Name: Lynn Musonda Fube

Title: Hospital Manager

Organisation: Mary Begg Health Services Trident Town.

Female 45, 3rd born in a family of 7. I have one daughter, she is 25 and a social worker. We live in remote town North West of Zambia. The little town is dominated with mining activities. Kalumbila is home to one of the busiest copper mines in the country.

When I'm not working i spend time with my family out doors. We love the country side so living here makes it so much easier for us. My second child is a fur child, he is called Fletcher, "quite a handful is you ask me". I'm pretty much a very quiet person, "If the saying that says leadership is very lonely life" is true then that would be me.

I have very few friends, not so much of a socialite. I love cooking and trying different cuisine, " I have an adventurous palate. Outside of the above I live with my young brother as well, he is a paraplegic and i enjoy being part of the reason he is happy and laughs.... We are a great team, we always find something we can do together.

We play cards, sometimes board games. We also enjoy watching mind programs on BBC lifestyle, "That's our thing". I love doing aerobics indoors. I read a lot and most importantly I love my God so i enjoy fellowship with Him at church and at home. I have a diploma in Business Management A degree in Business Administration with Health care management. I have an MBA with Strategy and leadership.

Thank you to the 2,000 leaders who’ve generously done the 7 Questions on Leadership!

I hope Lynn's answers will encourage you in your leadership journey. Enjoy!

Cheers,

Jonno White

1. What have you found most challenging as a leader?

Dealing with adults and expecting them to be at the same wavelength as yourself. It the biggest Challenge to have such an expectation, as adults can be adults in word but children in the industry and getting them to see things through your lens can be a mammoth task. As leader you need a lot of patience, but be firm! Sometimes people capitalise on you babying them through a process. Its okay to throw them in a deep end and allow to swallow a couple of cups before you throw the rope in to save them. This entire process allows for the brain to unfreeze and people start to think on their feet.

2. How did you become a leader? Can you please briefly tell the story?

For me i feel i grew into Leadership, though i already felt that i had in me from early days in life. In my work place i must say i have beaten quite some odds to get here. I started out as a receptionist in a fast paced private hospital.

My contributions to the organisation saw me quickly evolve into a role that gave me a lot more responsibility ( Ward Clerk). I pretty much motivated for the role myself as it was non existent in the hospital at that time. Management bought into the motivation and immediately gave me that position. I executed my work in this role very well that i raised quite some dust in the senior management team.

Second year into the job, I was promoted to run the front office of the hospital, this was a junior management role. 3 years into this role i was appointed as assistant hospital Manager, which was quite a rare thing in our organisation as they only saw people with a clinical back ground as flyers and the only ones to assume roles of that nature.

I settled in that role like a goose on the water, "according the hospital manager at that time during my appraisal". In all honesty i felt like this was the last rank for me, as the trend in our organisation was that only expatriate clinical personnel would be at the hem of running a hospital of this magnitude. Because of it i felt a bit stagnant and concentrated on upgrading myself in school, doing what i do best driving my team to great heights, achieving what we could at the time.

Little did i know that the board was looking, other senior management people were observing. An opportunity availed it self this year for me to be top Manager for the entire facility and alias here I'm today. That is the summary of my leadership story.

3. How do you structure your work days from waking up to going to sleep?

I wake up at 5am, I go for a walk for an hour. I get back home at 6am and head straight into the shower. I'm ready to go for work at 7:30, I start my day early to give myself a chance to visit all the patients in the ward.

This helps me to hear what kind of care our patients are receiving from the horses mouth. I somehow get direct feedback from them and i engage with them for any complaints they may have on the go. From there I engage with the Medical Team to see if there are any patients that will need referrals to a Tertiary hospital.

If not we have a small debrief about yesterday. That way i Know exactly how the team is fairing. I get to my office at anything past 8am, read my emails and respond to any that need my urgent attention. Our hospital being a level 1 hospital i engage with other team leads from other sites in the same organisation, for referral preparedness. I indulge myself in my daily tasks immediately if the hospital is not busy.

When the hospital is busy I become the patients concierge just to ensure all the patients receive the care that they need. I'm scheduled to leave the office at 5pm but that is rarely achieved, it only happens when the hospital is fairly quiet.

4. What's a recent leadership lesson you've learned for the first time or been reminded of?

When faced with a conflict between 2 employees, Look at both sides of the coin and allow the sides to express their concerns in the presence of each other. Most of the time they have more to say on their own, but less when they are both there.

5. What's one book that has had a profound impact on your leadership so far? Can you please briefly tell the story of how that book impacted your leadership?

Who moved my cheese. Attitude and change are very vital components of leadership, one can not do with the other. Sometimes in Leadership w have this this attitude that i can only do so much because I'm a leader, a good attitude helps you not undermine small jobs that make the team stronger. Its always important to treat everyone as a vital part of the process and you too can do what they do.

6. If you could only give one piece of advice to a young leader, what would you say to them?

People management is an art, it requires patience and a 360 outlook on life. Have no expectation, but be wowed when and appreciate people when need arises. Maslow was right when he said people need to be appreciated and recognised, it is second nature to them. We all need a pat on the back anyway.

7. What is one meaningful story that comes to mind from your time as a leader, so far?

Who moved my cheese.