Leadership Supervisor Guide
Educational leadership can be reflected in many roles: Program Director, conference chair, Associate or Assistant Dean, faculty development, etc. The purpose of this module is to ensure that our fellows have a chance to review their own leadership approaches and to reflect on their abilities and gaps before assuming new leadership positions as graduates of this program.
Must Know Concepts - Executive Summary
The following are concepts that every trainee who has completed this block should be able to address or explain.
Concept 1: Leadership and Theory
- Why is theory as important for leaders as it is for educators?
- How might some leadership or organizational theories help you in your approach to leadership?
Concept 2: The kind of leader you would like to be?
- What type of leadership style/theory appeals to you most naturally?
- Can you imagine other examples of when you might need to employ other styles? (e.g. trauma team leader verses department head).
Concept 3: How do you deal with conflict?
- Being a good leader is hard. You must deal with conflict and resolve it on a regular basis. When left to your own devices, how do you like to deal with conflict?
- How do your emotions come into play when you feel threatened or in distress? How might this affect your ability to lead?
Concept 4: How do you prioritize?
- Create a 2x2 table (Covey's priority grid urgent vs. the important) as an example of one approach.
Concept 5: Leading Change
- What are some conceptual frameworks for change management? Be able to describe 2-3 approaches.
- How might these concepts help you to make a local change in your environment?
Leadership Inventories: Contact medicinefaculty.development@usask.ca for a list of leadership inventories/contact information.
The Daring Leadership Assessment by Brene Brown (free)
Concepts in Depth - For each of the above topics, please complete the following grid:
Concept 1: Leadership and Theory
Suggested prompts:
- Why is theory as important for leaders as it is for educators?
- How might some leadership or organizational theories help you
Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with:
- Adaptive leadership for the new #MedEd - The one hour read by The Royal College. Download book here.
- An applied example of how a leadership theory can be helpful in a MedEd dilemma: Chan, T.M., Luckett-Gatopoulos, S. and Thoma, B., 2015. Commentary on competency-based medical education and scholarship: creating an active academic culture during residency. Perspectives on medical education, 4(5), pp.214-217. (Download paper here).
- Tholl, B., Dickson, G. (2014). Bringing Leadership to Life in Health: LEADS in a Caring Environment: A New Perspective. Netherlands: Springer London.
Other suggested readings or resources:
- Emotional Quotient - https://icenetblog.royalcollege.ca/2017/02/17/171955/
- Organizational Learning - https://icenetblog.royalcollege.ca/2018/05/15/education-theory-made-practical-2-organizational-learning/
- Transformative vs. Transactional Leadership - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddt_IGMMOrI
- Learning - https://icenetblog.royalcollege.ca/2018/04/10/education-theory-made-practical-2-transformative-learning-theory/
Concept 2: The kind of leader you would like to be?
Suggested prompts:
- What type of leadership style/theory appeals to you most naturally?
- Can you imagine other examples of when you might need to employ other styles? (e.g. trauma team leader verses department head).
Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with:
- A quick blog post with an overview on 12 different leadership styles: https://wisetoast.com/12-different-types-of-leadership-styles/. A good activity might be to take this list and map out the ones they might use in different scenarios.
Other suggested readings or resources:
- 15 ways to identify a bad leader. Mike Myatt, Forbes. Oct 18, 2012.
Concept 3: How do you deal with conflict?
Suggested prompts:
- Being a good leader is hard. You must deal with conflict and resolve it on a regular basis. When left to your own devices, how do you like to deal with conflict?
- How do your emotions come into play when you feel threatened or in distress? How might this affect your ability to lead?
Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with:
- How to win friends and influence people (YouTube video review https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uMZi1gc0Nc)
- Getting to Yes (TED talk summary by co-author William Ury https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYdk1NK9-r0)
Concept 4: How do you prioritize?
Suggested prompts:
- Make a 2x2 grid (Covey's Urgency vs Importance) and have the trainee fill it out with you.
Key readings about this topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with:
- 2x2 Matrix for Prioritization : https://hbr.org/2017/09/a-2x2-matrix-to-help-you-prioritize-the-skills-to-learn-right-now
- Time Management Handout (T-TIME October 2021)
- Peter Drucker’s Managing Oneself (Youtube video for faculty to review)
Other suggested readings or resources:
- Pomodoro Technique - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomodoro_Technique
- 4D Time Management – Delete, Defer, Delegate, Do. https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryancollinseurope/2018/06/14/effective-time-management/#5a2c9fdf1938
Concept 5: Leading change
Suggested prompts:
- What are some conceptual frameworks for change management? List two to three.
- How might these concepts help you to make a local change in your environment?
Key readings about his topic that a faculty supervising a trainee should read or be familiar with:
- Kotter’s 8-steps for Change - https://www.kotterinc.com/8-steps-process-for-leading-change/
- The Prosci ADKAR Model
Covey 2x2 Prioritization Matrix (Adapted from https://hbrascend.org/topics/prioritize-tasks-using-2x2-matrix/)
| Low Urgency | High Urgency | |
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High Priority
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Low Priority
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