Teacher to headmaster:trainer to leaderElizabeth Spencer, Education Centre, Gloucestershire Royal Hospital, UK

Having recently stood down asDirector of Postgraduate MedicalEducation in a large multi-siteddistrict teaching hospital, I amable to reflect on my ‘teaching’career over the last 15 years.Both my parents were teachersand my father was a headmaster.He did his best to encourage meinto teaching, but was not dis-appointed when I headed tomedical school instead. But inthe end was my role very differ-ent to his?!

During my training in anaesthesiaand intensive care medicine I wasactive in teaching and becameinvolved as a faculty member onLife Support courses. My teachingstyle at that time was lecturebased and fairly didactic, whichwas appropriate for much of thesubject matter in critical care.Having obtained my consultantpost in 1993 I established anddirected many of these ‘didactic’courses – I had knowledge andpersonal experience of the clinical

material, and the energy andpassion to be a convincingteacher. I spent an increasingamount of time in the Postgrad-uate Centre and became Directorof Medical Education in 1999. Thispromotion in today’s world is notthe ‘teacher to headteacher’ stepbut a giant leap into a leadershiprole that my ‘teaching’ experiencehad not prepared me for. So, tomy bookshelf…

The books that I had on my shelfat that time were all clinical,with a couple of educationbooks that I had required for myDiploma in Medical Education.But what rapidly became appar-ent as I settled into my new rolewas that I needed a different setof knowledge, skills and atti-tudes to be a leader in educa-tion. The first book I bought (atan airport prior to departing fora family holiday) was The 7Habits of Highly Effective Peopleby Stephen Covey.1 It taught meabout myself – it made me thinkabout my values, motives, per-ceptions, etc. and to appreciatethat to change any situation Ifirst had to analyse myself, tochange my perception (para-digm), consider how to changemyself and then flex my ap-proach towards others (para-digm shift). The famous pictureof a lady on p. 26 dramaticallyhighlights the fact that otherssee things differently as a con-sequence of prior conditioning.

From mybookshelf

62 � Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2012; 9: 62–63

For the first time I started tofully appreciate the importanceof personal and interpersonalskills. As a leader in medicaleducation I have limited re-sources in terms of money, time,admin etc., but I do have a lot ofcolleagues, by which I meanboth trainers and trainees. Ineeded to share what I had withthem, learn from them, identifya common goal, and then bycombining our skills and effortswe could achieve it. StevenCovey’s book is full of usefulleadership tips.

The second book I wish to talkabout is a very old book, firstpublished in 1953: How to WinFriends and Influence People byDale Carnegie.2 During my medicaltraining I had been competitive, Iwanted to get on and up. My focushad been on my success – now Irealised I had to change that andfocus on improving my ability todeal with others. As Dale says ‘mypopularity, my happiness andsense of worth depend to no smallextent upon my skill in dealingwith people’. This book is highlyreadable, can be dipped into in aspare 10 minutes, does not needto be read from cover to cover andshould be essential reading for allstudents and doctors in training.In fact, I have used many snippets

from the book in my Train theTrainer programmes. A few yearsback I resolved to apply his10 tips on how to win people toyour way of thinking, but I’m notsaying it worked in every case!

The third book was introducedto me when I was doing myCertificate in Executive Coach-ing. The Tao of Coaching by MaxLandsberg is a practical, read-able and relevant book for any-one involved in supporting anddeveloping both trainees andtrainers.3 The increased empha-sis on coaching and mentoringin medicine is correct, requiredand, in my opinion, the onlyapproach that will work. Coach-ing is not just for medical stu-dents and doctors in training,but also for specialists who haveto increasingly juggle clinical,educational and leadershiproles. In fact I think ALL pro-fessionals need a coach.Although clinical teachers donot need to be qualified coachesthey will find some simple prin-ciples, mainly around question-ing and listening skills, of usewhen appraising and supportingothers. Those with a role as aleader in medical education willfind this book particularly help-ful as it focuses on ‘the twinnotions of (1) helping others todevelop and grow, and (2)

increasing your effectiveness asa leader’, which Landsberg sug-gests are two sides of the samecoin. Coaching relies on helpingthe person to help themselves,and does not rely on a one-wayflow of telling and instructing.The book discusses how toreceive and give feedback –suggesting that we should beseeking feedback in order tocreate an effective environmentand relationships that supportmutual giving and receiving offeedback.

These books are all for referenceand for frequent dipping into. Irefer to them for reminding myselfof good practice, to plan for or toreflect on specific challenginginteractions, and also to getinspiration and ideas for my Trainthe Trainer programmes. Over thelast 15 years the climate in med-ical education has changed con-siderably, and the teacher,didactic, powerpoint-slide dayshave gone. Now all trainers have aleadership role as they managetheir interactions with their stu-dents, trainees and trainer col-leagues. These require differentskills, which I believe are morepeople focused. I made errors inthe early days, and wish I hadread these books before I startedas Director of Medical Education.We all need some non-clinical,non-educational books on ourbookshelf. Thanks for consideringthese and good luck.

REFERENCES

1. Covey S. The 7 Habits of Highly Effec-

tive People. London: Simon & Schus-

ter UK Ltd; 2004.

2. Carnegie D. How to Win Friends and

Influence People. London: Vermillion;

2007.

3. Landsberg M. The Tao of Coaching.

London: Profile Books; 2010.

Cover image of How To Win Friends and

Influence People by Dale Carnegie, pub-

lished by Vermilion is used by permission of

The Random House Group Limited

doi: 10.1111/j.1743-498X.2011.00515.x

� Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2012. THE CLINICAL TEACHER 2012; 9: 62–63 63