Health leadership and management competencies: a systemic approach.

The achievement of national and international health goals requires better-performing health systems. Strengthening leadership and management of health systems thus becomes essential for achieving greater efficiency and responsiveness, ultimately improving health outcomes. Building a global framework of core competencies for leadership and management needs to be approached with systems thinking and methodologies akin to complexity science that takes into account all components and levels of the health system and the possible interactions between them that influence outcomes. The results will have important policy implications for national health authorities seeking to strengthen management capacity and building transformational leadership in health systems.