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Biography
Iain Wallace studied Immunology and Medicine at the University of Glasgow and later gained an MBA from Strathclyde Graduate Business School. He practised as a GP principal for 10 years before being appointed Medical Director of Greater Glasgow Primary Care Trust in 1999. In 2005 he became the Associate Medical Director for the Women and Children’s Directorate in Greater Glasgow and Clyde and for a time combined this role with being Interim Medical Director of NHS Quality Improvement Scotland. He was appointed as Medical Director of NHS Forth Valley in 2010 before moving to the same role in NHS Lanarkshire in June 2013. Following his retirement in October 2018, Iain became medical advisor to the West of Scotland Regional Planning Team and in March 2020 he took up the role of Medical Director, NHS Louisa Jordan. Iain has also trained as an executive coach.
He has been chair of the Scottish Association of Medical Directors and the Faculty of Medical Leadership and Management. He is also an honorary professor in the School of Health and Life Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, and an honorary clinical associate professor in the College of Medicine, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow.
First and foremost, are there any key leadership messages you want to get out to our readership?
One is about leadership being about relationships with people, and the need to treat the people you are leading with kindness. I think it’s incumbent on leaders to try hard to understand why people are acting as they are—we manifest anxiety and stress differently—and to make allowances for that.
In addition, at a time of crisis, it’s reasonable and necessary to draw from whatever reservoir of goodwill you have built up with people before the crisis, but remember you can’t use it up completely and you will need to refill it as soon as, and whenever, you can.
Next, never stop listening …