
Currently, I’m lucky to be on a year long strategic leadership course at the Royal College of Defence Studies.[2] We receive academic tuition on leadership and hear from national and international leaders in government and industry. Setting a vision and reviewing progress continue to be important leadership themes. Self-awareness is vital, as are the behaviours of successful global leaders, such as being values-based, collaborative and compassionate.[3] Contemporary trends include an emphasis on transformative leadership, global mindset and sustainable development. All presenters have emphasised the need for lifelong learning.
So where are you on your own leadership journey? And what are you doing to continue to build your leadership skills? The SOM can assist here, providing expert advice, peer support, placement opportunities, mentoring, academic buddies and a CESR support group. In 2022, we are setting up Action Learning Sets with professional facilitators as part of the SOM Future Leaders programme. In addition, the SOM are creating leadership training bursaries. The NHS too has significant new leadership offers.
A final thought: high quality leadership is crucial for achieving organisational and personal goals, so consider discussing your leadership development needs during annual appraisals. If you do, you will be “on trend” as General Sir Gordon Messenger’s review of Health and Social Care Leadership will be further raising the profile of this important topic.[4]
Air Commodore David McLoughlin OBE QHS MStJ, SOM Past President