Leadership and the everyday practice of Consultant Radiographers in the UK: Transformational ideals and the generation of self-efficacy

Abstract

Introduction: This paper outlines findings from a broader, two-year project investigating the role of Consultant Radiographers (CRs) in the UK, focusing specifically on the leadership aspect of that role.Methods: Using a qualitative-thematic approach, the leadership-related experiences of a purposive sample of six participating CRs are explored, alongside the systems through which they evaluated how successful they had been as leaders.Results: It is evidenced that many of the ways in which participants describe their own leadership practice, particularly in the intra-team domain, is consistent with the precepts of the Transformational Leadership Model. For example, they highlight how they have asserted positive influence and encouraged collective action and decisionmaking. However, the experiential focus of the analysis reveals that in specific examples of practice, the transformational approach was not always seen as the most useful route to a productive outcome given constrictions on time and other resources within real professional environments. More 'direct' managerial approaches were 2 sometimes deemed necessary, and at others leadership was reduced to simply 'solving other people's problems'. It was also found that the manner in which participants evaluated their own success as leaders was a practical concern, based in part upon having satisfied 'hard' institutional goals, but also on the more personal business of having affirmatively 'surprised' oneself, or a general sense of feeling trusted by colleagues.Conclusion: These findings may help support CRs in the business of real leadership, not least through better understanding how even apparently mundane outcomes can have significant impacts on professional self-efficacy.

Personnel flux and workplace anxiety: Personal and interpersonal consequences of understaffing in UK ultrasound departments

“…In short, even those in the most difficult departmental positions generally felt fully capable of managing a difficult system, but not an inherently unstable one. As described by Booth, Henwood and Miller, [22] professional self-efficacy in medical imaging leadership can often rest on even the softest, subjective measures of workplace certainty, but on certainty nevertheless. Some of the participants in this study, in contemporary UK ultrasound, were actively struggling to find any degree of professional confidence, given the transitory nature of their staffing-base and, thus, the apparent implausibility of planning beyond the immediate.…”

“…[10,21] Indeed, and as Henwood and colleagues extensively demonstrate regarding leadership in the medical imaging domain, Consultant Radiographers typically rely upon a sense of consistency, and consistently reliable feedback, from other departmental staff in generating their own sense of self-efficacy. [22] In the absence of this order of consistency, a crisis of confidence often prevails.…”

Leadership in the radiation therapy profession: The importance of understanding the potential benefits and theoretical perspectives

“…30 Xu 31 contends effective CL ensures a high-quality health care system that consistently provides safe and efficient care. Hence, it is no surprise several publications from the healthcare professions such as pharmacy, 32 nursing, 31,33,34 physical therapy, 6 radiography 35 and paramedics 36 have advocated for CL within their professions. Undoubtedly, RTs in formal leadership positions must be equipped with leadership skills to address some of the formidable challenges in the profession.…”

Charting the practical dimensions of understaffing from a managerial perspective: The everyday shape of the UK’s sonographer shortage

“…A sustained examination of empirical literature addressing the current situation in clinical ultrasound indicates a strong orientation towards an 'explanatory orthodoxy' in relevant research. 11,12 In short, the primary topics of investigation are (a) the root causes of the sonographer shortage, (b) potential solutions to it or (c) both of the above. 2,4,[13][14][15] Significantly, less literature has addressed the character of the central issue itself in any serious depth; i.e.…”

“…and the What now? 12 The above is by no means designed to devalue extant work in the field described; thus far, productively actionable findings have emerged within this body of research, particularly around educational interventions. 2,14 It is the contention here, however, that these studies largely are borne of the straightforward proposition that there are simply 'not enough sonographers'.…”