Introduction
The report that was selected for the review is the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2016: Southwark Council, London (2017) prepared by the director, Dr Jin Lim. The aim of this review is to provide a critique and assessment of the report from a leadership perspective. This is not an easy matter since the methods and approaches to management are not usually reflected in such reports because their authors focus on the organisation’s activity rather than the leader-employee relationship. Thus, the aspects necessary for the evaluation will be estimated on the basis of the thorough examination of the report’s text. Leadership theories and principles relevant to annual public health reports will be analysed in the next section.
The issues that will be taken into consideration when reviewing the report are concerned with current problems in public health sector. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the most significant public health concerns include food safety, HIV, teen pregnancy, alcohol-related injuries, healthcare-related infections, prescription drug overdose, and tobacco use (CDC: 10 most important public health problems and concerns 2016). Other crucial questions managed by this sphere, as defined by the American Public Health Association (APHA), are maternal and child health, global health, chronic disease, climate change, mental health, environmental health, reproductive and sexual health, and healthy community design (Topics and issues 2018). Thus, it is expected that these elements of the contemporary policy framework will be reflected in the report. The analysis will be focused on the issues of leadership, service improvement, and change management as reflected in the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2016: Southwark Council, London (2017).
The Analysis of Leadership Aspects Reflected in the Report
Covey (2015) identifies the following habits of highly effective leaders: being proactive (personal vision), starting with the end in mind, putting important things first (personal management), thinking win-win (interpersonal leadership), attempting first to understand and only then to be understood, synergizing (creative cooperation), and sharpening the saw (balanced self-renewal). Armstrong (2016) and Rowitz (2006) emphasise the importance of such features as creativity, integrity, planning, and flexibility in the work of a public health leader. The review will analyse the reflection of some of these and other qualities in the report.
Change Management
This element of leadership is considered crucial by many specialists (Baker 2007; Cameron & Green 2012; McCalman, Paton & Siebert 2016). In the report under assessment, strategic management is reflected effectively since the director mentions that every year, the organisation alters its priorities depending on the problems prevailing in the community (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017, p. 6). Also, the attitude towards change management is reflected in the executive summary, where the director emphasises the significance of being aware of any alterations in the community and expresses readiness to meet them (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017, pp. 7-8).
Providing Inspiration
Encouraging one’s subordinates is a characteristic of the leader that helps him or her keep employees motivated to do their work and to love what they are doing. Moreover, it is crucial to win the trust of the team of people to keep them inspired (Sim 2013). From the report, it is obvious that the director of the organisation pays due attention to encouraging her employees. The results of their work testify that people are highly motivated. Also, it is mentioned that they find it their duty to provide residents with “more fulfilling lives” (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017, p. 10).
Honesty and Integrity
The principle of honesty and integrity is a feature of the authoritative leader. These leaders admit their problems and are always open to change (Goleman, cited in Cameron & Green 2012, p. 175). A subdivision of this feature is the concept of mindfulness (Greenfield 2017). This principle is reflected in the report through the director’s admittance of weaknesses in the organisation’s activity. In particular, health issues impacting children and youth are reported not to be appropriately addressed at the moment (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017, pp. 14-17).
Technical Knowledge
Technical expertise constitutes a growing concern within public health and other organisations making knowledge and technical acumen inseparable from the title of a good leader (Patterson 2015). It is possible to make conclusions about the leader’s technical knowledge based on the high professionalism demonstrated in preparing the report. The agency’s director operates statistics, relevant data, and all key terms. It is evident that the leader is fully aware of the sphere of her work and treats her duties with high responsibility (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017).
Goal-setting and planning
The importance of planning skills for a leader cannot be overestimated. A leader needs to create a schedule of activities, divide the responsibilities between employees, and supervise and control the adherence to the plan that has been set for the organisation (Marquis & Huston 2009). The report under analysis does not provide a sufficient description of the leader’s planning skills. The director provides a summary of what has been done in the previous year (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017, pp. 62-63). Also, some suggestions for the next year’s activity are made (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017, p. 6). However, there is no detailing of the milestones of the agency’s activity, which prevents from the possibility to assess the leader’s skills in this respect.
Creativity
This aspect of a leader’s work is also considered as an important one (Kazanjian 2012). Although working in a public health sphere requires a serious approach, being creative and inventive is a highly appreciated feature for a leader. The reviewed report demonstrates that the director of the public health organisation is rather creative. The report includes a variety of sections and statistics. A wide range of colours, shirts, and images is used to make the paper not only informative but also exciting to read (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017). Thus, assuming that the leader’s creativity in her daily methods is close to the imaginative approaches to composing the report, it is possible to conclude that she is quite imaginative in other aspects of her work.
