Lesson 7.2: Leadership at JCF Level

Leadership questions can feel intimidating for junior doctors who have not held formal leadership positions. However, the NHS Healthcare Leadership Model (developed by the NHS Leadership Academy in 2013) is explicitly designed for everyone working in health and care, regardless of grade or formal role. At JCF level, leadership is not about being in charge of a department — it is about taking initiative, improving systems, supporting colleagues, demonstrating accountability, and influencing positive change in your immediate environment.

The NHS Healthcare Leadership Model — Nine Dimensions

The Healthcare Leadership Model describes nine dimensions of leadership behaviour, each measured on a four-part scale from “essential” through “proficient” and “strong” to “exemplary.” While you do not need to memorise all nine dimensions for a JCF interview, being aware of the model and being able to reference 2–3 dimensions relevant to your experience will impress the panel. The nine dimensions are:

1. Inspiring Shared Purpose — valuing a service ethos and motivating others toward common goals
2. Leading with Care — showing genuine concern for colleagues’ wellbeing and creating a safe team environment
3. Evaluating Information — seeking out information to make informed decisions and plans for improvement
4. Connecting Our Service — understanding how services fit together and how teams interconnect across the system
5. Sharing the Vision — communicating a clear direction and engaging others in it
6. Engaging the Team — building and valuing a team, promoting equality and inclusion
7. Holding to Account — taking responsibility for performance and outcomes
8. Developing Capability — building capability and team capacity through coaching, feedback, and development
9. Influencing for Results — driving improvement through constructive influence and collaboration

What Leadership Looks Like at Junior Level

The panel understands that you are at an early career stage. They are not expecting you to have led a department restructure. What they are looking for is evidence of leadership behaviours in everyday clinical practice. Examples that work well at JCF level include:

1. Coordinating the ward team during a busy on-call shift when multiple admissions arrived simultaneously (Engaging the Team, Holding to Account)
2. Identifying a problem with a clinical process and proposing a solution — e.g., creating a new handover template, improving the referral pathway, designing a patient information leaflet (Evaluating Information, Influencing for Results)
3. Organising and delivering teaching sessions for medical students or foundation doctors (Developing Capability)
4. Supporting a struggling colleague, helping them access support, and managing the team’s workload in the interim (Leading with Care)
5. Taking ownership of a clinical governance project — leading an audit, presenting findings at a departmental meeting, and implementing changes (Influencing for Results, Holding to Account)
6. Coordinating the junior doctors’ rota, managing swaps, and escalating staffing concerns (Connecting Our Service)

How to answer “Describe a time you showed leadership”: Use STAR. Choose an example where you took initiative, influenced others, or improved a situation without being explicitly told to do so. The best leadership examples at JCF level involve seeing a problem, taking responsibility for it, and acting to improve it. Emphasise the outcome and reflect on what you learned about leading others.