Soft skills for successful leadership in healthcare
No matter which area of healthcare you work in, the field can be tough. Working in the healthcare industry comes with countless challenges and hurdles to overcome and difficult decisions to make in day-to-day practice. Effective leaders in the field must possess the right characteristics to handle these challenges. As a leader, you must make strong decisions in critical situations, nurture and develop a productive team, and help people reach their goals on an individual and team level.
Most importantly, however, you must deliver the best healthcare possible, and this requires a range of essential soft skills. Here is a look at the most critical soft skills needed for becoming a successful leader in the healthcare industry. From communicating clearly to being self-aware, several key components are needed to excel in healthcare leadership.
What are soft skills?
Soft skills are skills learned and acquired not as a result of specific knowledge or direct learning but as life skills or characteristics helping with many aspects of life, personally and professionally. These skills are learned on the job and are defined as ‘desirable skills and qualities required for a job or role”. So, which soft skills apply specifically to healthcare?
The essential soft skills for healthcare leadership
Empathy, communication, emotional intelligence, teamwork, active listening, self-awareness and decision-making are crucial skills for healthcare leaders.
- Empathy
Empathy is essential to any healthcare leadership role. It doesn’t matter if you work in mental health, pharmacy or nursing; empathy is paramount for all caregivers. In short, empathy allows you to see things from someone else’s perspective. It looks at how someone else feels and may respond in certain situations. As a leader, the ability to read these subtle social cues and interpret other feelings and actions means you can nurture a happier, healthier and more productive workplace.
Empathy is helpful when working with your team to understand what motivates the individuals on it – understanding their personal life, thoughts, feelings, emotions, and motivations. It is also valuable for helping patients receive the best level of care possible and working with key industry players such as insurance representatives and other healthcare professionals. Always try to look at situations from the other person’s point of view.
- Communication
Clear communication is another critical cog in the machine of successful healthcare leadership. It allows you to convey messages across a wide range of mediums and situations. Whether it is verbal, written or digital, communicating ideas and requests is vital. Communication allows you to delegate efficiently and decipher the scope of a project in more detail and with greater understanding.
- Emotional intelligence
Much like empathy, having emotional intelligence helps you become a better leader and understand the people around you. Emotional intelligence can be defined as the capacity to be aware, have control of, and express emotions in various situations. Essentially, it allows you to manage, control and handle your emotions.
As a leader, this allows you to develop a leadership style that is beneficial to each team member at an individual level as it helps you understand someone’s motivations, goals, worries and how they may work best. This enables you to get the best out of each team member while creating a more unified workplace.
- Teamwork
Teamwork is a vital component of any leadership role, but in an industry as complex and challenging as healthcare, it is especially important. Putting together a great team is one of the main roles of leaders and helps your organization become more productive. From setting clear goals on an individual and team level to giving and receiving feedback, offering rewards and leading by example, there are many ways you can nurture a great team.
- Active listening
As a leader, simply listening isn’t enough; you need to practice active listening. This entails careful and attentive listening in which each party seeks to truly understand one another and respond accordingly. Whether it means listening to patients’ concerns or clarifying an issue affecting a team member, making a habit of listening actively and responding proactively is vital.
- Self-awareness
In a fast-paced and often stressful environment, being self-aware is essential. Knowing what you can and cannot handle will allow you to delegate efficiently based on the strengths and weaknesses of you and your team. Being self-aware also means constantly improving yourself and learning new skills. This helps you lead by example and paves the way for future leaders stepping into your role.
- Decision-making
Decision-making, like communication, is a key competency in the healthcare workplace. It means you can make swift and clear decisions backed by data in what can often be difficult or complex situations. Interpreting the information available and using it to make smart decisions is an essential part of being a healthcare leader.
If you are looking to refine the skills needed for effective healthcare leadership, consider earning a degree in nursing leadership. Baylor University offers an online course that teaches you everything you need to know to work as a nurse and become a leader in healthcare.
Final words
Working in healthcare can be challenging, but it is also a truly rewarding career path that allows you to make a difference in people’s lives. Whether you are helping patients overcome the difficulties they face or assisting team members in achieving their goals, improving your leadership skills can make a true difference to others. Developing your soft skills and putting them to use in healthcare leadership can provide you with a very rewarding career.
