The Life Sciences sector is a dynamic environment that requires consistent reforms to remain efficient, safe and to maintain a high-level of quality. In doing so, great leadership is a practical way to guide all levels and functions in the industry. Great leadership skills affect the design, development and distribution of medical products which can alter patients’ lives.

Traditionally, leadership within the medical field has been met with extreme formalities and rigidity which has disrupted the flow among the workplace. In fact, health organisations often faced challenges in:

♦ Organisational structure; pertaining to a centralized, complex and bureaucratic system.

♦ Human Resources; pertaining to workforce distribution and management, staff empowerment and motivation, and staff diversity and inclusion.

♦ Work environment and nature; relating to stress and tensions in the workplace and teamwork analytics.

♦ Leadership Qualities; referring to the lack of basic leadership skills and the inability to understand social, cultural or economic issues.

Recent studies revealed that these major problems that exist in the medical care systems were partly due to poor leadership training and communication. Consequently, this allows efficiency to be reduced and dissatisfaction among staff to occur which can have a trickling effect in lowering patient satisfaction and ultimately society’s health level. Contemporary times have welcomed a more embracing means of leadership to solve the challenges mentioned. For example, collective leadership is a form of shared leadership which mixes some traits of the structured hierarchy with the dependent roles based on expertise. This is seen in the individual leadership roles assigned to all staff, including, doctors, nurses, clinicians, etc.

With collective leadership, individual leaders are encouraged to work together to; share ideas, adopt leadership styles and support each other to maintain high-quality patient care. Examples of such are:

♦ Effective Nurse Leaders tend to be more flexible, collaborative and assertive to personal values that qualifies a high-quality performance. A study in the U.K., among 3,447 participants, has shown that the result has lessened medication error, staff burnout and turnover. Empowerment among the nurses also increases their quality of work.

♦ Medical/Clinical Leaders tend to have high levels of medical engagement where measures of organisational performance and patient satisfaction is better.

♦ Effective Team Leaders develop clear objectives, encourage high levels of participation through responsibilities and sustain an acute level for quality and innovation.

Furthermore, productive leadership, where more modern approaches are followed, can build an agile organisation, that is, one that is more stable to cope with the ambiguities and the innovative changes of the workplace. Founder and Executive Chairman of STRAMMER, David Mercier,, reinforced this by concluding;

“… It’s about supporting people in taking initiatives and creating a virtual ecosystem from which the company can benefit thanks to new ideas and innovations.”

In conclusion, effective styles of leadership are a productive way to reinforce crucial reforms needed to solve problems as well as to help aid in reshaping the structure of the life sciences industry.  With the aid of well-structured goals and strategies, medical and pharma companies alike will experience an increase in overall productivity and work culture.

References:

1. The Concept of Leadership in the Health Care Sector. September 2018, IntechOpen
2. Leadership challenges in health care organizations: The case of Iranian hospitals, December 2017, National Institute of Health
3. Leadership in Healthcare: A Review of the Evidence, 2015, Health Management
4. 7 ways to improve your leadership skills in the life science industry, 2018, Proclinical