Dear Editor:

Nowadays, and specifically in the health sector, leadership development is critical because it enables physicians to articulate their capacities in order to improve both the administration of the services delivered to the population and the management of personnel working in hospital centers.

The concept of leadership is often confused with triumph, superiority, a higher standard of living or socioeconomic status, and access to positions of power in organizations. On the contrary, the actual concept entails the development of tasks that guide a group of individuals through the completion of a set of activities designed to meet specific objectives, and this requires the commitment of the entire team. Thus, leaders must motivate, energize, and inspire the team they lead while meeting the needs of each subordinate and empowering them; in other words, leaders are an important agent within the team because they must be able to establish good communication practices among the group members and improve integration capacity.

It is clear that medical professionals work in different settings, including universities¹ and health centers, and with a diverse range of individuals from a variety of disciplines. Therefore, leadership among this staff can be defined in three ways: the first is the traditional, in which the leader is the person in charge of organizing the work and exercising authority; the second is leadership comprised of a group of people in charge, in which indications are given by collaborators close to the main leader who are typically selected on the basis of merit or a relationship with the latter; and the third is leadership arising from any person in the (emerging) organization who takes control to solve problems in specific situations but is often not recognized as a leader.²

In this context, the role of the leader should be emphasized, as it is not sufficient to rely on team members' intentions to maintain direction and avoid the duplication of efforts,³ which is critical because the convergence of capabilities enables the effective performance of any activity in a medical school or as director of a health center, but also activities should be guided by individuals who possess soft skills⁴ that foster proper interrelationships between colleagues and other team members.

Palabras clave: Liderazgo; Personal de salud; Comunicación (DeCS).

Keywords: Leadership; Health Personnel; Communication (MeSH).