May 6, 2025 • 32 mins
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Leadership in public health transcends job titles—it's about how we inspire action, communicate vision, and guide others regardless of our position. This essential skillset helps navigate the complex, messy work of creating healthier communities through building trust and mobilizing stakeholders toward common goals.
Discussed in this episode:
- What leadership really means in public health
- Why it's absolutely necessary
- The specific leadership skills you need to develop
- How you can build leadership skills — even if you’re just starting out
Join the Public Health Career Club for leadership development resources, mentorship opportunities, and community support: phspot.org/club.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to PH Spotlight, a community for you
to build your public healthcareer with.
Join us weekly right here, andI'll be here too.
Your host, sujani Siva from PHSpot.
Hey everyone, and welcome toanother episode of the PH
(00:23):
Spotlight podcast, the place forpublic health professionals
like you and me to be inspired,to learn and to build a
fulfilling career that trulymakes a difference.
I'm your host, sujani, andtoday's episode is one that I've
been looking forward to, andit's called leadership skills
that every public healthprofessional should develop.
(00:46):
Now, if you're thinking, but I'mnot a manager, I'm not leading
a team, I just want you to hangtight, because leadership in
public health is so much morethan job titles.
I do have a couple of episodesfrom the past where we've talked
about what is leadership Like?
(01:07):
Is it the same as management?
Right, as you move up thecareer ladder, is leadership
kind of tied to your, yourposition or your title, and the
guests that I interviewed andthe discussions we've had kind
of pointed to the same.
I'd say.
(01:28):
Conclusion that leadership isindependent from your job titles
, right?
So leadership is about how weshow up.
It's about how we influence,how we guide and support others,
regardless of our position, howwe guide and support others,
regardless of our position.
(01:49):
So, whether you're a student,an analyst, a program
coordinator or even an executivedirector, right, leadership is
part of the work that we doevery single day in public
health, and I would go as far asarguing that leadership is an
essential skill that publichealth professionals need to
develop, because it's how weinfluence change and it's how we
(02:16):
make the communities that weserve healthier.
Essentially, year, essentially,right.
So in this episode, what I wantto do is walk you through what
leadership means within thecontext of public health, why
it's necessary, the specificleadership skills that you need
to develop, and then we'll havea short discussion on how you
(02:40):
can actually build those skills,even if you're just starting
out in public health or you're astudent.
Okay, so let's jump in.
What is leadership beyond thejob titles?
Right?
So leadership isn't about howmuch power you have in an
organization.
It's not about being in charge.
(03:01):
It's not about having a bigteam or a fancy title.
At its core, leadership is theability for an individual to set
a vision, to inspire action andto guide others with integrity,
empathy and accountability.
Right?
So in public health, leadershipcan often look like
(03:22):
coordinating stakeholders fromdifferent sectors.
So if you're leading a projectand you're the only one who's
part of that project, being ableto coordinate all of the
different players that willessentially support you on this
project is what leadership isabout.
As an example, right?
(03:42):
Another example is guidingcommunities through change.
So maybe your organization hasdeveloped a program and this is
going to be a huge change forthis community.
As a public health professional, can you show up and inspire
this community to help them seethis vision and to support them
so that they can feel that thischange is truly going to be
(04:07):
life-changing for them?
Another way leadership can showup in public health is making
data-informed decisions withkind of that human impact in
mind right, being empathetic tothe individuals who will be
impacted.
So, speaking up when you'remaybe sitting with decision
(04:30):
makers and you're talking aboutthe analysis that you've done to
be able to also bring in thatother angle of like, okay, how
does this impact actualindividuals?
Individuals that's leadership.
And then another example isadvocating for equity, for
justice and and evidence-basedpolicies right.
(04:52):
So how you show up for thecommunities you serve and the
way you are able to inspireaction, you're able to
communicate a vision to thedifferent people that you work
with.
That's leadership.
So the second part of it is kindof like why is this critical in
(05:15):
public health?
Right, why is it important forus in public health to be good
leaders, to be strong leaders,to be good leaders, to be strong
leaders?
And it's because the work thatwe do is quite complex, it's
(05:35):
messy, it's multi-layered.
We're dealing with systems,with policies, with communities,
politics, data, deep-rootedinequities, and so being strong
in kind of the area ofleadership and having those
skills it helps us to navigatethe uncertainty that comes with
the complex work that we do.
(05:56):
If that makes sense, trustamongst the stakeholders that we
work with and the communitiesthat we work with, showing up as
someone who has the ability to,you know, bring people together
around a common vision, itbuilds that trust and then it
(06:17):
makes your next steps, inwhether you're developing a
program or doing some research,that much easier.
If you're able to show up as aleader in front of the people
that you're working with andtogether you mobilize everyone
to work towards a common goal,and then it essentially creates
(06:41):
that lasting systemic changethat we want to see in public
health.
We saw that, you know, in timesof crisis, like the pandemic or
the climate disaster that we'redealing with at the moment, we
really need leaders who aretrusted, who are calm, who can
(07:04):
communicate clearly, and so, inpublic health, it's critical
that each individual, regardlessof where you sit, kind of, in
that hierarchy within anorganization, is a strong leader
, because, whether you areleading a team or you're
(07:27):
advocating or just everyday work, you want to be able to show up
as a strong leader who hasthese skills to to bring people
together around this commonvision, to create change within
(07:49):
the communities that you'resupporting, right?
