Theories In Practice Essay

Theories In Practice Essay

 

Discussion: Theories in Practice 

Organizational leadership is a catalyst for quality improvement initiatives and effective management of human resources. In healthcare contexts, leaders are responsible for ensuring that organizations and employees thrive amidst ever-increasing demands for quality care and complexities in the current healthcare systems. According to Cakir & Adiguzel (2020), leadership is “the process of facilitating individual and collective efforts to understand and influence people to realize what is to be done and how and to realize the shared objectives” (p. 2). In the same breath, Jaroliya & Gyanchandani (2021) contend that leadership entails the ability to motivate, boost confidence, and support teams that work towards achieving organizational goals. In this sense, leaders play a significant role in establishing the organizational direction, cultivating a culture of team performance and excellence, and expediting actions consistent with the strategic goals.

Different leadership theories describe effective behaviors and activities that enable leaders to execute their roles as role models, change agents, and sources of inspiration. These theories include situational leadership and transformational leadership. According to Marc et al. (2019), situational leadership theory relies on the premise that leaders must change the degree of supportiveness and directness to their followers due to the prevailing situation and the level of motivation. This leadership style allows openness between leaders and followers and enables leaders to understand their followers’ characteristics before deciding on leadership approaches.

On the other hand, transformational leadership theory emphasizes the leader’s competency to improve employees’ performance beyond expectations by capitalizing on intrinsic motivation. Khan et al. (2020) argue that this leadership style has four profound components: idealized influence, inspirational motivation, individualized consideration, and inspirational motivation. Transformational leaders motivate and transform followers by improving their awareness of designated goals, encouraging them to transcend self-interests in favor of organizational objectives, and articulating an inspiring vision while acting as role models (Steinmann et al., 2018). This theory is effective in facilitating change and quality improvement initiatives in healthcare organizations.

In my experience as a healthcare professional, I have witnessed situations where organizational leaders have adopted either situational or transformational leadership. An example when a leader utilized situational leadership is during the COVID-19 pandemic when we encountered various challenges, including a steady upsurge of patients requiring emergency care, increased workloads, overwhelmed departments, and burnout. Before the pandemic, we majorly operated on democratic leadership. However, the COVID-19 pandemic prompted our organizational leader to rethink this approach. Consequently, he embarked on interventions for cultivating a conducive and supportive workplace culture by providing emotional support, encouraging employees to be selfless when providing care, and fostering openness in sharing information and teamwork. By changing leadership behaviors consistent with the situation, employees agreed to extend their shifts and operate as a team to deliver timely and convenient care.

Equally, I have witnessed a scenario when our organizational leaders used transformational leadership to spearhead change and quality improvement initiatives. At one point, our organization’s top leadership perceived the need to install barcoding technology and e-prescribing modalities to reduce and prevent medication errors. As a result, leaders embarked on change initiation activities that involved creating a sense of urgency, educating employees on the importance of these technologies, empowering and motivating employees, and leveraging feedback to improve the change process. These Interventions were effective in addressing restraining factors for change, challenging the status quo, and inspiring change. Consequently, employees partnered with leaders to implement, evaluate, and sustain new clinical systems.

Based on these incidences regarding the application of the two leadership styles, it is valid to contend that each leadership approach was effective in enabling the organization to thrive in different circumstances. However, transformational leadership emerges as a more sustainable leadership approach compared to situational leadership because it enables leaders to set inspiring visions, promote team performance, bolster staff satisfaction, and encourage creativity and innovation. As a result, it has the plausibility of improving care quality and leading to positive outcomes.

References

Cakir, F. S., & Adiguzel, Z. (2020). Analysis of leader effectiveness in organization and knowledge sharing behavior on employees and organization. SAGE Open, 10(1), 1–14. Sagepub. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020914634

Jaroliya, Dr. D., & Gyanchandani, R. (2021). Transformational leadership style: A boost or hindrance to team performance in the IT sector. Vilakshan – XIMB Journal of Management, 19(1), 87–105. Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/xjm-10-2020-0167

Khan, H., Rehmat, M., Butt, T. H., Farooqi, S., & Asim, J. (2020). Impact of transformational leadership on work performance, burnout and social loafing: A mediation model. Future Business Journal, 6(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1186/s43093-020-00043-8

Marc, C., Makai Dimény, D., & Bacter, C. (2019). The social worker-client relationship: difficulties and solutions. SERIES VII – SOCIAL SCIENCES and LAW, 61(12)(2), 377–386. https://doi.org/10.31926/but.ssl.2019.12.61.2.20

Steinmann, B., Klug, H. J. P., & Maier, G. W. (2018). The path is the goal: How transformational leaders enhance followers’ job attitudes and proactive behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 9(2338). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02338

BUY A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

 

Think about all the people you have seen in leadership roles what was effective and what as not. As noted in the description of this week there is a lot of information on leadership and sources vary in their approach to leadership. You will want to look for the most current evidence so as you are exploring this weeks topic look for sources that are not greater than 5 years old.

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. The 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 into 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.

Review the Resources and examine the leadership theories and behaviors introduced.
Identify two to three scholarly resources, 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.

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.