Seven Steps to Establish a Leader and Leadership Education and Development (LEAD) Program

In 2014, we were asked to create a specific program to educate and train all students at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU)—the nation's only federal health university—to become effective leaders as well as physicians, nurses, dentists, mental health and public health professionals, scientists, and others to serve in the Armed Forces or the U.S. Public Health Service. This chapter offers seven steps used to establish the USU Leader and Leadership Education and Development (USU LEAD) program. Initial efforts were directed at the F. Edward Hubert School of Medicine and physicians-in-training. In keeping with the focus of the present volume, we emphasize leader development and mention leadership development. We currently are working to expand the USU LEAD program to educate and develop leaders among advanced-practice nurses, psychologists, biomedical and behavioral scientists, and dentists. We hope that this approach, including challenges encountered and solutions to these challenges, will help guide the creation and long-term success of similar programs focused on leader development. The seven steps are: (1) Ensure institutional commitment; (2) Identify or develop a conceptual framework and institutional goals; (3) Recruit program team; (4) Establish within a supportive environment; (5) Create the program; (6) Integrate program activities into broader curriculum and institution; and (7) Assess program, faculty, and outcomes and revise as necessary. Each of the seven steps is described along with challenges relevant to each step and suggestions for how to surmount these potential barriers. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)