This stage supports individuals who have been operating as accountable leaders or managers for a number of years. The competencies enable these experienced professionals to navigate the bridge between senior leadership and frontline delivery, aligning team performance with broader organisational goals.
Personal impact
These standards focus on personal capabilities and competencies that are required for leaders and managers do their jobs well in health and social care.
This includes being self-aware, understanding others’ feelings, and acting with honesty and integrity. The competencies help leaders and managers be effective, make fair decisions and model inclusive, compassionate leadership.
This focus area includes 3 sections:
Personal productivity and wellbeing
Prioritise for personal productivity
I deliver efficiently and on time across teams by planning ahead, managing risks, adjusting priorities, delegating, and managing upwards when necessary.
Develop personal safety and wellbeing strategies
I make sure wellbeing is prioritised. I promote conversations about a healthy work culture and encourage others to prioritise their health and wellbeing.
Commit to continuing professional development
I regularly seek feedback on my leadership and management, pursue coaching and mentoring opportunities, and continually build my skills, knowledge and understanding of good practice.
Communicating well
Communicate with clarity and purpose
I communicate with clarity and purpose, including on difficult issues, considering how my words and actions impact on diverse audiences and wider messaging.
Encourage open dialogue and feedback
I help create a safe and inclusive environment – encouraging open dialogue, supporting people to speak up and responding to concerns.
Influence, negotiate and manage upwards
I advocate for others, using their expertise and experience to negotiate mutually beneficial outcomes.
Responsibility and integrity
Take accountability for my actions
I establish clear lines of accountability within or across teams and challenge inappropriate behaviour, as well as any failure to deal with it.
Be visible, transparent, and present
I avoid distractions and give colleagues and patients my full attention, showing that I value their input.
Manage with civility and compassion
I balance openness with sensitivity when resolving difficult situations. I use supportive, developmental conversations to improve performance.
Managing people and resources
These competencies focus on the trust, support and shared purpose required to build strong teams that deliver safe, high-quality care.
They highlight the need to create safe and inclusive workplaces, help people develop by communicating with them clearly and honestly, and supporting professional growth.
The focus area includes 3 sections:
Building teams
Build engagement
I create an environment where people feel valued and safe. I share successes and lessons learned across teams to increase engagement.
Make sure people feel safe in the workplace
I assess risks and maintain risk registers, making sure that physical and psychological safety issues and incidents are reported and responded to, trends are identified, and lessons learned are disseminated.
Manage challenges
I handle challenges in my area of responsibility. I listen and gather feedback, identify solutions, and escalate upwards if required.
Back to managing people and resources
Performance and delivery
Provide clear purpose, vision, and deliverables
I communicate the organisation’s vision, strategic plan, objectives and performance measures, so people understand their roles and how they can contribute.
Manage and measure performance
I build high performing teams – regularly sharing and learning from feedback, undertaking meaningful appraisals, and helping colleagues reach shared objectives. I manage underperformance proactively, balancing accountability with growth.
Manage conflict and sensitive conversations
I identify and address underlying issues that lead to conflict, supporting and guiding colleagues, and involving others when wider action is needed.
Back to managing people and resources
Efficiency and effectiveness
Allocate and optimise the use of resources
I make best use of money, people, and technology across my areas of responsibility, managing risks while maintaining focus on the organisation’s objectives.
Maximise outputs and get best value for public money
I oversee finances and budgets, flag funding concerns early and look for savings and opportunities to remove waste so we can protect services and patient care.
Use data, evidence and critical thinking
I build a culture where people use data, evidence, digital tools and critical thinking to identify opportunities to improve sustainability and efficiency.
Back to managing people and resources
Delivering across health and care
These competencies focus on keeping teams aligned with the values, strategic objectives, and regulations across the health and care system. They highlight the importance of strategic planning, working in partnership and, fair decision making and continuous improvement.
The focus area includes 3 sections:
Improving quality
Respond to safety concerns, needs and preferences across patients, staff and the public
I ensure patients and public perspectives shape decisions, culture, and improvement. I promote systems that listen, respond, and learn from patient and staff feedback and concerns, embedding this approach across the organisation.
Personalise care
I develop and implement processes to ensure equitable treatment and outcomes, and a culture in which all voices contribute to delivering personalised support and care.
Implement policies and ensure good governance
I help put new policies and governance in place, making sure everyone understands why they are being introduced and how to escalate concerns.
Back to delivering across health and care
Innovation and improvement
Drive continuous improvement and innovation
I lead innovation and improvement projects and help measure and build my organisation’s capability and effectiveness.
Transform through technology and innovation
I support my teams to build their digital skills, and I investigate new technologies that could improve delivery, within my organisation’s guidelines.
Support others through change
I work across teams to develop change plans; communicating strategic direction clearly and addressing concerns to minimise disruption.
Back to delivering across health and care
Working collaboratively
Build relationships
I create a culture where people support each other and share information that helps improve quality, efficiency and patient and staff satisfaction.
Lead a collaborative team
I build and lead collaborative teams and help colleagues use their ideas and expertise to drive improvement.
Share good practice
I encourage colleagues to identify and share good practice within and beyond the team to promote the learning of others.
Select a segment on the wheel to explore the competencies within that standard.