Stuart Anderson
Flexibility and leadership
When Stuart Anderson decided to take on the challenge of Higher Ground Programme Director after seven years in clinician roles there, he realised he needed to expand and develop his leadership skills. “I was keen to take on the challenge and step up, but I also realised I needed a different skill set to help me along the way.”
He was investigating postgraduate management papers at Auckland University, when he heard about the Executive Leadership and Management programme, involving Waikato University Management School.
The programme appealed on many levels. Not only did it offer a qualification in management, but also the opportunity to encourage relationships with people from other services in the mental health sector, says Stuart. “There is a lot of misunderstanding in the sector between services. I realised that taking part in the Blueprint programme would involve starting to create a shared language through which the sector could develop better relationships.”
Programme
The study was no stroll in the park, says Stuart, and he realised immediately that he had to create clear boundaries around what he was trying to achieve at work and through study. “I had strong support from senior staff and board which meant, when I stepped out, the place still ran successfully.” And step out he did for two to three days every month to join his learning set (Auckland group) for intensive two day gatherings. Other university assignments and assessments were submitted through the web.
Waikato University Management School engaged us on a very professional level, says Stuart, and the Blueprint staff were fantastic. “Sally Pitts-Brown certainly modelled the leadership values we were discussing.”
He was also highly impressed with the calibre of the lecturers, including Colleen Rigby, Jens Mueller, David McKie and Vikram Murthy. There were also numerous opportunities to hear from leaders within New Zealand, ranging from Andrew Little to Janice Wilson. “We got a very real sense that we were getting hands on knowledge of what leadership is all about. I was also really taken by these people’s humanity.”
The relationships that developed during the programme were also invaluable. “The essence of it was that we all were involved in caring about people making positive changes in their lives and whatever that meant to their organisation or role they were in.”
Stuart continued into the Advanced Executive and Leadership Programme (AELMP) because he wanted to finish what he’d started and felt a sense of responsibility to the alcohol and addiction sector to do so. “It was important to stay in the same room as others from the sector and continue to build relationships and develop skills.”
Benefits
Stuart says the benefit of the course is that it provides validation for what you do, gives you new skills, techniques and strategies. “When you have more options and answers available, you end up with better outcomes.”
The practical focus of the programme gave people opportunity to explore, then present various scenarios in the context of the dynamics within their organisation, which meant that they were able to learn from each other about dealing with issues such as change management or the impact of a dominant personality on staff.
“These things cross all boundaries and borders and the vicarious learning that occurs is very helpful,” says Stuart.
Stuart says the course also opened his eyes to the size of the sector and the overall role of government and how governmental policy affects day to day management of projects. “It is easy to become quite insular in your organisation and role, but the programme has really broadened my knowledge and given me a much better understanding of how those policies affect us.”
This is evident in his current participation on four different forums, including the Australasian Therapeutic Communities Association for which he is the New Zealand representative and vice chair. “I’ve certainly got more confidence about putting my hand up and myself forward now.”
Personal
A key finding for Stuart was of the importance of having flexibility within leadership and the danger of having a single mindset or strategy to cope with situations. “You need a broad range of responses when managing staff because of differences based on roles, previous expectations, personalities and levels of training, says Stuart. “Where, in clinical situations, you simply stick to true and trusted ways of operating in a client relationship.”
As well as flexibility, he believes a good leader also needs high levels of resilience and the perseverance to be able to make fairly difficult decisions and see them through. A good leader has clear boundaries and can delegate; a bad leader thinks they are the only one that can do the tasks and feel unable to rely on other people, he adds.
“I don’t think a good leader is someone who stands on their own. A leader with poor boundaries will burn out. My style is to lead from the back and to support and build others to become good leaders within the organisation.”
By doing this Stuart is also able to become involved in various forums and networks to increase the addictions’ sector profile and the promotion of therapeutic communities as cost effective treatment.
He believes supervision and mentors are also essential. “Good leaders can’t be isolated,” declares Stuart, “and you need different mentors for different areas of leadership. No one person knows everything and through mentoring you can benchmark yourself.”
Overall Stuart feels an increased confidence in his programme director role. “It is one thing to be director but another to also have a qualification and a network of leadership support.”
He says he started the programme wanting something that went beyond what he could get out of reading a book or discussing a problem with a chat with a mentor. “And I did.”
Page last updated: 10 February 2010