Learning from cradle to grave - diverse leadership in action
This week, our Partnership brought together local, regional, and international speakers for a week-long showcase of the work taking place across the area to celebrate and learn about the benefits of diversity within the workforce.
It was especially poignant to hold this in Black History Month. Two years ago, our leadership executive group made a collective commitment to turning the dial on a diverse and representative leadership at all levels. Subsequently the October 2020 race review into the impact of COVID-19 on minority ethnic communities and colleagues has accelerated progress on this agenda.
It’s been fantastic to see so many people supporting the event; it reflects the progress made so far but we know we must go even further.
We are proud to be part of an integrated care system that values its diverse workforce and has made a commitment to ensure that all our leadership teams are representative of our diverse communities. For both of us it has been a privilege to have been identified as one of the top 20 BAME high performing leaders in public service as part of the ground-breaking National Leadership Centre (NLC) Accelerate Programme (NLC).Here are some of our highlights and reflections from the programme.
Hello, my name is Salma
I’m the executive director of strategy and change at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. My career has been varied and diverse. I have had opportunities to work in Yorkshire, London and the Middle East and my experiences shape my thinking and approach today.
During the NLC programme I was able to reflect on the diversity of roles I have held including as a mental health nurse, CEO of a pioneering charity in Yorkshire, and a director of nursing and transformation in Saudi Arabia. These seemingly different roles in different sectors shared a common aim – to make a positive difference to people’s lives in their communities. This has continued into my current role where I support the Board and executive team to set and deliver its strategy. My broad portfolio also includes leading the Trust’s communications, equality, involvement, and inclusion team, putting people and communities at the heart of all we do.
The theme of this year’s Black History Month is ‘Proud to be’. I am proud of my Yorkshire birthplace and my strong South Asian heritage. I’ve recently been able to use my background and experiences to connect with a diverse group of national public sector leaders as part of the NLC programme.
Taking responsibility for your development and learning is vital from ‘cradle to grave’ to reach your own potential. Each programme delegate has been able to reflect personally and professionally, and develop deeper insights into their leadership style, approach to collaboration and partnerships . We had the opportunity to learn from and hear inspiring speakers who talked about their leadership journeys. Many commented on how human the stories were and that they resonated with many of us. The learning set that I was part of set out to focus on gaining insights by exploring what allyship looked like in public services across the country. I would like to thank the West Yorkshire race network for helping shape the survey that went out to many CEOs across the region and nationally. The programme offered me space and time to reflect and connect with diverse public sector leaders across the country and to work on issues that require collaboration to make the biggest difference.
Hello, my name is Subha
I am a clinically active consultant old age psychiatrist and medical director at South West Yorkshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. I hold several roles that span across the medical directorate, legal, research and development and pharmacy services.
It is no surprise to any of us that the challenges over the last 18 months have been unprecedented and have needed a strong collaborative approach to ensure delivery of high-quality care, patient safety and experience and staff wellbeing, which remain our Trust’s priorities.
There was a new challenge of managing the huge disparities and health inequalities amongst BAME populations that became stark with emerging research evidence and staff and patient feedback. I was particularly drawn to the NLC programme by its offer.
My nomination to this programme was timely and appropriate. The vision of the programme including working across public sector services with a focussed leadership forum, I felt, would be complimentary to my role as medical director and working with colleagues across our Partnership (integrated care system: ICS). It enabled me to broaden my network beyond the current regional (ICS, both west and south) and national professional network.
The future leadership approach and style as we all know will need collaboration, co-production and learning and sharing from our peers both within and outside of health and social care systems. Being in this diverse programme has given me a wonderful opportunity and insight into the complex workings and approaches one must deal with and thus modify our leadership styles. It was revealing and inspiring to hear ethnic minority leaders share openly their fascinating journeys and the barriers they overcame to get to where they are; and equally challenging glass ceilings that high performing women leaders faced and had to deal with to be heard and listened.
The ongoing virtual peer action learning sets and ongoing collaboration to ‘pay forwards’ means this has been a positive and productive leadership development experience and one that I would certainly recommend.
Our final reflections
We are passionate about public services and the role that they play in addressing inequalities and enabling every person to live a safe, connected, meaningful and healthy life. While we have made good progress, we know we have much more to do to ensure that all our teams represent the communities that they serve and to make services as inclusive, engaging, and as responsive to people’s needs as possible. It is together that we will make the biggest difference in our communities, places and across the partnership today and in years to come.
Have a good weekend,
Salma and Subha