So, ultimately, you want tohelp these individuals you know,
whether they're stakeholders,your co-workers, the community
take action towards a healthierlife, right?
So, in public health againgoing back to that necessity for
(08:13):
each individual who works inpublic health to be a strong
leader is essential.
It's like, regardless ofwhether you're an epidemiologist
, a project manager, you knowhealth promoter, public health
nurse, you, you need to be ableto show up as a strong leader
(08:38):
and you need to be able to thinkof yourself as a leader and for
you to think about this skillset as something that's
essential for you to have toessentially, you know, do well
in that role, but also tosucceed in this career that
(09:03):
you've kind of built foryourself.
Right as we're talking, I doalso want to pull up the two
podcasts that I think they'rereally good conversations to
listen in on, and the first oneis from very long ago.
(09:26):
It's published in September of2020 and it was episode number
20.
So if you're using Spotify orApple podcast, you're gonna have
to kind of scroll all the wayto the, to the bottom, to
episode 20, because this one isepisode 171 and it's called
public health leadership inaction with Anjum Sultana.
(09:46):
This is a really good episodefor you to listen to, because we
do talk about, kind of you know, how can we show up as a leader
?
And then the other episode isepisode number 12.
So, again, kind of you have togo down to the very bottom,
titled Fueling your LeadershipDrive in Public Health, with
(10:07):
Nadia Aksir.
This was also a really goodconversation around.
You know what is thatleadership drive, what does
leadership mean and how Nadiawas able to show up as a leader.
And then we have thatconversation around you know, do
we need to be in management tobe a leader?
And then we talk about arethere natural born leaders
(10:30):
versus people given the rightopportunities to become a leader
, right?
So both of these conversationsare really good for you to
listen to, in kind of adifferent format of an episode,
but I hope kind of you know justthis brief introduction of why
(10:53):
leadership in public health iscritical and something for you
to think about and, hopefully,action, and for you to look out
for opportunities where you canbuild your leadership experience
and your skills, right so,speaking of skills, there are
(11:16):
some core leadership skills thatI think we need to develop, so
we'll break down a few of them.
First one is emotionalintelligence, and emotional
intelligence is really theability to understand, to
regulate and respond to emotions, both yours and others.
(11:39):
Work we do is oftenpeople-centered and, as a leader
, regardless of what position orrole or title you hold, it's
important that you're able tolisten to your, your
(12:02):
stakeholders, the communitymembers, and create that safe
space for dialogue, because foryou to be able to inspire change
, get people committed around acommon vision, there needs to be
trust involved, right?
So if you have high emotionalintelligence and you're able to
(12:27):
create a safe space for peopleto feel like they're being
listened to, that they canexpress themselves, you'll be
able to collect so muchinformation, you'll be able to
build so much trust and, as aresult, you will be able to help
people take action towards thatcommon goal, right?
So ways to build emotionalintelligence and you know, this
(12:52):
episode is really kind of anintro for me to plant the idea
in your head, and I really justwant you to go and see what
resources exist within yourorganization.
There might be some leadershiptraining, there might be some
programs that you can getinvolved in.
So a lot of the skills and theideas I give you are going to be
(13:13):
very brief and I want you totake it as a starting point for
you to go on and find moreresources, right?
So a good way to buildemotional intelligence is to
practice mindfulness andself-awareness.
Also, ask feedback from peers.
If you're in a situation whereyou are maybe facilitating a
(13:40):
conversation or discussion, goback to your peers and ask them
how do you feel that went?
Are there areas that I couldimprove on that went?
Are there areas that I couldimprove on?
Right?
So that's a good way for you tokind of do some self reflection
and then also again see ifthere's any specific training
(14:00):
around.
How do you communicate withdifferent types of individuals
and ensure that you are able tocreate a safe space for dialogue
and be able to kind of likelisten, right?
So emotional intelligence is agood skill set to develop for
(14:24):
strong leaders.
Second kind of area that you canlook into is systems thinking.
So, seeing the big picture I'vementioned this several times as
a leader, you want to be ableto get a group of people to see
(14:48):
your vision and to inspire allof these individuals to take a
call, to take kind of interestin a common goal, to take action
towards that common goal.
So if you're able to have thatsystems thinking and able to see
the bigger picture in this inkind of like the area that you
(15:11):
work in, maybe how policies orinstitutions and people are
interconnected, you'll be ableto speak to the different
stakeholders and collaboratorsin a way that makes sense to
them, right?
So you always have to thinkit's not about the day-to-day
(15:32):
operational work that I'm doing,right, I'm crunching these
numbers and I'm doing thisanalysis, but how can I
communicate this in a way thatit connects to that bigger
picture, to the, the system thatall of these individual factors
are connected within?
