Today’s health care organizations rely on an interdependent network of employees. Managers, especially, must be able to assess their own strengths and areas for development in order to collaborate with others to create the best possible outcomes for their organization and the people they serve.

Engaging in self-reflection is a vital part of leadership development, and it can help you to meet the high professional standards associated with the field of health care management.

Throughout this course, you will consider how your own values, beliefs, skills, and experiences influence your view of organizational effectiveness and leadership. In this week’s media segment, Dr. Cecelia Wooden describes this process of gathering data about yourself and your leadership preferences as part of “building your leadership toolkit.”

For this assignment, you will review some of the standards and competencies associated with this profession, and engage in an initial analysis of your own strengths and needs for development.

To prepare:

• Review the NCHL Health Leadership Competency Model and the ACHE Code of Ethics, as well as other information on leadership and management presented in the Learning Resources.
• Think about the key trends and issues that affect contemporary health care organizations, as indicated in the Learning Resources.
• Select a few competencies or standards that you think are particularly important in light of expectations for health care managers in these organizations. Evaluate your own level of proficiency with regard to these competencies or standards.
• Reflect on any questions you have at the outset of this course that might guide your exploration of organizational effectiveness and leadership and help you to make connections between the material presented and your personal and professional aspirations.

Then, write a 1- to 2-page paper in which you complete the following:

• Assess your proficiency for two or more competencies or standards related to organizational effectiveness and leadership. Discuss at least one for which you would consider yourself to be particularly strong, and at least one for which you could use significant improvement.
• Explain how each competency or standard you have selected relates to key trends or issues affecting contemporary health care organizations.
• Provide a rationale of how gaining proficiency for each of these competencies or standards would better enable you to contribute to organizational effectiveness and succeed in this profession.
• Note any questions you currently have that might guide your exploration of the topics in this course.