Leadership, Teams & Systems
“You are the only person in your clinic or business who has read this course. How do you change how three colleagues work without a title?”
The teaching
- Leadership is not a job title. Leadership in a private practice or coaching business means setting the standard of care, building a trusted team and a clear scope, and being accountable to the individuals you serve. Learners reflect on four practical behaviours: setting a clear purpose, leading with care, developing others, and holding to standards.
- Compassionate leadership. Michael West's framework (King's Fund and FMLM work) describes four elements: attending, understanding, empathising, and helping. It links relational skills from Lessons 6.1–6.2 directly to team culture.
- Working in teams. Who does what: doctor, nurse, pharmacist, dietitian, coach, psychologist. Longevity work crosses these boundaries; clear roles and referral routes protect the patient and the practitioner (links to Lesson 3.2 Scope & Referral and Module 7).
- Social prescribing and community resources. Connecting people to non-clinical support, linking to the Connection & Purpose domain of the HSI Healthspan Model.
- Group consultations / shared medical appointments. A way to deliver lifestyle-focused care to several people at once and add peer support.
- Improving a service. Small tests of change (plan–do–study–act), measure one thing, share what you learn. Link to the Measure step of the HSI Method.
- Running the business ethically. Leadership includes honest marketing and avoiding conflicts of interest with supplements/testing. (Foreshadows Module 7; no new claims here.)
Translation box
Practitioner | Coach |
|---|---|
Lead within your own clinical governance (professional regulator standards, indemnity, audit); escalate and report | Build referral relationships and a clear scope statement |
May lead group clinics (with appropriate governance) | May lead groups within their own scope (education, habits) |
Myth vs Reality
Leadership is for people with a management title.
Leadership frameworks describe behaviours anyone can show; leadership behaviours can be shown by anyone in a team, whatever the job title.
Dr Haq’s 30 Seconds
A short personal take from your course director
Recording to come — 20–40 seconds in Dr Haq’s own words.
A note on the evidence
Leadership frameworks are descriptive models; evidence for any one framework improving patient outcomes is indirect. Say so.
Patient Journey — Checkpoint 16
Richard needs cardiovascular risk screening (Checkpoint 12). Draw the pathway: who does what, in what order, and who tells Richard what? Include one risk if the pathway breaks.
How would you apply the lesson to this conversation?
Mini case
A client of a coach discloses chest tightness on exertion. Walk through the referral conversation using Neighbour's safety-netting and a team pathway.
New exertional chest tightness needs prompt medical assessment. Ongoing, severe or concerning symptoms require emergency help; do not continue coaching or speculate about the cause.
Reflect before you move on
What is one thing in your current setting you could improve with a small test of change this month?
Video · pathway-mapping exercise · self-assessment against the four leadership behaviours.
References
- Pendleton D, Schofield T, Tate P, Havelock P. The Consultation: An Approach to Learning and Teaching. Oxford University Press, 1984. (Seven tasks incl. ICE in task 1; via GPnotebook.)
- Neighbour R. The Inner Consultation. MTP Press, 1987. (Five checkpoints; via GPnotebook.)
- Kurtz SM, Silverman JD. The Calgary-Cambridge Referenced Observation Guides: an aid to defining the curriculum and organizing the teaching in communication training programmes. Med Educ 1996;30:83–89. (Task list and two-thread structure.)
- Rogers CR. On Becoming a Person. 1961. Core conditions summarised in StatPearls, NBK589708.
- Rubak S, Sandbæk A, Lauritzen T, Christensen B. Motivational interviewing: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Gen Pract 2005;55:305–312. (via NCBI DARE NBK71656.)
- Cahill K, Lancaster T, Green N. Stage-based interventions for smoking cessation. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;(11):CD004492. https://www.cochrane.org/evidence/CD004492_are-stage-based-interventions-more-effective-non-stage-based-ones-helping-smokers-quit
- Gigerenzer G, Edwards A. Simple tools for understanding risks: from innumeracy to insight. BMJ 2003;327:741–744.
- West M. Compassionate leadership: attending, understanding, empathising, helping (via FMLM materials).
- Elwyn G et al. A three-talk model for shared decision making: multistage consultation process. BMJ. 2017;359:j4891. https://www.bmj.com/content/359/bmj.j4891
- Rubak et al. Full review: https://bjgp.org/content/55/513/305
- Gigerenzer & Edwards: https://www.bmj.com/content/327/7417/741
Consultation resources
- ICE & Consultation Prompt Card · PDF
- Explaining a Number · PDF
- Behaviour-Change Conversation Guide · PDF
- Referral & Scope Pathway Template · PDF
- Module 5 Self-Audit Worksheet · PDF
Key Points
- Pick one structure and use it deliberately for a week.
- Ask ICE in every first appointment.
- Give every number a meaning and a next step; use natural frequencies.
- Reflect before you advise.
- Name your scope and your referral route in one sentence.