Good leadership is often overlooked in home care, but in my experience, it shapes everything from staff confidence to customer experience.
When people talk about delivering good care, the conversation often focuses on the carers providing it. That makes sense. They are the people entering customers’ homes, building relationships with families and supporting people through their day-to-day lives.
But after more than a decade running a home care business, I believe there is something else that has just as much influence on the quality of care: leadership.
I have learned that you cannot separate the experience of the person receiving care from the experience of the people delivering it. If carers feel supported, listened to and valued, they are more likely to feel confident in their role. If they know they can approach their managers when something is difficult, problems can be addressed before they become bigger issues.
That starts with leadership.
In my experience, good leadership in care is not about standing at the top of an organisation and telling people what to do. It is about being visible, approachable and willing to listen.
One of the biggest lessons I have learned is that leaders need to understand what is happening on the ground. It is easy to make decisions from an office based on figures, reports and rotas. Those things are important, but they do not tell you everything.
Sometimes leadership is as simple as taking the time to speak to a carer after a difficult visit, following up quickly when a concern is raised, or making sure good work is recognised before it becomes expected.
Some of the best improvements we have made over the years have come from listening to the people closest to the care we provide. They often see things that those further away from day-to-day care simply cannot.
I also believe good leadership means being prepared to hear things you may not want to hear. If staff feel comfortable challenging decisions, raising concerns and suggesting better ways of working, the whole organisation benefits.
That requires trust and trust has to work both ways.
Customers and their families are trusting us with some of the most important aspects of their lives. Our carers need to know that we trust them to do their jobs well, while also knowing that support is there when they need it.
That does not mean getting everything right all the time.
Running a care business has taught me that leadership involves making difficult decisions, learning from mistakes and sometimes admitting when you could have handled something differently. I think there is strength in that. Leaders do not need to have all the answers, but they do need to take responsibility.
Another lesson I have learned is that culture starts with the leadership team.
You can have the best policies, procedures and systems in the world, but they only go so far. The way leaders speak to people, respond to problems and recognise good work sets the tone for the wider organisation.
If we expect our carers to treat customers with dignity, patience and respect, those same qualities need to be reflected in the way we treat our own people.
That is why I believe recognition matters too. A carer may have made someone’s morning easier, reassured a worried family member or noticed a small change in a customer’s wellbeing. Those moments are fundamental to good care.
In our business, one way we try to make recognition visible is through our Golden Heart Award, which praises carers for the compassionate work they bring to customers every day. We celebrate our winners across our social media channels because we want our teams to know how proud we are of them and the difference they make. They also receive a certificate to keep as a reminder of the recognition they have earned.
In my experience, recognition is one of the simplest yet most overlooked things a leader can give. Showing someone that their hard work is noticed and valued can make a huge difference to them and to the care they continue to provide.
Ultimately, I have come to see leadership in home care as being less about control and more about creating the conditions for other people to do their jobs well.
Our role is not to have every answer or make every decision. It is to give good people the support, confidence and direction they need to provide the best possible care.
When you get that right, the benefits reach carers, customers, families and the wider community. For me, that is what good leadership as a franchise owner in care should look like.
