Background: As part of a structured leadership programme through our Local Health District, I was encouraged to use reflection, critical analysis and creativity to explore the differences between leadership and management and discover how transformational leadership can positively impact on the delivery of healthcare.

Aim: To explore, using Borton’s Reflective Framework, an experience of exemplary leadership, and analyse this using Kouzes and Posner’s practices in order to enhance my leadership development.

Conclusions and implications for practice:

• Structured reflection and use of creative methods can enhance leadership capacity and are important tools in the development of transformational leadership at all levels within health organisations
• Leadership development is crucial for all members of the healthcare team, not just for health managers, and so must be nurtured across the whole team
• Transformational leadership and structural change within healthcare organisations is essential to facilitate proactive, integrated approaches to care

This article by Genevieve Maiden is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 License.