Unlocking the leadership potential in ourselves and others – Community Event Insights Pack and Recording

This Project Lift Communities Digital event ran on the 26th January 2022 as part of the 2021-2022 Digital Community Events Series.

About the Event

This was part of our ‘courageous conversation’ event series, where we aimed to offer fresh perspectives on some of the big questions of what it’s like to be a leader right now and what we need to be paying attention to.

Our ambition at Project Lift was to help everyone in Health, Social Work and Social Care to explore and live their leadership potential. We believed in enhancing and growing leadership at all levels, and you’ve told us this matters to you too.

This was a rewarding conversation with leaders from different parts of Health and Social Care, where we all considered:

“What are the different kinds of leadership; how might you recognise and reach your own leadership potential and in doing so, inspire others to do the same?

Sometimes it takes the encouragement or feedback from someone we value: a colleague, a line manager, a family member, a friend; to help us begin to truly see and value our own contribution and capability. Perhaps you have been inspired to follow the example of someone else and take a risk, speak up or try something new, and are glad you did.  How can you build on that experience?  How might we remember to give ourselves the space, encouragement and feedback, to support ourselves to reach our potential?

For this event, we were delighted to welcome a small group of leaders from different parts of Health and Social Care in Scotland.  They have a wide range of backgrounds and skills, and all met and connected as part of Cohort 3 of Project Lift’s leadership cubed development offering.  Each of them had a perspective on why this matters for them and why it matters for us all.

Our speakers shared their own stories of the impact of giving and receiving support, encouragement and inspiration over the years and the effect it’s gone on to have on their leadership journey. They also told us how they encourage others around them to see and act on their own leadership potential and were keen to explore this alongside the participants.

Our Contributors:

• Helena Jackson – Territorial Board Sponsorship and Ministerial Support, Directorate for Performance and Delivery, Health and Social Care, Scottish Government
• Jenny Wilson, Interim Nurse Director, NHS Ayrshire and Arran
• Sarah Horan – Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Allied Health Professionals – NHS Borders
• Scott Heald – Director of Data Driven Innovation, Public Health Scotland
• Jan Beattie – AHP Professional Advisor, Primary Care; Scottish Government

Together we explored questions such as:

• When did someone recognise your potential? What impact did it have on you, how did you feel and what was the outcome?
• How can we better support ourselves and others to recognise and realise their leadership potential?

The insights pack from the event is open to all and we encourage you to use this to start a conversation about caring for our colleagues in your team, community or network – see the DIY event guide in the pack and contact us at hello@leadingtochange.scot if you would like to talk this through.