In The Spotlight with John Walsh...

York Street Health Practice's John Walsh found himself in the spotlight in this month's Leaders for Leeds newsletter. Read what he has to say about his work, what inspires him and how he ended up working with York Street.

Who are you, what do you do and where?
I am John Walsh. I work at York Street Health Practice which is part of Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust. York Street is the medical team for people who are homeless and in the asylum system. I have a number of roles at York Street. I work as part of the mental health team, I manage in the team and do a lot of the partnership and teaching across the city.

What is most important to you as a leader?
I think the essence of good leadership is to see the best in people and work with them to bring it out.

What is most important to you as a leader?
I think the essence of good leadership is to see the best in people and work with them to bring it out.

What aspirations do you have?

I would like to see Leeds become the best city for health and wellbeing. I would like to play a part in ensuring the most vulnerable and in need people get the best services and care possible. I would also like to see Leaders for Leeds really take off. I am inspired by L4L and what it represents. Recently the work for L4L I have done with Judith Fox and Jane Stageman and their colleagues from the local authority has had a real promise and possibility of what we can help happen in the city.

What are you proud of and why?

I'm proud that people in Leeds care and try to make the difference for the better. I'm proud of the NHS which, despite all the mess and mess ups, represents a social aspiration to care and heal.

Who has inspired you/ has been or is your role model?    

Not an easy question to answer. There have been many people who have inspired me and I keep on meeting more of them in Leeds. People like Rob Webster and Andrea North from Leeds Community Healthcare instantly come to mind. Councillors like John Hardy who work to assist the homeless and plan food networks for the city. If I had to pick three people I would name the following: Catherine Hall the Head of Service at York Street. Catherine is a wonderful human being and an amazing leader - who knows, maybe there the same thing. Catherine has played a key role in my own development. She has that rare gift balancing leadership from the heart and a real clarity of intellectual judgement. A great joy to work with and learn from. Then there's Yvonne Coghill the national lead for inclusion in the NHS. Words are a poor medium to describe Yvonne. I have never had any contact with Yvonne and not been lifted up in inspiration, vision and hope. She's a tremendous force for good inside health and far beyond. Yvonne ignites good wherever she goes. She also has played such a major part in the discovery and activation of my own gifts. The last is Lisa Mulherin. Lisa is a Leeds councillor and the chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board. Lisa has done incredible work to promote a dynamic Health and Wellbeing vision for Leeds - a vision we enthusiastically embrace. She is also a great voice for the most vulnerable of the people of Leeds. Lisa's calm manner, compassion, energy and sensitivity always inspire me. My apologies to those I haven't mentioned.

What has been one of your biggest learning?

I think the big learning for me is that we all have amazing gifts. The strange and sad thing is that we don't always realise this. Effectively we can be asleep. The possibility and need for us to awaken and grow in these gifts is one lesson I have hopefully learnt.

If you had one magic wish, what would it be?

A controversial one. I wish leaders wouldn't and couldn't use the talk unless they were walking the walk. When we use the words but do the opposite it discredits leadership and breeds cynicism. The words should flow from the walk not be a replacement for it.

What advice would you give to an 18 year old you, today?

To see, own and release your gifts. To see what your dreams, positive passions and hopes are and to follow them - therein lies your future!

What do you love about Leeds?

The variety, innovation, options and people.

A little known fact about you...

Every year we do a week long teaching at a local six form college about homelessness. The students always ask how I got into this work. The story is that many years ago I had just finished some postgraduate work at Leeds University and was working in sales (some colleagues would say I still am!). Anyway, a friend rang me and asked if I would like to be interviewed for a nine month secondment place at a hostel in Leeds. I went to the interview and was offered the job. I walked out feeling fine. A minute later the anxiety hit me. 'I can't do this, I can't work with people with mental health problems and alcohol issues. This is crazy'. The anxiety continued and I decided that when the manager rang to offer shifts I would politely decline. A week later the phone rang and it was the manager. He asked me to come in for a shift the next day. I said I would and put the phone down. Given my personality and the way I am wired I felt I had to honour this obligation. So off I set the next day. I can still remember being on the bus - it felt like I was going to prison. Anyway I got there and found after awhile I could do it. After this secondment finished a job at York Street came up and I applied and arrived at York Street. The lesson we share with the students is that sometimes we have to walk through doors when they open. Of course we shouldn't take dangerous risks but neither should we let fear dictate our life and decisions.

Final words...

A big thank you to Vera Woodhead for this interview and pulling together this newsletter. Leadership in action!

To read the full Leaders for Leeds newsletter with updates on what's going on across the city click here.