Right, because public healthproblems don't exist in silos,
(15:57):
right, and so you need to knowhow these different pieces all
tie in and why your you knowsmall project where you spent
several weeks crunching thesenumbers, why that's important,
how it connects up into thesystem, and so some ways for you
to develop that systemsthinking is reading, lots of
(16:21):
reading of case studies, ofdifferent health interventions,
and then even kind of looking atyour own work and mapping out
the players and the forces thatimpact that specific work.
You can do some liketraditional learning courses,
online courses around how tobuild logic models, that kind of
(16:46):
think about theinterconnectedness of the
different factors.
But I think you know, if youcan find specific courses around
systems thinking in publichealth, it'll kind of open your
eyes and allow you to kind ofthink in that way, and then that
(17:09):
kind of sets the stage foradditional learning and
additional skill building inthis area, especially listening.
We kind of talked about thiswith the emotional intelligence
(17:30):
piece, but listening is so key,right?
So it's not just about writingor presenting.
Those are very importantbecause as a leader, as somebody
who's trying to inspireindividuals around the common
vision, you definitely need tobe able to articulate that,
whether it's in like writtenformat or when you're doing a
(17:54):
presentation.
But being able to listen, to beable to translate complex ideas
and connect them with differentaudiences is so critical, and
so being able to have thesespaces, or create spaces where
people trust you because you'rea good listener, um, it's going
(18:16):
to take you far as a leader.
So, um, communication is key,right?
Um, because you want to be ableto, uh, present um your ideas
to maybe it's a group of citycounselors one day and then a
community group the other day.
(18:36):
You need to be able to know howto tell that story for these
different groups of people, butthen, on the flip side, also be
able to listen to the feedbackthat they give you, because
that's going to help you be abetter leader, to be able to
take what you're hearing andmodify the story to make sure
(19:01):
that it connects with yourpeople, right, and so best way
to practice communication isessentially that, like, practice
that storytelling Whenever youget an opportunity to talk about
your work, see if there's astory that you can pull around
it, and it's not just.
You know, here's my analysis andthese are the methods that I
(19:21):
use.
But how can you tell that storyto kind of show people, the.
So what like?
What does this all mean?
The the so what like?
What does this all mean?
Right?
Um, other ways you can do thisis kind of again doing some
learning, right?
Learning plain language writingtechniques.
If you want to improve in yourwritten communication, if you
(19:42):
want to improve in your oralpresentation, you can record
presentations that you're aboutto take to see for yourself.
You know where are areas that Ican improve.
Maybe get your peers involvedand see if they have any
suggestions for you.
So that's another skill set.
(20:04):
So we talked about emotionalintelligence, we talked about
systems thinking and we talkedabout communication.
So those are three.
The next thing I want to talkabout is resilience and
(20:25):
adaptability, right?
So when you see yourself as aleader, and regardless of what
position you're in, you will seethat things are changing right.
So things will change in yourorganization.
Projects will pivot, new datawill surprise you, but as a
(20:51):
leader, you want to make sureyou're grounded and you're
flexible, right?
I think if you're kind of likeI don't want to be a leader, I
just want to put my head down,do my number crunching and be
done for the day.
That's one way to go about it.
The other way to go about it islike how does all of this
(21:12):
connect with that bigger picturethat we talked about?
How is this impacting thepeople that we're supposed to
serve?
When you start thinking aboutit in that way, you will see
that first of all, like if youcan get yourself involved in
some of these conversations andbe at these tables, I think that
(21:34):
would be excellent.
And when you do get exposed to,you know these types of
conversations that people arehaving, you will notice that
there will often be lots ofchange, right, and so knowing
(21:55):
that there will be change andknowing that you need to be
adaptable and flexible will bekey as a leader, especially, I
think, when you combine it withbeing in a management role.
Eventually, when you do move upthe corporate ladder, or if
(22:16):
you're already a manager or adirector and you pair that with
wanting to be a strong leader, Ithink being able to adapt,
think quickly on your feet, isgoing to be a skill that is
going to be very helpful for youto develop very early on.
So in order to build that skill, I think reflecting regularly
(22:41):
will be helpful.
So just think about challengesyou've faced in the past.
How were you able to bounceback from that, have a personal
support system, like who are theindividuals I can lean on when
things get a bit tough and Idon't know kind of which way to
go with my decision.
It's good to have a supportsystem.
(23:02):
And then also celebrating thesmall wins that you do get right
.
We can be so focused on, on,maybe, projects that didn't go a
certain way, or if we weren'table to convince a group of
people to take a certain action.
We may be hung up on thosesetbacks and not celebrate the
(23:27):
small wins that we did have.
So I think, to be able to buildthat resilience and
adaptability, those are some ofthe things that we need to focus
on.
So reflecting regularly,building that support system and
then celebrating our wins.
So those are a few kind ofskills that I think I would
(23:50):
focus on if I were to step intothat new role as a leader.
Right, you know, regardless ofwhat job title I have, I want to
be a leader in public health.
So how can I go about that?
I will develop these differentskills.
(24:11):
Right, there was emotionalintelligence, there was systems
thinking, communication and thenbuilding your resilience and
adaptability.
So, for, I gave a few ideas ofhow you can build those
different skills, but just veryquickly, some other ways for you
(24:34):
to figure out, like, how can Iget involved in really like
taking action to build up myleadership skills?
