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This paper aims to examine the benefits and challenges of enacting cross‐sector alliances as a strategy to meet the health leadership capacity and capability requirements to effect improvements in health service delivery.

The findings originate from two case studies of cross‐sector alliances in Canada.

Value generated by strategic alliances in health with organisations from public, private and civil sectors is accrued at the inter‐organisational, organisational, group and individual level. Obstacles related to mindsets, operations and governance guiding the partnerships were identified which further an understanding of the advantages and constraints for using cross‐sector alliances as a strategy for large‐scale health leadership development.

Future research could investigate whether other factors influence the overall success of using an alliance strategy which may lead to a more comprehensive understanding of large‐scale health leadership initiatives. Given the universal health care context of this study, the results should be examined for their generalisability to other contexts.

The results urge decision‐makers to develop the mental models, behaviours and processes that support the use of cross‐sector alliances to achieve practical benefits gained through large‐systems health leadership development that may otherwise be unattainable.

This paper responds to the needs of executives by investigating alliances among health, education, business and government as a strategic driver for building the health leadership capacity and capability needed for implementing health reform.

The purpose of this paper is to map out and characterize existing health-promotion initiatives at Florida International University (FIU) in the USA in order to inform decision makers involved in the development of a comprehensive and a long-term healthy university strategy.

This study encompasses a narrative literature review on health promotion in higher education institutions and the identification and characterization of the various health-promotion initiatives associated with the subject of healthy universities at FIU. The characterization of health-promoting initiatives relied on the stakeholder analysis approach. Using the information obtained from this study, a map for promoting health initiatives with their location, capacities, leadership, and resources was established.

Most publications on health-promoting universities are limited to partial experiences’ reproduction. Self-financing health-promoting initiatives foster competition and work in silos. Gains of health-promotion interventions require governance, participation, and academic considerations. This study highlights the need for standards and minimum requirements for the mapping and characterization of health-promoting initiatives within institutions of higher education. The health-promotion strategy should fall within the university’s social responsibility policy.

This study helps identify organizational strengths and weaknesses and can inform decision makers seeking to establish policies and strategies as well as defining priorities and courses of action for healthy universities.

This paper aims to explore President Obama's leadership style during passage of this major and controversial piece of legislation. Specifically it addresses the historical development of healthcare reform in the USA, and provides an ethical analysis of President Obama's leadership in pursuing the health reform initiative.

Based on a review of the literature, speeches, and application of leadership and ethical theory, an analysis was done of President Obama's leadership and ethical approach to healthcare reform.

This analysis revealed that Obama's behavior was consistent with the full‐range leadership model articulated by Bass and Avolio. Moreover, his personal and strategic ethical approach to promulgating healthcare reform incorporated both deontological and teleological ethical principles.

This paper provides a current look at President Obama's leadership style and demonstrates how incorporating different ethical theories can result in the same outcome.

The purpose of this paper is to call for strong medical co-leadership in transforming the Australian health system. The paper discusses how Health LEADS Australia, the Australian health leadership framework, offers an opportunity to engage medical clinicians and doctors in the leadership of health services.

The paper first discusses the nature of medical leadership and its associated challenges. The paper argues that medical leaders have a key role in the design, implementation and evaluation of healthcare reforms, and in translating these reforms for their colleagues. Second, this paper describes the origins and nature of Health LEADS Australia. Third, this paper discusses the importance of the goal of Health LEADS Australia and suggests the evidence-base underpinning the five foci in shaping medical leadership education and professional development. This paper concludes with suggestions on how Health LEADS Australia might be evaluated.

For the well-being of the Australian health system, doctors need to play an important role in the kind of leadership that makes measurable differences in the retention of clinical professions; improves organisational cultures; enhances the engagement of consumers and their careers; is associated with better patient and public health outcomes; effectively addresses health inequalities; balances cost effectiveness with improved quality and safety; and is sustainable.

This is the first article addressing Health LEADS Australia and medical leadership. Australia is actively engaging in a national approach to health leadership. Discussions about the mechanisms and intentions of this are valuable in both national and global health leadership discourses.

In recent years, effective leadership initiatives have been emphasized in the healthcare industry all over the world. This paper aims to examine contemporary healthcare development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and prescribe four essential policy dimensions to its leadership, depicting the imperative needs for direction, integration, revision, and evidence – the “DIRE needs” approach.

The paper reviews literature on the contemporary KSA health system and provides guidelines for policy reforms vis‐à‐vis the emerging challenges.

First, the paper offers a conceptual model to examine the ongoing and future health policy development of the KSA. It identifies four key policy dimensions – direction, integration, revision, and evidence and links these to the scope of broader health sector reforms. Second, it characterizes these dimensions as key initiatives for health resource capacity and infrastructural development, essentially the primary health care, which need to be taken up by KSA mainstream health services leadership. Third, it underlines the importance of integrating institutional research and information systems for evidence‐based policy‐making and practicable implementation. Fourth, it offers a social science research perspective to the need for multi‐dimensional health policy reforms in the KSA.

This paper opens up KSA health leadership initiatives that may be viewed as the DIRE needs, to be mainstreamed in the domains of policy and strategic planning, research and development, and healthcare management practices.

Social research in KSA health policy and planning is rare. This paper introduces a context‐specific multi‐dimensional model that provides critical insights into challenges and complexities that the Saudi health leadership must attend to. It defines a set of four essential benchmarking dimensions for guiding future policy reforms.

