The SOM Leadership Academy will enhance leadership skills for occupational health (OH) practitioners. It aims to:
- Develop leadership and management skills among OH practitioners.
- Foster a pipeline of future leaders through leadership development opportunities.
- Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in leadership.
- Ensure the Academy is a sustainable, self-funding initiative within SOM.
The target audience is new OH practitioners, trainees, existing OH practitioners aiming to enhance leadership skills, aspirants for Chief Medical Officer positions and entrepreneurial-minded practitioners. Scroll down for leadership stories.
SOM’s leadership activities include:
- leadership webinars here (fully accessible list on members website)
- an annual leadership event, and leadership resources here.
Review leadership competencies for:
- AHPs at Leadership
- for nurses here, and
- doctors here.
Take a look at NHS leadership resources here and a Leadership Assessment tool here.
New to OH? Join the OH mentoring platform here.
Terms of reference of the Leadership Academy Executive Committee are here, and a Road map is here. Contact SOM if you wish to collaborate with the Academy or wish to support the Academy financially.
Interested to find out more? Email nick.pahl@som.org.uk and tell us about your leadership interests and how you'd like to contribute e.g. by suggesting a topic on which you would be willing to share insights.
Leadership Stories
Amanda Hinkley, Head of Occupational Health, UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA)
How did you get here?
I commenced my Occupational Health (OH) Nurse career aged 22. During the last 34 years of my OH career (24 in management) I have been lucky to have many leadership training opportunities (many supported by the NHS) and on the job development opportunities. Following my MSc in Occupational Health I completed an Open University distance learning Certificate in management in healthcare services. This was a very useful course including regular opportunities to attend residential course lectures with many NHS managers of different professional backgrounds. The most helpful professional development in leadership has resulted from learning on the job through many difficult circumstances.
Can you share some unexpected twists and turns?
A personal challenge to me was being rushed into hospital end of 2012 and receiving a diagnosis of a brain tumour and remaining an inpatient to have surgery. A life changing event such as cancer as a single parent with children is challenging enough, I felt an overriding sense of commitment to support my team through the Safe Effective Quality Occupational Health Services (SEQOHS) accreditation process. I was lucky to have a great team who pulled together to continue the submission, whilst I was working at home on restricted duties providing leadership with my knowledge as a SEQOHS Assessor. A professional challenge was being asked by the NHS Trust Executive board to undertake a service review and reconfiguration of my own service and team in 2007. The remit included meeting a service improvement cost reduction target, considering outsourcing options and through stakeholder engagement drawing up a bronze, silver, gold and gold plus service specification checklist. The Board expected regular updates through the 4-month review and the final presentation at Board would decide in house or outsource the service and which service specification the budget could afford. It was hard and included having to calculate redundancies, considering TUPE and reporting a senior manager of acting with a declared interest and plan under the Whistleblowing policy. The team and I were successful in achieving the right outcome of keeping the in-house service with gold service model. A funny story was a week later the CEO contacted me asking to access the fast track inhouse Physiotherapy and I had to remind him he took that out the week before as this was in the Gold plus model.
How have you balanced your life outside of work alongside your career?
Working parents become very adept at juggling and ensuring that all home and work responsibilities are balanced whilst trying to maintain health and wellbeing. During my career there have been roles with long commute times that has led to me avoiding working in the evenings or weekends. The only time this has been difficult was as NHS Head of OH service role that required me to undertake on call hospital management in addition to my day job and I was a single parent. I have read the book “The 7 habits of highly effective people” by Steven Covey on a leadership course years ago. The seventh habit “sharpen the saw” focuses on self-renewal in the four areas of your life: physical, social/emotional, mental, and spiritual. Self-renewal enhances our capability to manage change and personal growth. I try to keep a positive work life balance to maintain my personal health and wellbeing with an underlying health condition and enhance emotional resilience.
What routines or habits contribute to your personal and professional growth?
To provide evidence-based advice and leadership requires continuous improvement and development. I am always seeking opportunities to expand my knowledge through professional networking (specialist Facebook groups, LinkedIn, webinars, TED talks and learning from others). The opportunity to learn from many colleagues with different professional backgrounds and work experience can never be underestimated. In my current team we are very lucky to have a day weekly from a very experienced Consultant in Occupational Medicine and OH physio that has supported team multi professional clinical supervision sessions monthly. These provide the opportunity to reflect and then go away and consider research and new areas of knowledge. I am currently on a part time organisational loan to Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) this has provided me with opportunities to work with new colleagues (including DWP and NHS England) and increase my knowledge of national policy, healthcare and Government policy though the Joint Health and Work Unit.
How do you manage balancing short term and long-term needs, goals and priorities?
Throughout my career in OH management I have developed skills in prioritising and decision making. This has helped me currently where I am undertaking several roles in addition to my core role and DHSC loan, such as Associate Caldicott Guardian, Safeguarding Lead and Co-Chair of the UKHSA Working Through Cancer Network. On a weekly basis I look at my diary, decide what is essential and desirable, the pareto 80:20 principle and if there is another approach or change to demands /requirements. This time management approach helps me along with the principle of cutting the elephant into slices that helps problem solving and subsequently I feel more in control of my responsibilities. I am passionate about workforce health and wellbeing and undertake do undertake some commitments in my non-working time, these include being a Faculty of Occupational Nursing Board member and mentoring new nurses and Dr’s who are interested in a career in OH as part of the National School of OH and SOM OH mentoring scheme. I make sure on weeks when I have some extra commitments that I focus more on downtime to minimise feeling overloaded or stretched.