I'd say start with reading,reading books around leadership.
It doesn't need to be relatedto public health per se.
(24:54):
Just reading about what itmeans to be a good leader will
help you change your mindset andseparate leadership from
management, right?
Op-eds are really great.
If there are leaders in publichealth that you really respect
and follow, read any articlesthat they may have written for
(25:18):
newspapers.
Follow organizations like the Ithink there's a National Public
Health Leadership Institute.
So, reading books, articles,any leaders that you follow on
LinkedIn.
They may be writing likereflective posts as well.
Those are good ones to read.
Second practice Practice whatwe'll call like micro leadership
(25:43):
, right?
So are there opportunities inyour current work?
Maybe you can volunteer.
Maybe there's like mentorshipthat you can take on in your
current work.
Maybe you can volunteer.
Maybe there's like mentorshipthat you can take on um.
Can you um try to show up as aleader in these different areas?
Um, and try to kind of identify, like, how are you changing
(26:04):
your mindset?
What are some things thatyou're doing to show up as a
leader, right?
So leadership is like muscle,so you want to keep using it.
You want to keep setting thatmindset for a leader in public
health right, you want to showup as a leader in public health.
So try these kind of microleadership opportunities and see
(26:26):
if you can find these in yourcurrent work or other areas that
you're involved in.
Another one is to join some sortof a leadership program, right?
So, whether it's within yourorganization, they may have
these programs that are severalmonths to several years long
(26:48):
where they train you as a leader, several months to several
years long, where they train youas a leader.
There may be fellowships,different public health
organizations, local or national.
They may have differentprograms.
Try those out, because I thinkit's helpful to sometimes have
(27:10):
that structured setup when we'retrying to change the way we
think about something.
So having that structure couldbe really helpful.
So looking out for some ofthese leadership programs and
applying to them and um,hopefully, kind of getting in
and getting a bit more of astructured um, skill building
approach, um approach could bereally helpful.
(27:33):
And then, I think, setting agoal for yourself like a
leadership goal.
What is it that you want tolike?
Who is it that you want to showup as?
Right, like, what does you, asa leader in public health, look
like for you?
You, as a leader in publichealth, look like for you?
(27:54):
So you know, defining that foryourself and having that goal
makes it easier for you to doall the other things that I just
talked about.
Right, because if we don't knowwhich way we are going, like
which direction, it's help, it'snot easy to figure out.
Okay, what are my action steps?
So setting a goal for yourselfwill be helpful because there's
(28:16):
a direction that you can gotowards right.
So I hope this episode kind ofintroduced this idea of you
being a leader in public healthand kind of, what are the
different things that you can do?
And if you're listening, you'relike okay, yes, I want to build
(28:39):
my leadership muscle, I want tobe a leader in public health.
Some great places to kind ofstart are all the online kind of
public health associationwebsites.
You know they may havedifferent resources for building
leadership.
Linkedin learning definitelywould have some leadership
courses, books inside the publichealth career club.
(29:00):
Our community is filled withyou know peers that you can chat
with about leadership.
There's leadership.
There's workshops and differentopportunities that we have
there.
Follow people, individuals inyour organization or outside the
organization, organizationsthat you look up to and you see
(29:21):
leaders in that space.
Follow them on LinkedIn so youcan study how they show up as a
leader, right.
So these are some ideas for youto really jump into things and
take action and not just kind ofsit and think, oh yeah, I think
it'd be nice to be a leader inpublic health, but really take
(29:42):
that action right.
So, to wrap up, I hope I've beenable to convince you that
leadership in public health isessential.
It's something that I reallyfeel that each one of us needs
to have, and that you don't needa title to start building that
leadership muscle.
(30:02):
You don't need to be a manageror in a management position to
be a leader.
You just need that willingnessto grow in that eagerness, that
inspiration to want to seechange in the communities that
you serve.
So remember, leadership is howyou show up.
It's how you're supporting yourteam, your community, the
(30:25):
different stakeholders you workwith, and how you're able to
inspire that change and helppeople see a common vision right
.
So I hope, with that I canconvince you to just choose one
action that you can take thisweek around leadership and being
(30:48):
a leader in public health andsee where that takes you right.
Just one small step.
So try that.
Let me know if this kind ofsets you off on a path to
developing more leadershipskills and for you to show up as
a leader.
And I really encourage you touse LinkedIn maybe to write a
(31:10):
reflective post about this,about being a leader in public
health, and definitely tag me,because I'd love to.
I'd love to read it.
So thank you so much again forspending past 30 minutes or so
with me.
If this episode sparkedsomething for you, please do
share it with a colleague orsend me a message.
(31:30):
I'd love to hear how you'regrowing in your public health
career and if you're not alreadyin the Public Health Career
Club, our membership community,please join us.
It's an incredible space.
We host events, we havementorship opportunities.
We have resources to reallysupport you on your public
health career.
We've set two membership tiersto make it accessible.
(31:55):
Either $7 or $25 a month Givesyou a ton of value.
So take a look at that.
Phspaorg slash club.