This article aims to provide an overview of what is occurring within two large District Health Boards in New Zealand: Counties Manukau DHB, ranking number three in relative population size, and Canterbury DHB, number two. The conclusions provide a comparison of these approaches and draw on some of the new developments which are being driven by and through these District Health Boards.

Canterbury DHB have embraced a capability/competency framework while Counties Manukau DHB have chosen an alternative approach, enacting “leadership as a practice approach”. CMDHB have developed a range of development intervention across management and leadership levels while CDHB have chosen a path of HR practices aligned to a capability framework.

The approaches taken by Counties Manukau DHB and Canterbury DHB, while different, are driven by many of the same elements both internally and externally, indeed they might even be considered complementary. A focus on quality and patient safety, the changing dynamics of clinicians and managers, the integration of primary and secondary care and the increasing move to multi‐disciplinary teams who focus on care systems in an environment of increased demand alongside proportionally decreasing resources feature in both and require an adaptation of leadership in a health context.

The approaches taken by the two DHBs are unique to their organisations and the sector, yet provide exemplars of practice for other large health providers. The outcomes will reflect their differences in approach and the specific workforce challenges each faces.

Leadership, and leadership development, in health and human services is essential. This review aims to draw conclusions from practice within the Australian context.

This review is an overview of health leadership development in Australia, with a particular focus on the implementation of the national health leadership framework, Health LEADS Australia (HLA).

Since its inception, the HLA has influenced the development of health leadership frameworks across the Australian states and territories. Both the National Health Leadership Collaboration and individuals with “boundary-spanning” roles across state government and the university sector have contributed to the development of collaborative online communities of practice and professional networks. Innovation has also been evident as the HLA has been incorporated into existing academic curricula and new professional development offerings. Ideas associated with distributed leadership, integral to the HLA, underpin both sets of actions.

The concept of a national health leadership framework has been implemented in different ways across jurisdictions. The range of alternative strategies (both collaborative and innovative) undertaken by Australian practitioners provide lessons for practice elsewhere.

This article adds to the body of knowledge associated with policy implementation and provides practical recommendations for the development and promotion of health leadership development programmes.

This paper aims to provide an overview of the design and initial outcomes of a leadership and service improvement program for junior medical staff.

This paper describes the rationale, initial set-up, structure, program outcomes and future directions of the Medical Service Improvement Program for junior doctors. This program is a recent initiative of the Western Australian public healthcare system.

The Medical Service Improvement Program illustrates a successful approach to developing junior doctors to lead improvements in health service delivery. The program has resulted in tangible personal outcomes for participants, in addition to important organisational outcomes.

This paper provides an evidence-based structured approach to developing the leadership abilities of junior medical staff. It provides practical information on the design of the leadership program that aligns the participant learning outcomes to postgraduate medical competencies. The program has demonstrated clear service outcomes, confirming that junior medical staff is both capable and committed to leading service improvement and reform.

This paper provides clear evidence for the benefits of providing dedicated non-clinical time for junior medical staff to lead quality and improvement initiatives. This case study will assist hospital administrators, postgraduate education units and those involved in designing and administering clinical leadership development programs.

This is the first study to compile statistical data to describe the functions and responsibilities of physicians in formal and informal leadership roles in the Canadian health system. This mixed-methods research study offers baseline data relative to this purpose, and also describes physician leaders’ views on fundamental aspects of their leadership responsibility.

A survey with both quantitative and qualitative fields yielded 689 valid responses from physician leaders. Data from the survey were utilized in the development of a semi-structured interview guide; 15 physician leaders were interviewed.

A profile of Canadian physician leadership has been compiled, including demographics; an outline of roles, responsibilities, time commitments and related compensation; and personal factors that support, engage and deter physicians when considering taking on leadership roles. The role of health-care organizations in encouraging and supporting physician leadership is explicated.

The baseline data on Canadian physician leaders create the opportunity to determine potential steps for improving the state of physician leadership in Canada; and health-care organizations are provided with a wealth of information on how to encourage and support physician leaders. Using the data as a benchmark, comparisons can also be made with physician leadership as practiced in other nations.

There are no other research studies available that provide the depth and breadth of detail on Canadian physician leadership, and the embedded recommendations to health-care organizations are informed by this in-depth knowledge.

The purpose of this article is to share the lessons learned about the role of team sponsors in action-learning teams as part of community-based health leadership development programs.

This case study uses program survey results from fellow participants, action learning coaches and team sponsors to understand the value of sponsors to the teams, the roles they most often filled and the challenges they faced as team sponsors.

The extent to which the sponsors were perceived as having contributed to the work of the action learning teams varied greatly from team to team. Most sponsors agreed that they were well informed about their role. The roles sponsors most frequently played were to provide the teams with input and support, serve as a liaison to the community and serve as a sounding board, motivator and cheerleader. The most common challenges or barriers team sponsors faced in this role were keeping engaged in the process, adjusting to the role and feeling disconnected from the program.

This work provides insights for program developers and community foundations who are interested in building the capacity for health leadership by linking community sponsors with emerging leaders engaged in an action learning experience.

This work begins to fill a gap in the literature. The role of team sponsors has been studied for single organization work teams but there is a void of understanding about the role of sponsors with multi-organizational teams working to improve health while also learning about leadership.