We sat down with Prof Kiran Patel to talk about the organisational reset that he needed to employ after taking on the role of Chief Medical Officer. Kiran reflects on the key principles of leadership that he promotes, the importance of protecting the welfare of your staff and how to structure and use your time wisely. This is a great episode for anyone seeking advice on leading through challenging situations.
3 Quotes to lead by...
1. THE WELFARE OF THE INDIVIDUAL AT THE HEART
‘Nobody comes to work to do a bad job, or to behave badly, or to have poor outcomes. We all try our best, but sometimes the context that we find ourselves in and the environment mean that we have poor outcomes, or we bring out the worst in people, or people bring out their worst behaviours. So I want to make sure that we look after the welfare of individuals to understand why something has happened.’
Q.When an incident occurs, are you sitting down with individual team members to try to understand what happened? Do you intervene early and resolve issues informally if possible?
2. DON’T GET TRAPPED INTO SPRINTING EVERY DAY
‘Work is really busy, and it’s very easy to get trapped into sprinting every day. And I think if you do that, you get burnt out. So life is a marathon, it’s not a sprint. And I think we have to look at every mile as a milestone, and you have to structure your time within that.’
Q. What is your long-term plan? How can you structure your time to ensure you plan for the marathon ahead?
3. ACTIVELY LISTEN MORE THAN YOU SPEAK
‘A trap one could easily fall into, is you enter a meeting or a forum and you just speak at people. I think that’s a real lost opportunity. Make sure that you’ve heard from everybody in that room.’
Q. During meetings, how do you engage team members that you haven’t heard from?
External Resources
What is compassionate leadership?
Leadership in Life: It’s A Marathon, Not A Sprint
Active Listening Techniques: Best Practices for Leaders
