Helping trainees to demonstrate leadership competencies:
Using the band 6 allied psychology profile
We have done a couple of CPD events for supervisors recently as well as teaching on the
course and have been asked for examples of how trainees can demonstrate leadership
competencies on core placements. The following is an amalgamation of the examples that
people have come up with at those events. For some of you they will be obvious but other
people have also said that they struggle to identify what they themselves do in a leadership
capacity as they are not ‘senior’ staff. The leadership profiles are useful in helping you map
your own and the trainees’ competencies. Trainees have asked us to start this work with
them earlier and be less protective of them. Trainees often have a strong imposter
syndrome and there are challenges qualifying at band 7 when other people in those roles
will have had years of clinical experience. So we need to ensure that they are supported
through all placements to learn that leadership is not necessarily associated with authority,
and is not a ‘thing’ but a consistent set of behaviours that are value driven. They
consistently tell us in workshops that they know they need to do this and want to engage
early so they are confident when they qualify. If you have any queries or would like some
support in your locality with this, just ask.
Sarah Dexter-Smith, Tim Cate and Abi Tarran-Jones
February 2016
See also (on TEWV intouch web pages/ psychology leadership profile page – TEWV staff
only)
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Band 6 and 7 leadership profiles and associated case study
Engaging leadership and clinical skills document
And http://www.nelacademy.nhs.uk/healthcare-leadership-model for the case study on this
work and other resources for leadership development from the North East Leadership
Academy.
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Help them see what they do in clinical settings that is also demonstrating leadership
We know from these CPD events that many trainees are already demonstrating leadership
skills and behaviours within their core placements. Yet there is a lack of understanding that
they are doing so, which means that leadership is often perceived by supervisors and
supervisees as separate / specialised skills. This document illustrates the leadership
activities that map on to all 11 dimensions of trainee’s core placement competencies (e.g.
within the Supervisor Practice Assessment Form). Trainees would benefit from being given
the opportunity in supervision to reflect on how their routine activity maps on to the
leadership domains. Developing a dialogue about leadership, early on in training, will enable
supervisors and supervisees to identify further opportunities to develop leadership skills and
prepare trainees for the transition to being newly qualified.
Zone of Proximal Development
Trainees often have a strong imposter syndrome and there are challenges qualifying at band
7 when other people in those roles will have had years of clinical experience. So we need to
ensure that they are supported through all placements to learn that leadership is not
necessarily associated with authority, and is not a ‘thing’ but a consistent set of behaviours
that are value driven.
Make sure you provide enough scaffolding but also make sure you help them see what they
are already doing – use the profiles in supervision to guide this discussion. And help them
see how they have developed in each placement across the 9 dimensions. In the last
placement, start to look at the band 7 profile to help them begin to make this bridge – the
jump won’t be as big as you or they might fear.
Importance of Visibility, Participation and Accessibility
Attending team meetings – Trainees should be encouraged to have a voice/ ask questions/
voice what they see rather than accept the status quo/ learning that speaking in meetings is
not just the responsibility of the qualified psychologist.
Think about where they will sit and spend most of their day - More trainee visibility leads to
more opportunities for other staff to come to them for advice/ for them to contribute to wider
projects.
Think about revisiting the networks they have built at the end of their placements – is there
anyone else they could go and see/ observe.
Help them think about some of the more subtle aspects of leadership. Does the way they
dress suit their environment and the places they are expected to work? Often this is quite
different from one placement / context to another but is not always obvious to trainees. How
do their non-verbal cues come over or the language they use – do they present as someone
who can be trusted with responsibility, is approachable, can deal with challenges
appropriately and is congruent across contexts?
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Modelling your Leadership Activity
Give them chances to see you ‘leading’ against your profile or to talk to them about
situations when they weren’t able to be present. Of course this means you have to notice
what you are doing and be able to articulate it and the reasons for choosing to behave in
certain ways (or when you chose not to say something). Use modelling, storytelling,
reflecting on your own learning etc.
Could they map your leadership behaviours against your leadership profile card?
Help trainees to think about how other people in leadership positions behave and the impact
of those different styles.
Do some basic introductory information giving to help them navigate the placement and to
give them an organisational framework in which to place later learning.
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Go through the trust vision and talk about how your service fits with that
Can you discuss the strategy for your specialty/ applied psychology/ your team
How do they individually fit within those?
Map the stakeholders that impact on your role – when we’ve done it in workshops
people are always surprised how vast they are and what opportunities they might
provide for trainees to experience different organisations/ cultures etc.
