Leadership Principles and Skills in Health Promotion, Essay Example

Describe the leadership principles and skills needed to develop a health promotion project

Leadership principles and skills required in health promotion are related to organizational principles of leadership. The only difference instead of a sustainable structure to be managed, health promotion projects are short term ventures. However, principles do not change even when situations are altered. In principle leadership is a process whereby an individual has developed skills to recruit appropriate support for execution of a task or tasks (Foti & Hauenstein, 2007).  .

Importantly, leadership studies have developed theories supporting adaptation of certain skills and expertise in articulating health promotion projects. Some theorist argue that specific tr leadership traits  must be identifiable in the person heading a team. These traits are the enabling features that would assist in articulating support from others either voluntarily or with minimal effort (Foti & Hauenstein, 2007).

Health promotion is concerned with empowering people to manage their health ultimately preventing disease and avoiding serious consequences of disasters (Bunton & Macdonald, 2002).  Therefore, the leadership principles and skills needed must embody the ability to empower people to be responsible for their health and well-being. Precisely, leaders must first exemplify excellent health maintenance strategies in influencing successful health promotion interventions.

For example, if the leader of a health promotion drug program is an alcoholic. When persons serving on the project observe that he/she is out of control with alcohol, the project has already failed. As such, the leadership principles and skills needed to develop a health promotion project, do not consist only of the health promotion officer completing a course of study and becoming qualified to execute the project, but also demonstrating  high qualities of integrity.

References

Bunton, R., & Macdonald, G. (2002). Health promotion: disciplines, diversity, and developments (2nd ed.). Routledge

Foti, J., & Hauenstein, N. (2007). Pattern and variable approaches in leadership emergence and effectiveness. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 347–355.