5 Characteristics of a Successful Director of Community Health

Five Important Director of Community Health Traits

Quick Cognitive Abilities
Interpersonal Communication Skills
Cultural Competency
Financial Planning Skills
The Capacity for Systems Thinking

If you’re planning to pursue a career in the field of public health, it’s natural to give some consideration to which characteristics are necessary for becoming a successful community health manager. While you might not be able to land such a prestigious position right out of college, acquiring that job title is a goal you’re likely to have as your career progresses. After investing so much in your education, it would be tragic to discover along the way that you aren’t cut out for the director’s job – or even worse, to learn that any career in public health isn’t quite right for you. So let’s take a look at five of the most important competencies and characteristics a successful director of community health needs to possess.

1. Quick Cognitive Abilities

A community health manager must possess the ability to quickly assess a situation and react to it appropriately. S/he must be able to evaluate the reliability of incoming data. It is also necessary for anyone holding this important leadership role to have an understanding of how to apply critical thinking skills to interpret the data.

2. Interpersonal Communication Skills

A successful community health director must possess the communication skills to seek and interpret input from a broad range of other healthcare professionals and local organizations within his or her local community. S/he must possess the expertise to effectively utilize a broad range of communication media when disseminating important community health messages. This is a job that requires knowledge of when and how to use social media, press releases, town hall meetings and other methods to ensure that everyone involved gets the information they need.

3. Cultural Competency

Citizens of the United States come from a diverse range of cultural backgrounds. Community health leaders in the USA must, therefore, be prepared to deal with public health emergencies in culturally diverse settings. Demographics such as age, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status can significantly influence the manner in which diseases and conditions affect the health of various communities and populations. When making decisions that will affect public health, the director of community health must possess the cultural competency to acknowledge and plan for the likeliest possible outcomes that could be brought about by such diversity in local populations.

4. Financial Planning Skills

Budgeting is an essential skill for community health directors to have mastered before they assume the responsibility of that job title. A community health director must be proactive about leveraging available funding sources and effectively utilizing them to protect public health. It can be a challenge to juggle all the competing priorities and assign them appropriate levels of funding, but that’s one of the primary responsibilities of the job.

5. The Capacity for Systems Thinking

The job of a community health director is a collaborative one. The director must be able to interact with the interconnected systems of healthcare providers, government organizations, and community groups that influence public health in the local community. S/he must be able to train, mentor, and coach local stakeholders in a variety of roles to improve the health of the populations within their jurisdiction.

According to the Public Health Foundation, these competencies and characteristics are absolutely essential for all public health professionals. They’re particularly crucial for leaders in the public health sector. The higher you progress in community health management, the more essential it is for you to possess these characteristics.

With planning and persistence, it is possible to acquire the characteristics necessary for becoming a successful director of community health. Most of these are competencies that can be improved with training.

As part of your college coursework, be sure to load up on classes and extracurricular activities that will help you advance your skills in these areas. Joining a debate team will help improve your abilities to think fast on your feet and communicate persuasively. Accounting and finance classes will be of tremendous value to you in your future career. Making an effort to learn these skills now is likely to pay off in the future when it comes time to convince employers that you have the characteristics of a successful director of community health.