Flexibility
This feature is highly important for leaders since it enables them to adjust to the changing situations (Ricketts & Ricketts 2011). There is evidence of the leader’s flexibility in the report. For instance, at the end of each section of the report, the director of the organisation provides a list of things that could be done to improve the current situation (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017). This fact indicates that the leader welcomes changes and is ready to accept them if they contribute to the public’s health.
Leading at the Organisational Level
The last leadership aspect under analysis is the ability to organise work. This element is close to planning, but it incorporates much more than creating the schedule of work. Organisational skills involve effective communication, delegation, and other crucial aspects of the successful operation of the agency. Judging from the report, it is possible to consider the leader’s organisational skills as sufficient. The director seems to know the place of each employee in the structure of the company. Also, she analyses the achievements and weaknesses of the year’s work objectively (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017). From what can be concluded from the report, the duties of each member are divided equally and wisely. However, since the leader mentions that there are many areas of improvement, it may seem reasonable to assign more employees to analyse the failures in the process of improving the community’s health statistics.
Elements of the Contemporary Policy Framework Reflected in the Report
The report discusses many of the elements outlined by CDC and APHA. According to the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2016 (2017), particular attention is paid to the following issues:
- tobacco control (pp. 39-40);
- alcohol (pp. 41-42);
- substance misuse (pp. 44-46);
- mental health (pp. 47-49).
Other crucial problems covered in the report are related to:
- – inequality (p. 11);
- – childhood obesity (pp. 13-14);
- – homelessness (pp. 21-22);
- – physical activity (pp. 27-28);
- – healthy workplaces (pp. 31-32);
- – sexual health (pp. 34-36);
- – air quality (pp. 25-26).
General Feedback on the Report from a Leadership Perspective
Positive Aspects
The general impression of the report from a leadership viewpoint is highly positive. There are several major aspects contributing to such a conclusion. First of all, the report is well-structured, which indicates excellent organisational skills. The author has divided the report into logical parts, paying sufficient attention to all of the identified areas of work. Secondly, the report demonstrates the leader’s flexibility, creativity and technical knowledge. It is obvious that the director is fully aware of all aspects of work and can present the information in a way that is both informative and interesting. Thirdly, the report contains much statistical data that allows readers to compare the present numbers with the ones from the previous year.
Next, it is possible to make conclusions about the author’s change management skills. The leader is ready to implement changes and even promotes some of them. Another positive aspect is that there are indications of the director’s serving as an inspiring leader who holds honesty and integrity as some of the core principles of work. Lastly, the report indicates that the leader has good planning and organisational skills. All of these issues allow concluding that the report is well-constructed, and the leader has the necessary qualities to run the public health agency.
Areas of Improvement
Along with a number of positive aspects, the review of the report also revealed some areas that may be enhanced in order to demonstrate the full potential of the leader’s qualities. First of all, it is crucial to pay more attention to the issues that are currently not covered by the agency. The director admits that the problem of obesity has not been met appropriately, there is no quality affordable housing, and too many deaths are caused by respiratory diseases (Annual report of the director of public health 2016 2017). These factors indicate the following gaps in leadership:
- there is no sufficient collaboration with local authorities and communities, which results in the lack of effective approaches to managing some health issues;
- it is necessary to improve the leader’s communication skills to increase the options for local citizens to receive high-quality care;
- goal-setting and delegation skills of the leader should be enhanced; this may be done through inviting other organisations to participate in improving public health or hiring more personnel to deal with the excessive amount of work.
A Supportive Summary
Although the general impression of the report is positive, some aspects could be done in a different way the next year to improve the effectiveness of the leader’s work. In particular, more attention should be paid to planning and collaboration. Also, more aspects mentioned in the contemporary policy framework should be included in the report.
Some issues should be developed in the future. For instance, the leader might introduce the cooperation with different facilities to bring about better healthcare outcomes. Furthermore, she might consider paying more attention to developing the principle of putting first things first introduced by Covey (2015).
Some elements of the report indicate the high level of leadership skills and might be done again in the following year. The first of such aspects is the high level of creativity of the leader. Also, the principles of honesty and integrity were reflected quite well. Finally, the leader demonstrated the relevant interest in change management that should be developed and continued in next reports.
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