Organizational culture: The influence of leadership in improving institutional health processes

Abstract

The prevailing administrative and managing culture of health services in Mexico is questionable. The people in charge of health systems and medical units of the 3 levels of care, also called leaders, by making decisions with little or no preparation and also weak information systems, forcefully nullify any pretensions to making better quality decisions, all of which affects both the user population, and health personnel. If these leaders are improvised, emergent or simply do not have the required preparation, they make it difficult to achieve objectives or goals or they even do not have an organizational climate that favors teamwork. Currently there is a discussion about types of leadership and their characteristics. The COVID-19 pandemic showed us that leaders face challenges and they must be prepared to make objective decisions that benefit both the worker and the population; they must be capable of facing new challenges that allow them to grow and prosper among their collaborators and consequently all the staff. There are some differences in public and private institutions, but leadership is applied in both cases with its particularities. Currently, the delivery of courses, workshops and even postgraduate degrees on issues of leadership and organizational climate provide tools to strengthen these people.