Until next time, keep showingup, keep learning and remember.
Leadership isn't something thatyou wait for.
It's something that you waitfor.
It's something that youpractice.
It's something that you show upas okay.
(32:16):
Um, you've been listening tothe ph spotlight podcast and so
johnny and I will catch you thenext episode.
Welcome to PH Spotlight, a community for you
to build your public healthcareer with.
Join us weekly right here, andI'll be here too.
Your host, sujani Siva from PHSpot.
Hey everyone, and welcome toanother episode of the PH
(00:23):
Spotlight podcast, the place forpublic health professionals
like you and me to be inspired,to learn and to build a
fulfilling career that trulymakes a difference.
I'm your host, sujani, andtoday's episode is one that I've
been looking forward to, andit's called leadership skills
that every public healthprofessional should develop.
(00:46):
Now, if you're thinking, but I'mnot a manager, I'm not leading
a team, I just want you to hangtight, because leadership in
public health is so much morethan job titles.
I do have a couple of episodesfrom the past where we've talked
about what is leadership Like?
(01:07):
Is it the same as management?
Right, as you move up thecareer ladder, is leadership
kind of tied to your, yourposition or your title, and the
guests that I interviewed andthe discussions we've had kind
of pointed to the same.
I'd say.
(01:28):
Conclusion that leadership isindependent from your job titles
, right?
So leadership is about how weshow up.
It's about how we influence,how we guide and support others,
regardless of our position, howwe guide and support others,
regardless of our position.
(01:49):
So, whether you're a student,an analyst, a program
coordinator or even an executivedirector, right, leadership is
part of the work that we doevery single day in public
health, and I would go as far asarguing that leadership is an
essential skill that publichealth professionals need to
develop, because it's how weinfluence change and it's how we
(02:16):
make the communities that weserve healthier.
Essentially, year, essentially,right.
So in this episode, what I wantto do is walk you through what
leadership means within thecontext of public health, why
it's necessary, the specificleadership skills that you need
to develop, and then we'll havea short discussion on how you
(02:40):
can actually build those skills,even if you're just starting
out in public health or you're astudent.
Okay, so let's jump in.
What is leadership beyond thejob titles?
Right?
So leadership isn't about howmuch power you have in an
organization.
It's not about being in charge.
(03:01):
It's not about having a bigteam or a fancy title.
At its core, leadership is theability for an individual to set
a vision, to inspire action andto guide others with integrity,
empathy and accountability.
Right?
So in public health, leadershipcan often look like
(03:22):
coordinating stakeholders fromdifferent sectors.
So if you're leading a projectand you're the only one who's
part of that project, being ableto coordinate all of the
different players that willessentially support you on this
project is what leadership isabout.
As an example, right?
(03:42):
Another example is guidingcommunities through change.
So maybe your organization hasdeveloped a program and this is
going to be a huge change forthis community.
As a public health professional, can you show up and inspire
this community to help them seethis vision and to support them
so that they can feel that thischange is truly going to be
(04:07):
life-changing for them?
Another way leadership can showup in public health is making
data-informed decisions withkind of that human impact in
mind right, being empathetic tothe individuals who will be
impacted.
So, speaking up when you'remaybe sitting with decision
(04:30):
makers and you're talking aboutthe analysis that you've done to
be able to also bring in thatother angle of like, okay, how
does this impact actualindividuals?
Individuals that's leadership.
And then another example isadvocating for equity, for
justice and and evidence-basedpolicies right.
(04:52):
So how you show up for thecommunities you serve and the
way you are able to inspireaction, you're able to
communicate a vision to thedifferent people that you work
with.
That's leadership.
So the second part of it is kindof like why is this critical in
(05:15):
public health?
Right, why is it important forus in public health to be good
leaders, to be strong leaders,to be good leaders, to be strong
leaders?
And it's because the work thatwe do is quite complex, it's
(05:35):
messy, it's multi-layered.
We're dealing with systems,with policies, with communities,
politics, data, deep-rootedinequities, and so being strong
in kind of the area ofleadership and having those
skills it helps us to navigatethe uncertainty that comes with
the complex work that we do.
(05:56):
If that makes sense, trustamongst the stakeholders that we
work with and the communitiesthat we work with, showing up as
someone who has the ability to,you know, bring people together
around a common vision, itbuilds that trust and then it
(06:17):
makes your next steps, inwhether you're developing a
program or doing some research,that much easier.
If you're able to show up as aleader in front of the people
that you're working with andtogether you mobilize everyone
to work towards a common goal,and then it essentially creates
(06:41):
that lasting systemic changethat we want to see in public
health.
We saw that, you know, in timesof crisis, like the pandemic or
the climate disaster that we'redealing with at the moment, we
really need leaders who aretrusted, who are calm, who can
(07:04):
communicate clearly, and so, inpublic health, it's critical
that each individual, regardlessof where you sit, kind of, in
that hierarchy within anorganization, is a strong leader
, because, whether you areleading a team or you're
(07:27):
advocating or just everyday work, you want to be able to show up
as a strong leader who hasthese skills to to bring people
together around this commonvision, to create change within
(07:49):
the communities that you'resupporting, right?
