Tomes have been written about what makes a good leader and best-seller lists seem to always have at least one new release that talks about how to be a leader in business or politics.

But what about being a leader in a Health Ministry?

In a session full of leaders from five Ministries at MLI’s Learning Collaborative Forum in Addis Ababa, one leader defined what works for him in a passionate way. Dr. Samuel A.S. Kargbo, director of reproductive health services at Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Health and Sanitation, said leaders needed self-confidence.

 

Dr. Kargbo, Director of Reproductive and Child Health

Program, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone

 

"If you do not have confidence in yourself, it’s very difficult to persuade others you are correct, and you lose the ability to influence other people," he said. "Also, you must have a big vision without neglecting the smaller details. It’s always good to think big. It’s like you are aiming at the sky, and if don’t make it, you fall down to the mountain. But even if you fall, you are much farther ahead by standing on the mountain."

That drew some laughs, but Kargbo wasn’t through: "You need vision, passion, integrity. With leadership, you need to tell people where you are going, you need passion to follow it through, and it’s always nice to lead by example. If I say, don’t smoke, I shouldn’t be smoking at all."

Tessie Catsambas, President of EnCompass and the lead facilitator at the forum, picked up on the leadership theme after Kargbo’s remarks. "For leaders, it’s very easy to fall back and say, 'Here’s a problem, here’s a problem, here’s a problem,' and get pulled down by that," she said. "Leaders have this difficult challenge to lift everyone up, study what works and try to do more of it, and use that to inspire others."

Live-blog from Ethiopia

Part 1: MLI Live-blog from Addis Ababa

Part 3: Mali’s Path to Community Health Insurance

Part 4: ‘A New Dawn’ in Health Care in Sierra Leone

Part 5: Want to Bargain? The Nepalis can Help

Part 6: From Mali to Nepal: The Trail of a Negotiator

Part 7: Ethiopia’s New Plan: ‘It’s going to Really Improve this Place’

Part 8: Ethiopia and the Importance of Family Planning

Part 9: Gang of Four: Table Talk with Reproductive Health Directors

Part 10: Ethiopia’s Tedros: Four Steps to Owning Health Programs

Part 11: ‘We Want to be Led”

Part 12: ‘We Became Beggars”

Forum Wrap-up, Part 1: Marty Makinen and Amanda Folsom

Forum Wrap-up, Part 2: Rosann Wisman

Photo by Dominic Chavez.