"Leadership can come from a variety of different sources and it won't necessarily happen overnight."
-- Dr. Margaret Neuse [Watch this interview]
Most successful family planning programs have strong and stable leadership at all levels. Programs need strong leaders both to manage the program and as advocates for the program with stakeholders such as in the government and the community. Management and leadership have different qualities, but they are both important to a program’s success.
Q. What is the difference between management and leadership?
A. Leadership is focused on nurturing change in a program. Management is focused on dealing with a program’s day-to-day complexities. One person may play both roles, or there may be separate leaders and managers.
“Leaders think like 'architects' who have a 'design perspective.' While managers solve problems, leaders set new goals and inspire people to greater achievement levels...Leaders are creative thinkers who do not follow conventional, evidence-based thinking… Leaders do not focus on what is easy to do but address issues that are difficult, impossible, and beyond imagination.”
--Ben Lozare, Associate Director, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health’s Center for Communication Programs
Q. What roles do leaders play in successful programs?
A. Program leaders play many roles.
They:
• Inspire shared vision
• Cultivate change
• Promote innovation
• Promote the program and build support from the public and stakeholders
• Align people, resources, and practices
• Promote teamwork
• Nurture values, organizational climate, and systems thinking
• Deflect political criticism and diffuse rumors
• Possess the ability to inspire and motivate staff and attract supporters
Q. What roles do managers play in successful programs?
A. Program managers play many roles.
Management skills include:
• Staffing
• Performance monitoring
• Planning
• Budgeting
• Problem solving
Q. What is strategic management?
A. Strategic management involves focusing on the long term, setting clear goals, and pursuing activities that help to accomplish these goals. Strategic management stays alert to changing conditions around the program and applies a flexible, pragmatic approach—taking advantage of opportunities and solving problems as they arise to achieve the overall goals.
Q. What is a family planning champion, and how do champions help programs succeed?
A. Family planning champions are key advocates, usually from outside the program, who can mobilize support for the program’s cause. Champions broaden and deepen support for programs in many ways:
• Through their energy, enthusiasm, and commitment, champions draw people to join the effort
• Champions set ambitious goals and inspire others to meet them
• Champions have access to people who matter—whether those people are top government officials or the public—and know how to speak to them convincingly
• Champions know how to turn circumstances to the advantage of their cause—even political controversy
“[The job of ] building…relationships with leaders at whatever level is, on the one hand, an interpersonal one because…interpersonal relationships are an important starting point. …Another critical part of it is to find those champions…with whom you can work, locally, be it at the community, at the district, at the regional, or at the national level, and work with them to…take the lead.… Leadership can come from a variety of different sources, and it won't necessarily happen overnight."
–- Margaret Neuse, former Director, Office of Population and Reproductive Health, USAID [Watch this interview]
Q. Is it possible to learn leadership?
A. Leadership benefits from natural talent and inclination, but it also involves skills that can be learned. In other words, leadership skills can be improved by paying conscious attention to them and practicing them. Leadership can be learned, but it is not easy to teach. Most leadership courses realize this and focus on helping people find their true passions and talents. The most effective leaders are simply being themselves.
Case Study
Poland: Involving Women in the Advocacy Process for Reproductive Health
A combination of political, religious, cultural, and financial barriers has discouraged the use of modern contraceptives in Poland. Less than 10% of women use modern methods of contraception, and women frequently resort to illegal and unsafe abortions. The Polish government does not consider reproductive health as a priority. As a result, family planning services are not readily available in either the public or private sector. Misinformation about contraception is widespread. In 1998 the situation grew worse when the government eliminated subsidies for contraceptives. At the same time, the government office responsible for women’s equality was replaced with one promoting a traditional approach toward women’s roles in the family.
In response, nine Polish nongovernmental organizations formed the Federation for Women and Family Planning. In 1999 the federation launched an initiative to involve women in the advocacy process. The federation formed a 10-member advisory council of female scientists, politicians, and health policy makers to develop messages and advocacy strategies to reach key audiences. The federation used a combination of print materials and interpersonal advocacy to spread its messages.
These efforts led to a nationwide network of 220 advocates and 9 local support groups that vigorously promote family planning at the local and regional levels. By 2005 these continuing efforts had achieved several results:
• More than 50 secondary schools had begun offering sex education courses, with the help of sex educators trained by the federation
• Ten local women’s organizations conducted seminars on improving health services for women
• These local organizations also launched public information campaigns on patient’s rights and family planning
• Doctors who attended federation-sponsored training began incorporating breast exams and information about family planning and contraception into their practice
• University lecturers in sex education and gender studies have begun using the federation’s guide, Reproductive and Sexual Health and Rights
Each of the 10 elements was chosen based on online survey results and was discussed in an online forum hosted by the Implementing Best Practices (IBP) Knowledge Gateway. Read more about the survey, forum and results in the Forum Synopsis. Learn more about IBP Knowledge Gateway, and join their Initiative here.
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