So, ultimately, you want tohelp these individuals you know,
whether they're stakeholders,your co-workers, the community
take action towards a healthierlife, right?
So, in public health againgoing back to that necessity for
(08:13):
each individual who works inpublic health to be a strong
leader is essential.
It's like, regardless ofwhether you're an epidemiologist
, a project manager, you knowhealth promoter, public health
nurse, you, you need to be ableto show up as a strong leader
(08:38):
and you need to be able to thinkof yourself as a leader and for
you to think about this skillset as something that's
essential for you to have toessentially, you know, do well
in that role, but also tosucceed in this career that
(09:03):
you've kind of built foryourself.
Right as we're talking, I doalso want to pull up the two
podcasts that I think they'rereally good conversations to
listen in on, and the first oneis from very long ago.
(09:26):
It's published in September of2020 and it was episode number
20.
So if you're using Spotify orApple podcast, you're gonna have
to kind of scroll all the wayto the, to the bottom, to
episode 20, because this one isepisode 171 and it's called
public health leadership inaction with Anjum Sultana.
(09:46):
This is a really good episodefor you to listen to, because we
do talk about, kind of you know, how can we show up as a leader
?
And then the other episode isepisode number 12.
So, again, kind of you have togo down to the very bottom,
titled Fueling your LeadershipDrive in Public Health, with
(10:07):
Nadia Aksir.
This was also a really goodconversation around.
You know what is thatleadership drive, what does
leadership mean and how Nadiawas able to show up as a leader.
And then we have thatconversation around you know, do
we need to be in management tobe a leader?
And then we talk about arethere natural born leaders
(10:30):
versus people given the rightopportunities to become a leader
, right?
So both of these conversationsare really good for you to
listen to, in kind of adifferent format of an episode,
but I hope kind of you know justthis brief introduction of why
(10:53):
leadership in public health iscritical and something for you
to think about and, hopefully,action, and for you to look out
for opportunities where you canbuild your leadership experience
and your skills, right so,speaking of skills, there are
(11:16):
some core leadership skills thatI think we need to develop, so
we'll break down a few of them.
First one is emotionalintelligence, and emotional
intelligence is really theability to understand, to
regulate and respond to emotions, both yours and others.
(11:39):
Work we do is oftenpeople-centered and, as a leader
, regardless of what position orrole or title you hold, it's
important that you're able tolisten to your, your
(12:02):
stakeholders, the communitymembers, and create that safe
space for dialogue, because foryou to be able to inspire change
, get people committed around acommon vision, there needs to be
trust involved, right?
So if you have high emotionalintelligence and you're able to
(12:27):
create a safe space for peopleto feel like they're being
listened to, that they canexpress themselves, you'll be
able to collect so muchinformation, you'll be able to
build so much trust and, as aresult, you will be able to help
people take action towards thatcommon goal, right?
So ways to build emotionalintelligence and you know, this
(12:52):
episode is really kind of anintro for me to plant the idea
in your head, and I really justwant you to go and see what
resources exist within yourorganization.
There might be some leadershiptraining, there might be some
programs that you can getinvolved in.
So a lot of the skills and theideas I give you are going to be
(13:13):
very brief and I want you totake it as a starting point for
you to go on and find moreresources, right?
So a good way to buildemotional intelligence is to
practice mindfulness andself-awareness.
Also, ask feedback from peers.
If you're in a situation whereyou are maybe facilitating a
(13:40):
conversation or discussion, goback to your peers and ask them
how do you feel that went?
Are there areas that I couldimprove on that went?
Are there areas that I couldimprove on?
Right?
So that's a good way for you tokind of do some self reflection
and then also again see ifthere's any specific training
(14:00):
around.
How do you communicate withdifferent types of individuals
and ensure that you are able tocreate a safe space for dialogue
and be able to kind of likelisten, right?
So emotional intelligence is agood skill set to develop for
(14:24):
strong leaders.
Second kind of area that you canlook into is systems thinking.
So, seeing the big picture I'vementioned this several times as
a leader, you want to be ableto get a group of people to see
(14:48):
your vision and to inspire allof these individuals to take a
call, to take kind of interestin a common goal, to take action
towards that common goal.
So if you're able to have thatsystems thinking and able to see
the bigger picture in this inkind of like the area that you
(15:11):
work in, maybe how policies orinstitutions and people are
interconnected, you'll be ableto speak to the different
stakeholders and collaboratorsin a way that makes sense to
them, right?
So you always have to thinkit's not about the day-to-day
(15:32):
operational work that I'm doing,right, I'm crunching these
numbers and I'm doing thisanalysis, but how can I
communicate this in a way thatit connects to that bigger
picture, to the, the system thatall of these individual factors
are connected within?
Right, because public healthproblems don't exist in silos,
(15:57):
right, and so you need to knowhow these different pieces all
tie in and why your you knowsmall project where you spent
several weeks crunching thesenumbers, why that's important,
how it connects up into thesystem, and so some ways for you
to develop that systemsthinking is reading, lots of
(16:21):
reading of case studies, ofdifferent health interventions,
and then even kind of looking atyour own work and mapping out
the players and the forces thatimpact that specific work.
