Abstract
‘There is always a tension regarding whether leaders are born or made. The truth is somewhere in the middle’. With this interesting premise as a starting point, the editors invite clinical and non-clinical contributors to describe important aspects of leadership, with a focus on mental health and psychiatry. As some aspects of leadership are important to various segments (i.e. political, academic, social, at work), the book’s sources are diverse, ranging from classical thinkers such as Niccolò Machiavelli, football coaches like Vince Lombardi, to current scholars such as Joseph Clarence Rost. Some chapters describe general concepts of leadership in an academic manner, while others focus on aspects more relevant to medicine, psychiatry and the care services where they are practised. This is quite important, since leadership means different things to different individuals in different locations. It would not be helpful just to review the very recent leadership framework, which comes mostly from a business background.
The first two parts of the book are ‘The Role of the Leader’ and ‘Skills Required for Leadership’. The first part includes chapters relating to
the models and definitions of leadership;
the development of some very old concepts created by thinkers such as Sun-tzu;
differences between leadership and management;
the difficulty that certain specific types of personality (such as paranoid and narcissistic), as well as impulsivity, can play in handling some common obstacles;
the importance of motivation, inspiration, persistence, dedication, emotional intelligence, empathy and the power to influence people;
the importance of leadership in some clinical situations, so as not to become snowed under.
The second part is more focused on the specific skills of a good leader – some of which are essential characteristics of a good psychiatrist, as the book itself emphasises. In addition, there is a third part which looks at assessment tools and learning materials. These enable the reader both to use the characteristics of leadership in clinical practice and to deepen their understanding of the content addressed in each chapter. This is a particularly useful section in a book of this kind.
It is worth mentioning that this book reflects some of the work that the authors have been developing over the past few years in terms of leadership in psychiatry. Professors Bhugra and Ruiz are, respectively, the current President-elect and President of the World Psychiatric Association. They support the development of new leaders (Ruiz, 2007) and the development of this concept within psychiatry (Bhugra, 2011). As such, it is not surprising that the book has an international outlook, with collaborators from various European, American and African countries. Interestingly, Dr Gupta, a consultant psychiatrist from the United Kingdom, joins the other two editors in the production of the book, which, in my opinion, renders the book more relevant to the typical psychiatric practitioner’s daily routine.
This book is recommended to readers who are looking for a scholarly work which will aid them in acquiring knowledge of the subject of leadership, its various concepts and applicability, types of leadership and what care should be taken when putting these concepts into practice within the psychiatric and medical fields. On the other hand, those seeking a leadership self-help-type book might be disappointed.