How to Develop Leadership Skills for Managerial Jobs in Healthcare
The American job market is facing a turbulent time. Reuters reports that many employers are reluctant to hire professionals due to the uncertain political and economic environment. Much of this sentiment stems from President Donald Trump’s fresh policies on tariffs and layoffs. Healthcare is also not insulated from this turmoil.
Consequently, many healthcare practitioners, including doctors and nurses, are considering upskilling to become eligible for leadership positions. From nurse leaders to health services administrators, this sector has numerous opportunities for those willing to push the envelope. These opportunities can take your career forward and bring financial and professional stability.
The strategies below can help you sharpen your leadership acumen to improve your fitment for managerial roles in healthcare.
1. Collaborate With Fellow Professionals
Multidisciplinary teams have slowly become integral to modern healthcare. Besides doctors and nursing practitioners, these teams may include rehabilitation specialists and therapists.
For example, a Frontiers study explains how a multidisciplinary stroke team can provide sustainable health and improve the quality of patient care. This scenario mandates collaboration skills for aspiring healthcare professionals.
Digital transformation is slowly making collaboration easier as professionals can interact across geographical boundaries. A 2025 Deloitte survey notes that healthcare is far behind most other sectors in digital adoption. But this is expected to change soon. Over 60 percent of the respondents said they would prioritize investing in technologies like electronic medical records and ERP software.
The bottom line is that focusing on team collaboration in both physical and online settings is crucial for healthcare leaders. You can get hands-on experience by attending industry events that facilitate networking and mentorship.
You can also seek opportunities in your existing organization by participating in team-building and digital healthcare workshops. The latter can even get you a head start for working with emerging technologies like telemedicine and wearables. The World Economic Forum highlights how such technologies can simplify healthcare management and benefit underserved regions.
2. Consider Academic Training Focused on Leadership
A formal academic grounding in leadership can help you ascend the ranks in a healthcare setting. Moreover, it gives a foundation to tackle problems in your organization, resolve conflicts, and motivate your team.
Pursuing a formal degree or course may be daunting if you work a stressful job or have stretched finances. Online and fast-track courses can help you manage learning with other demands of day-to-day life.
For example, some DNP schools online can help you become a Doctor of Nursing Practice in strategic leadership. Pursuing such courses can help you balance your desire to improve patient outcomes with excelling at advanced leadership. The online format lets you continue your job while studying and choose your hours according to your comfort.
When considering academic training as a healthcare professional, you should assess whether it will help you enhance core skills. These could be interprofessional collaboration or quality improvement.
At this stage in your career, an ideological fitment is also essential. You may feel uncomfortable in an environment that deviates from your intrinsic motivations for a healthcare career, like service or empathy. According to Spring Arbor University, faith can also be a pivotal factor for many students as it encourages personal and spiritual growth alongside your work.
3. Develop Emotional Intelligence
Working on your EQ (emotional quotient) is a fabulous way to chart your leadership path in healthcare. The sensitive nature of this field mandates resilience and perseverance in professionals.
A 2023 McKinsey survey found that over half of the nurses in the US reported emotional exhaustion and other signs of burnout. They struggle with high patient loads and excessive administrative tasks. These problems become worse under poor leadership. Fewer people than before feel positive emotions like empowerment, gratitude, and confidence.
As a healthcare leader, you can support your team members by helping them navigate interpersonal conflict and stressful situations. You must know how to manage change in your organization, such as the consequences of adopting a new medical technology. A high-EQ leader tries to work with their team to identify and mitigate stressors for higher productivity and better patient care.
4. Learn Decision-Making Grounded in Medical Ethics
Ethical decision-making is another essential skill for a leader in healthcare. Building this capability in today’s tumultuous world takes time since ethical quandaries arise in many circumstances.
The Conversation highlights how bioethics has become more relevant in the modern world, where doctors often experience moral distress. For example, should they advocate to stop aggressive treatments for life support or agree with the families that want to continue them? Unsurprisingly, moral distress seems to be highest among pediatric and neonatal intensive care practitioners.
The interaction between the medical and pharmaceutical sectors presents another area of ethical complexity. The discussion around prescribing generic drugs to patients has been ongoing for a long time. The aim is to stop doctors from getting influenced by pharma companies. In the US, the FDA ensures strict safety standards for generic and brand-name drugs. The situation may be different in developing nations.
You can strengthen your decision-making abilities by learning to use data, such as patient metrics and historical trends. You should also learn to take input and feedback from various sources, being aware of personal biases and prejudices.
Charting a leadership course in healthcare requires dedication and perseverance but can reap rich dividends in job stability and overall fulfillment. You will play an active part in improving working conditions for your team members while enhancing patient health outcomes.
Since working on leadership skills takes time, you should start right away. Small steps like enrolling in an industry workshop and expressing an interest in shadowing senior professionals can be a good start.