You can do some liketraditional learning courses,
online courses around how tobuild logic models, that kind of
(16:46):
think about theinterconnectedness of the
different factors.
But I think you know, if youcan find specific courses around
systems thinking in publichealth, it'll kind of open your
eyes and allow you to kind ofthink in that way, and then that
(17:09):
kind of sets the stage foradditional learning and
additional skill building inthis area, especially listening.
We kind of talked about thiswith the emotional intelligence
(17:30):
piece, but listening is so key,right?
So it's not just about writingor presenting.
Those are very importantbecause as a leader, as somebody
who's trying to inspireindividuals around the common
vision, you definitely need tobe able to articulate that,
whether it's in like writtenformat or when you're doing a
(17:54):
presentation.
But being able to listen, to beable to translate complex ideas
and connect them with differentaudiences is so critical, and
so being able to have thesespaces, or create spaces where
people trust you because you'rea good listener, um, it's going
(18:16):
to take you far as a leader.
So, um, communication is key,right?
Um, because you want to be ableto, uh, present um your ideas
to maybe it's a group of citycounselors one day and then a
community group the other day.
(18:36):
You need to be able to know howto tell that story for these
different groups of people, butthen, on the flip side, also be
able to listen to the feedbackthat they give you, because
that's going to help you be abetter leader, to be able to
take what you're hearing andmodify the story to make sure
(19:01):
that it connects with yourpeople, right, and so best way
to practice communication isessentially that, like, practice
that storytelling Whenever youget an opportunity to talk about
your work, see if there's astory that you can pull around
it, and it's not just.
You know, here's my analysis andthese are the methods that I
(19:21):
use.
But how can you tell that storyto kind of show people, the.
So what like?
What does this all mean?
The the so what like?
What does this all mean?
Right?
Um, other ways you can do thisis kind of again doing some
learning, right?
Learning plain language writingtechniques.
If you want to improve in yourwritten communication, if you
(19:42):
want to improve in your oralpresentation, you can record
presentations that you're aboutto take to see for yourself.
You know where are areas that Ican improve.
Maybe get your peers involvedand see if they have any
suggestions for you.
So that's another skill set.
(20:04):
So we talked about emotionalintelligence, we talked about
systems thinking and we talkedabout communication.
So those are three.
The next thing I want to talkabout is resilience and
(20:25):
adaptability, right?
So when you see yourself as aleader, and regardless of what
position you're in, you will seethat things are changing right.
So things will change in yourorganization.
Projects will pivot, new datawill surprise you, but as a
(20:51):
leader, you want to make sureyou're grounded and you're
flexible, right?
I think if you're kind of likeI don't want to be a leader, I
just want to put my head down,do my number crunching and be
done for the day.
That's one way to go about it.
The other way to go about it islike how does all of this
(21:12):
connect with that bigger picturethat we talked about?
How is this impacting thepeople that we're supposed to
serve?
When you start thinking aboutit in that way, you will see
that first of all, like if youcan get yourself involved in
some of these conversations andbe at these tables, I think that
(21:34):
would be excellent.
And when you do get exposed to,you know these types of
conversations that people arehaving, you will notice that
there will often be lots ofchange, right, and so knowing
(21:55):
that there will be change andknowing that you need to be
adaptable and flexible will bekey as a leader, especially, I
think, when you combine it withbeing in a management role.
Eventually, when you do move upthe corporate ladder, or if
(22:16):
you're already a manager or adirector and you pair that with
wanting to be a strong leader, Ithink being able to adapt,
think quickly on your feet, isgoing to be a skill that is
going to be very helpful for youto develop very early on.
So in order to build that skill, I think reflecting regularly
(22:41):
will be helpful.
So just think about challengesyou've faced in the past.
How were you able to bounceback from that, have a personal
support system, like who are theindividuals I can lean on when
things get a bit tough and Idon't know kind of which way to
go with my decision.
It's good to have a supportsystem.
(23:02):
And then also celebrating thesmall wins that you do get right
.
We can be so focused on, on,maybe, projects that didn't go a
certain way, or if we weren'table to convince a group of
people to take a certain action.
We may be hung up on thosesetbacks and not celebrate the
(23:27):
small wins that we did have.
So I think, to be able to buildthat resilience and
adaptability, those are some ofthe things that we need to focus
on.
So reflecting regularly,building that support system and
then celebrating our wins.
So those are a few kind ofskills that I think I would
(23:50):
focus on if I were to step intothat new role as a leader.
Right, you know, regardless ofwhat job title I have, I want to
be a leader in public health.
So how can I go about that?
I will develop these differentskills.
(24:11):
Right, there was emotionalintelligence, there was systems
thinking, communication and thenbuilding your resilience and
adaptability.
So, for, I gave a few ideas ofhow you can build those
different skills, but just veryquickly, some other ways for you
(24:34):
to figure out, like, how can Iget involved in really like
taking action to build up myleadership skills?
I'd say start with reading,reading books around leadership.
It doesn't need to be relatedto public health per se.
(24:54):
Just reading about what itmeans to be a good leader will
help you change your mindset andseparate leadership from
management, right?