Identify / map a team’s training needs (not just deliver a session)
Look for ways in which what you already offer them can be done slightly differently to
increase the range of competencies they would demonstrate e.g. not just to prepare/ deliver
training but to go and engage with the team, ask what they need and then develop the
training. Could they then also use data from feedback formally to various stakeholders and
think about the language that each audience needs to hear the feedback in?
Are there chances to engage in inter-professional learning/ presenting back to the wider
team?
Strategy / Management / Business Planning
Let them attend senior management/ governance/ strategic/ business planning meetings –
or ask colleagues if they will take the trainee with them if you don’t attend (are they meetings
you might benefit from attending too?) e.g. QuAG, SDG, LMGB, board, business planning
cycle meetings. You might think they’ll be bored – trainees have fed back that they were
missed opportunities when they weren’t invited to attend. After they’ve been, talk to them
about the various styles of leaders that were present at the meeting, how did each style
work, how had people been positioned or positioned themselves into the role they had in
that meeting? Look over the Healthcare leadership model and see which behaviours the
more effective members of the meeting displayed.
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Talk to them about the service vision.
Help them negotiate national policy and understand the meaning of it for your service (as
well as us professionally).
Help the trainee to understand the rationale for the ROMs your services uses and to think
about useful ways of using them
Conflict Management and Feedback
Can you talk to them about how you prioritise and negotiate conflict in your workplace and
how you provide constructive feedback to colleagues?
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Ideas for demonstrating the 9 dimensions for band 6 applied psychologists
Inspiring a shared purpose: Essential. Staying true to NHS principles and value
Leading formulations/ reflective practice meetings – highlighting to team members the wider
impact that an intervention of action that they are doing gives e.g. support work – personal
care; wider psychosocial impact and interaction
Engaging in reflective practice through supervision
Leading with care: Proficient. Recognising underlying reasons for behaviour
Staff support
Informal supervision
Peer supervision
Teaching/ training
Recognising underlying reasons for behaviour
Being empathic to dysfunction within teams and offering solutions.
Noticing reactions of staff members e.g. in meeting and following it up/ asking them about it
Using supervision to reflect upon personal drivers and using our own countertransference
Evaluating Information: Essential. Gathering Data
Audit/small scale/ service evaluation
Adhering to outcome measures
Session rating scale
Feedback on future training needs
Collecting outcome measures from patients. Using them with the service user
collaboratively and sharing the information with staff
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Connecting our Service: Essential. Recognising how my area of work relates to other
parts of the system
Implementing pathways/ supporting others to do so
Contributing to MDTs
Handing over cases at the end of placement effectively – considering future needs
Knowing about onward referral system to other services and how to hand over case with
sufficient information
Communicating with other professionals who are involved with the person’s care, ensuring
working towards the same goals (the patient’s goals)
Attending specialty meetings/ QUAGs etc to make sure we’re up to date with service
changes
Working with other stakeholders during formulation
Sharing the vision: Essential. Communicating to credibility and trust
Maintaining professionalism while working within team dynamics
Supervision
Regularly attending and contributing to meetings
Providing timely feedback to care co-ordinators
Making reports & feedback accessible to whole team / service users – not too much jargon
Reading the team dynamics and finding the right time to discuss
Communicating risk issues at the appropriate time to the appropriate people e.g. not waiting
until supervision.
Engaging the Team: Essential. Involving the team
Needs assessment for potential teaching
Feedback to professionals
Being respectful of all opinions in team meetings
Naming or challenging a dominant narrative in a team
Taking an active role in the team meetings offering professional opinions, challenging
perspectives and being an active participant
Developing a shared formulation – giving everyone an opportunity to contribute
Holding to Account: Essential. Setting clear expectations
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Reinforcing expectations around formulation and pathways
Collaboratively setting clear goals and actions to be reviewed with both clients and teams
Looking at patient needs before trying to find solution.
Take responsibility – if therapy not working – adapt – don’t blame client
Having a pre-placement meeting and having a discussion about what you want to get out of
the placement, self-assessment forms etc
Working in accordance with pathways
Linking / communicating direct working with wider team/ organisational goals through
intervention plans/ CPA/ team meetings
Developing Capability: Essential. Providing opportunities for people development
Teaching and training
Consultation / working through others
Supervision
Modelling psychological skills
Acknowledging needs to improve knowledge
Identifying training needs of the team
Influencing for Results: Proficient. Adapting my approach to connect with diverse
groups
Provide opportunities to show learning
Informal supervision, ‘tea and chat’.
Adapting therapeutic interventions and communication styles (LD/MHSOP etc) using
communication aids/ pictures
Writing different reports to professionals and clients
Delivering training to different staff groups adapting level of communication.
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