Chris Terry
How did you get here?
I had no intention of getting into a leadership role. I even actively avoided it. But, after my wife and her sister set up an OH business, I had to join after a few years as it became too busy for them to manage alone. They needed another staff member, and I was able to do most of the tasks that were required. As we employed more people the role evolved naturally.
Can you share some unexpected twists and turns?
As the business grew, we received a more diverse set of requests from our customers. I started to learn about ergonomics and found that I not only enjoyed it as a subject but found that I was good at it. We now have a team dealing with ergonomics in the workplace.
How have you balanced your life outside of work alongside your career?
Initially it was very difficult to do this. There were long periods of time in the early days of business where I’m not really sure how we got through. Coupled with having a young family it was very difficult. My wife had no time off work when she had one of our daughters and was only able to take a few days when I took parental leave from my main job (OHA with a local council) when she had our son. It has remained difficult at times but has been getting easier year by year. We now have a larger team so that reduces stress. It is very easy to lose yourself, it takes discipline and a lot of self-awareness to staff balanced.
What routines or habits contribute to your personal and professional growth?
I enjoy lots of exercise and being outdoors. I have often been involved in adventurous sports (offshore rowing, open water swimming, mountaineering etc.). Practice decision making and remain relaxed when being out of your comfort zone. Engaging in voluntary discomfort is also a great way of making any day seem a little easier (Type 2 fun). Professionally – just do interesting work. Doing it just for the money is not enough to get the best results.
How do you manage balancing short term and long-term needs, goals, and priorities?
It helps to have a clear idea of what you need as opposed to what you want. Do not make emotional decisions and do not be at the mercy of your ego. My main role now is to provide good work/jobs/roles for others not for myself.
Janet O’Neill OH Nurse specialist, Deputy Head of NSOH and Head of PAM Academy PAM Group; Director of CPD and trustee iOH
How did you get here?
I have never shied away from a challenge. I may be scared or nervous, but that is not a barrier. I can’t say I have ever made a five or ten-year plan, I’ve always gone with opportunities that have presented themselves. I think this may have something to do with having a few ADHD traits which lend themselves to spontaneity, plus a feeling of not wanting to let people down. I find it satisfying to help in some way so strive to do so. I also have a marked sense of curiosity and a need to test or challenge myself. Proving I can do something is very important to me and I believe it is this which has been a marked driver in my career.
Nursing was a curve ball occupation and not one I had planned at all. In fact, I would have laughed if someone had suggested it six months before finishing school. However, university was not an option as it was full fee paying and my parents couldn’t afford it. No loans in those days. So, three months before finishing school, my dad encouraged me into nursing. And I loved it. I fell into OH early in my career and then moved back when my children were older.
What inspired me to move up in OH was a sense of restlessness. I felt I had reached my level doing day-to-day work and was stagnating. However, I didn’t have the knowledge or confidence to do more in that role. I therefore looked for another role and found one that promised development in an area of interest. However, I realised my worth when my boss at the time, promised to fund further education (I had by this time two OH qualifications already) and consider promotion, if I stayed, a promise she honoured. The MSc in Workplace Health and Wellbeing was a pivotal point in my development. I’m not saying I was an excellent student, but it helped me understand the bigger picture, how to research to substantiate a point and how to horizon scan.
I gained confidence in trying new things and not to feel beaten if it didn’t work. As I grew, so did the network of people I met which helped me to realise the bigger world out there of OH. On reflection part of this was joining SOM as soon as membership opened for nurses. Very self-conscious as a nurse in the beginning, but the welcome and frankly the knowledge I gained gave me confidence, not forgetting the mentorship of Professor Anne Harriss.
Can you share some unexpected twists and turns?
Life is full of twists and turns or what I consider opportunities. Everything that happens is either a learning point or a door opening to opportunity. I’ve had personal difficulty but, if anything, that made me stronger and keener to prove myself to myself. This is probably why I volunteer outside of my day-to-day role. Being interested, needing to learn plus having an eye on what I think is right, helps through those tornadoes of life. Everything passes and what we are worried about now will be a distant memory before we know it.
How have you balanced your life outside of work alongside your career?
I’m a keen ice-skater and always make time for ice skating and friends. Ice-skating has an amazing community who come together regardless of what anyone does for work or career. So supportive and so much fun. This helps me to see the bigger picture in life as does a very close-knit family and a few close-knit friends. Nothing like camping to keep you grounded.
What routines or habits contribute to your personal and professional growth?
Waking up early works for me. I’m fortunate enough to still have my parents and living next door means I can play out my daily 5am ritual of a coffee and a chat. A walk up and down the hill litter picking also sets me up for the day. These help me to keep abreast of what’s happening in the family and give me time to reflect on the day ahead. Chatting to mum always helps to put things in perspective.
How do you manage balancing short term and long-term needs, goals and priorities?
I have a to do list as does everyone, but those ADHD traits, mean I often procrastinate, go off piste, or down a rabbit hole, following what interests me. Unfortunately, most things interest me so keeping this in check is a constant battle. My priority is whichever deadline is coming up soonest or whichever item interests me the most. Very fortunately, my role at the NSOH is one of great flexibility as it is project driven. That means I can follow what interests me as long as it marries with our mission of quality in education and training and developing the OH workforce. Similarly with PAM Academy, where education and training are key. My long-term priorities fit with those roles, but working on short term priorities inches towards the long-term priority. I also believe in education and training for myself. For example, I’m currently undertaking a PGCHE which will help me have a deeper understanding of the challenges in education and training as well as the solutions.