Leadership in Practice

The topic of this discussion is effective leadership, which is essential in any workplace. The challenges within the healthcare industry are unique. To maintain an organization that continually provides positive, quality care outcomes while actively reducing costs, the management must be an effective leader. About anyone can be a boss, but it takes someone with the right skills to become a leader. It takes a leader to bring success to an organization, especially those within the healthcare industry (10 Pillars of Success, 2020). This discussion will evaluate the impact of certain leadership behaviors that aid in creating a healthy work environment, specifically the healthcare industry.

Key Insights

The first critical insight learned through scholarly resources is that effective leadership can facilitate positive change that helps an organization improve and be more innovative in the current healthcare environment. Effective leadership is one of the essential factors in bringing positive change to an organization. If there is no leadership or the leadership is weak, it will not affect positive change. Instead, it is more likely to produce negative changes (Hao & Yazdanifard, 2015).

The second critical insight learned through research of peer-reviewed articles is the importance of work climate, team engagement, and task performance. According to one study, an intensive service climate is useful in fostering a positive work climate in which team member engagement and performance increases due to prosocial actions are demonstrating respect, affirmation, and appreciation. Such demonstrations promoted work meaningfulness (Geue, 2018). Most people will work harder when they feel their work is respected and appreciated.

Leader

One way in which leaders can show actual effectiveness is by leading by example. A true leader does not merely set back and command. Instead of always commanding others to work, effective leaders are quick to step in and do the work themselves. One such leader was a man named Mr. Sam. Sam liked to stay on the floor with the other healthcare workers instead of only working from his office. Sam would fill in when there was a shortage, and he would never ask anyone to do something that he would not do himself. Everyone liked working with Bill, and no one minded when he did have to exert his authority. However, another boss, Mr.Paul, hardly ever left his office. Paul would dictate orders and would get mad whenever things did not run smoothly. He would yell at workers when he thought they were not working hard enough, even when there was a shortage. No one liked working with him because he was not an effective leader (Schooley, 2019).

Conclusion

Having effective leadership is essential to having a successful organization. Within the healthcare industry, this is especially vital. Leaders who rely solely on being the boss are not as effective at providing a healthy work environment as those who rely more on integrity (Monroe, 2017). A boss is one who commands work to be done. A leader is one who shows how the work should be done. A boss only cares about his or her position. A leader cares about the employees, the clients, the overall organization, and what changes he or she can affect being in that position. In order for an organization to facilitate positive change, the leadership must be active. Such leadership must promote a healthy work environment, improve team engagement, and increase task performance. When a true leader takes charge, others follow. True leaders show respect, appreciation, and affirmation to their employees.

References

10 pillars of success for top healthcare workplaces. (2020). Becker’s Hospital Review. Retrieved June 23, 2020, fromhttps://www.beckershospitalreview.com/hospitalmanagementadministration/10-pillars-of-success-for-top-healthcare-workplaces.html

Geue, P. E. (2018, May 11). Positive practices in the workplace: Impact on team climate, work engagement, and task performance. The Journal of Applied Behavioral Science,54(3). https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0021886318773459

Hao, M. J. & Yazdanifar, R. (2015). How effective leadership can facilitate change in organizations through improvement and innovation. Global Journal of Management and Business Research: A Administration and Management, 15(9).  https://globaljournals.org/GJMBR_Volume15/1-How-Effective-Leadership.pdf

Monroe, M. (2017, November 29). Five ways that leaders can create a positive work environment. Startups.com. https://www.startups.com/library/expert-advice/five-ways-leaders-can-create-right-environments

Schooley, S. (2019, October 17). Are you a true leader or just a boss? Business News Daily. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/1404-characteristics-good-boss.html

Discussion 1: Leadership Theories in Practice

A walk through the Business section of any bookstore or a quick Internet search on the topic will reveal a seemingly endless supply of writings on leadership. Formal research literature is also teeming with volumes on the subject.

However, your own observation and experiences may suggest these theories are not always so easily found in practice. Not that the potential isn’t there; current evidence suggests that leadership factors such as emotional intelligence and transformational leadership behaviors, for example, can be highly effective for leading nurses and organizations.

Yet, how well are these theories put to practice? In this Discussion, you will examine formal leadership theories. You will compare these theories to behaviors you have observed firsthand and discuss their effectiveness in impacting your organization.

To Prepare:

• Review the Resources and examine the leadership theories and behaviors introduced.
• Identify two to three scholarly resources, in addition to this Module’s readings, that evaluate the impact of leadership behaviors in creating healthy work environments.
• Reflect on the leadership behaviors presented in the three resources that you selected for review.

By Day 3 of Week 4

Post two key insights you had from the scholarly resources you selected. Describe a leader whom you have seen use such behaviors and skills, or a situation where you have seen these behaviors and skills used in practice. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain to what extent these skills were effective and how their practice impacted the workplace.

By Day 6 of Week 4

Respond to at least two of your colleagues on two different days by explaining how the leadership skills they described may impact your organization or your personal leadership, or by identifying challenges you see in applying the skills described.

Great Post! Like you, I have worked under many different leaders who demonstrate a variety of leadership styles. As you stated, a true leader does not just sit back and command but leads by example. An effective leader values and supports the development and maintenance of positive relationships among people, encourage communication and can connect with others in a way that fosters the productive sharing of ideas (Seijts & Gandz, 2017). They also demonstrate genuine concern, care for others, and show appreciation. Exemplifying positive attitudes, having integrity, humanity, humility, drive, courage, temperance, and successful team-building skills will contribute to effective coaching and a meaningful work environment. Transformational leadership consists of four components: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and consideration (Liborius, 2017). Xie et al., discuss that the transformational leadership style can facilitate building trust and individual identification; it is more helpful for building an innovative atmosphere (2018).

References

Liborius, P. (2017). What does leaders’ character add to transformational leadership?. The Journal of       

     Psychology. 151(3), 299-300. DOI: 10.1080/00223980.2016.1270889

Singh, S., & Aditi, M. (2019). Managing emotional intelligence for effective leadership in 

organization. International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (IJTSRD). 3(6) 515-519

Retrieved from URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd23629.pdf

Xie, Y., Xue, W., Li, L., Wang, A., Chen, Y., Zheng, Q., Wang, Y., Li, X. (2018). Leadership style and innovation

atmosphere in enterprises: An empirical study. Technological Forecasting and Social Change. 135(3) 257-

265. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2018.05.017

Your description of your two former employers and their difference in leadership style proves that leadership style can have a big impact on staff and outcomes. Manning (2016) describes how management by exception provides the lack of leadership that staff need to perform to their best of their abilities.  The Laureate Education Video (2014) in this week’s resources described the servant leader and their effort to bring out the best in their employees. I believe that leadership, especially in nursing, need to provide staff with positive emotional support in order for the nursing staff to perform at their highest abilities. Nursing is emotionally and physically strenuous. Strong, effective, and supportive leadership is necessary so that nurses can provide improved patient outcomes.

Laureate Education. (2014). Leadership. Retrieved June 24, 2020, from https://cdnfiles.laureate.net/2dett4d/managed/WAL/NURS/6053A/03/WAL_NURS6053A_03_A_EN.pdf

Manning, Jennifer, DNS, APRN & CNS, CNE. (2016). The Influence of Nurse Manager Leadership Style on Staff Nurse Work Engagement. Journal of Nursing Administration, 46, 438-443. https://doi.org/10.1097/NNA.0000000000000372