Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies

Abstract Background ‘Systems leadership’ has emerged as a key concept in global public health alongside such related concepts as ‘systems thinking’ and ‘whole systems approaches.’ It is an approach that is well suited to issues that require collective action, where no single organisation can control...

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Main Authors: Charlotte Bigland, David Evans, Richard Bolden, Maggie Rae
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2020-11-01
Series:BMC Public Health
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-020-09641-1
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spelling doaj-e9ba9a444ec848d49b5c77c60988486b2020-11-25T04:02:59ZengBMCBMC Public Health1471-24582020-11-0120111410.1186/s12889-020-09641-1Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studiesCharlotte Bigland0David Evans1Richard Bolden2Maggie Rae3Public Health England South WestCentre for Public Health and Wellbeing, University of the West of EnglandBristol Leadership and Change Centre, Bristol Business School, University of the West of EnglandVisiting Professor Public Health Centre for Public Health and Wellbeing, University of the West of EnglandAbstract Background ‘Systems leadership’ has emerged as a key concept in global public health alongside such related concepts as ‘systems thinking’ and ‘whole systems approaches.’ It is an approach that is well suited to issues that require collective action, where no single organisation can control the outcomes. While there is a growing literature on the theory of systems leadership in a number of fields, there remains a lack of published empirical studies of public health systems leadership for professionals to learn from. The aim of the current project was to conduct cases studies in UK public health to provide empirical evidence on the nature of effective systems leadership practice. Methods Three system leadership case studies were identified in the key domains of public health: health protection, healthcare public health and health improvement. A total of 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were thematically analysed to identify the components of effective systems leadership in each case and its impact. Results The thematic analysis identified themes around ‘getting started,’ ‘maintaining momentum’ and ‘indicators of success’ in systems leadership. In terms of getting started, the analysis showed that both a compelling ‘call to action’ and assembling an effective ‘coalition of the willing’ are important. To maintain momentum, the analysis identified themes relating to system structure, culture and the people involved. Regarding culture, the main themes that emerged were the importance of nurturing strong relationships, curiosity and a desire to understand the system, and promoting resilience. The analysis identified three components that could be used as indicators of success; these were a sense of enjoyment from the work, resource gains to the system and shifts in data indicators at the population level. Conclusions This study has provided insight into the nature of systems leadership in public health settings in the UK. It has identified factors that contribute to effective public health systems leadership and offers a thematic model in terms of establishing a systems leadership approach, maintaining momentum and identifying key success indicators.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-020-09641-1Public healthSystems leadershipHealth protectionHealthcare public healthHealth improvementLeadership
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Charlotte Bigland
David Evans
Richard Bolden
Maggie Rae
spellingShingle Charlotte Bigland
David Evans
Richard Bolden
Maggie Rae
Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies
BMC Public Health
Public health
Systems leadership
Health protection
Healthcare public health
Health improvement
Leadership
author_facet Charlotte Bigland
David Evans
Richard Bolden
Maggie Rae
author_sort Charlotte Bigland
title Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies
title_short Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies
title_full Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies
title_fullStr Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies
title_full_unstemmed Systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies
title_sort systems leadership in practice: thematic insights from three public health case studies
publisher BMC
series BMC Public Health
issn 1471-2458
publishDate 2020-11-01
description Abstract Background ‘Systems leadership’ has emerged as a key concept in global public health alongside such related concepts as ‘systems thinking’ and ‘whole systems approaches.’ It is an approach that is well suited to issues that require collective action, where no single organisation can control the outcomes. While there is a growing literature on the theory of systems leadership in a number of fields, there remains a lack of published empirical studies of public health systems leadership for professionals to learn from. The aim of the current project was to conduct cases studies in UK public health to provide empirical evidence on the nature of effective systems leadership practice. Methods Three system leadership case studies were identified in the key domains of public health: health protection, healthcare public health and health improvement. A total of 27 semi-structured interviews were conducted. Data were thematically analysed to identify the components of effective systems leadership in each case and its impact. Results The thematic analysis identified themes around ‘getting started,’ ‘maintaining momentum’ and ‘indicators of success’ in systems leadership. In terms of getting started, the analysis showed that both a compelling ‘call to action’ and assembling an effective ‘coalition of the willing’ are important. To maintain momentum, the analysis identified themes relating to system structure, culture and the people involved. Regarding culture, the main themes that emerged were the importance of nurturing strong relationships, curiosity and a desire to understand the system, and promoting resilience. The analysis identified three components that could be used as indicators of success; these were a sense of enjoyment from the work, resource gains to the system and shifts in data indicators at the population level. Conclusions This study has provided insight into the nature of systems leadership in public health settings in the UK. It has identified factors that contribute to effective public health systems leadership and offers a thematic model in terms of establishing a systems leadership approach, maintaining momentum and identifying key success indicators.
topic Public health
Systems leadership
Health protection
Healthcare public health
Health improvement
Leadership
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12889-020-09641-1
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