Op-eds are really great.
If there are leaders in publichealth that you really respect
and follow, read any articlesthat they may have written for
(25:18):
newspapers.
Follow organizations like the Ithink there's a National Public
Health Leadership Institute.
So, reading books, articles,any leaders that you follow on
LinkedIn.
They may be writing likereflective posts as well.
Those are good ones to read.
Second practice Practice whatwe'll call like micro leadership
(25:43):
, right?
So are there opportunities inyour current work?
Maybe you can volunteer.
Maybe there's like mentorshipthat you can take on in your
current work.
Maybe you can volunteer.
Maybe there's like mentorshipthat you can take on um.
Can you um try to show up as aleader in these different areas?
Um, and try to kind of identify, like, how are you changing
(26:04):
your mindset?
What are some things thatyou're doing to show up as a
leader, right?
So leadership is like muscle,so you want to keep using it.
You want to keep setting thatmindset for a leader in public
health right, you want to showup as a leader in public health.
So try these kind of microleadership opportunities and see
(26:26):
if you can find these in yourcurrent work or other areas that
you're involved in.
Another one is to join some sortof a leadership program, right?
So, whether it's within yourorganization, they may have
these programs that are severalmonths to several years long
(26:48):
where they train you as a leader, several months to several
years long, where they train youas a leader.
There may be fellowships,different public health
organizations, local or national.
They may have differentprograms.
Try those out, because I thinkit's helpful to sometimes have
(27:10):
that structured setup when we'retrying to change the way we
think about something.
So having that structure couldbe really helpful.
So looking out for some ofthese leadership programs and
applying to them and um,hopefully, kind of getting in
and getting a bit more of astructured um, skill building
approach, um approach could bereally helpful.
(27:33):
And then, I think, setting agoal for yourself like a
leadership goal.
What is it that you want tolike?
Who is it that you want to showup as?
Right, like, what does you, asa leader in public health, look
like for you?
You, as a leader in publichealth, look like for you?
(27:54):
So you know, defining that foryourself and having that goal
makes it easier for you to doall the other things that I just
talked about.
Right, because if we don't knowwhich way we are going, like
which direction, it's help, it'snot easy to figure out.
Okay, what are my action steps?
So setting a goal for yourselfwill be helpful because there's
(28:16):
a direction that you can gotowards right.
So I hope this episode kind ofintroduced this idea of you
being a leader in public healthand kind of, what are the
different things that you can do?
And if you're listening, you'relike okay, yes, I want to build
(28:39):
my leadership muscle, I want tobe a leader in public health.
Some great places to kind ofstart are all the online kind of
public health associationwebsites.
You know they may havedifferent resources for building
leadership.
Linkedin learning definitelywould have some leadership
courses, books inside the publichealth career club.
(29:00):
Our community is filled withyou know peers that you can chat
with about leadership.
There's leadership.
There's workshops and differentopportunities that we have
there.
Follow people, individuals inyour organization or outside the
organization, organizationsthat you look up to and you see
(29:21):
leaders in that space.
Follow them on LinkedIn so youcan study how they show up as a
leader, right.
So these are some ideas for youto really jump into things and
take action and not just kind ofsit and think, oh yeah, I think
it'd be nice to be a leader inpublic health, but really take
(29:42):
that action right.
So, to wrap up, I hope I've beenable to convince you that
leadership in public health isessential.
It's something that I reallyfeel that each one of us needs
to have, and that you don't needa title to start building that
leadership muscle.
(30:02):
You don't need to be a manageror in a management position to
be a leader.
You just need that willingnessto grow in that eagerness, that
inspiration to want to seechange in the communities that
you serve.
So remember, leadership is howyou show up.
It's how you're supporting yourteam, your community, the
(30:25):
different stakeholders you workwith, and how you're able to
inspire that change and helppeople see a common vision right
.
So I hope, with that I canconvince you to just choose one
action that you can take thisweek around leadership and being
(30:48):
a leader in public health andsee where that takes you right.
Just one small step.
So try that.
Let me know if this kind ofsets you off on a path to
developing more leadershipskills and for you to show up as
a leader.
And I really encourage you touse LinkedIn maybe to write a
(31:10):
reflective post about this,about being a leader in public
health, and definitely tag me,because I'd love to.
I'd love to read it.
So thank you so much again forspending past 30 minutes or so
with me.
If this episode sparkedsomething for you, please do
share it with a colleague orsend me a message.
(31:30):
I'd love to hear how you'regrowing in your public health
career and if you're not alreadyin the Public Health Career
Club, our membership community,please join us.
It's an incredible space.
We host events, we havementorship opportunities.
We have resources to reallysupport you on your public
health career.
We've set two membership tiersto make it accessible.
(31:55):
Either $7 or $25 a month Givesyou a ton of value.
So take a look at that.
Phspaorg slash club.
Until next time, keep showingup, keep learning and remember.
Leadership isn't something thatyou wait for.
It's something that you waitfor.
It's something that youpractice.
It's something that you show upas okay.
(32:16):
Um, you've been listening tothe ph spotlight podcast and so
johnny and I will catch you thenext episode.
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