Leadership Style - Essay Sample

Introduction

Leadership and management in the nursing field determine the quality of services offered to patients. It is therefore important to have the necessary leadership and management skills to effectively and efficiently lead the nursing stuff into attaining the goals and objectives of high-quality nursing service. The leadership and management can be assessed on the basis of leadership styles, communication, decision making, conflict resolution, priority setting and delegation skills. This paper handles a personal assessment of leadership and management in the nursing field.

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Transformational Leadership

My preferred leadership style is a transformational leadership style. A transformational leadership style is whereby the leader strives to create value and positive change in the employees. I have always been strongly motivated to lead. The strongest drive has been the desire to effect change and create value through people. Whenever we are given challenging tasks as a group, I am always the one assuring the team members that we can actually do it if we plan well and work in unison. Given that the nursing field is filled with complex problems, a transformational leadership style enables me to incorporate the input of all team members in solving them. Additionally, I prefer incorporating all team members in decision making and problem-solving duties. By doing this, I am assured that am providing an opportunity for everyone to grow on a personal level which drives satisfaction in everyone.

The transformational leadership theory contends that a good leader is one who strives to create a valuable and positive change in their followers. Transformational leaders lead by transforming the team members and employees to support each other at the individual level and to support the organization as a whole (Burkus, 2010). In return, team members acquire the feeling of trust, admiration, loyalty and respect for the leader. The theory correlates the style of leadership to improved performance outcomes on an individual, group and organizational levels. it also calls for the study of the employees and team members to identify their interests and preferences to ensure that the leader does not say or do anything that hurts one of them. It greatly emphasizes on morals and values in leadership. The theory purports that a transformational leader should demonstrate four elements in their leadership. The four elements are idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration.

Role Model

Reflecting on the four elements, I always strive to be a good role model for my team members. My greatest strengths are in observing all work ethics, discipline in the workplace and making good decisions that will impact all team members positively. By doing this, I set the path for the team members to emulate and has gained the respect of all team members. Besides that, I am always at the forefront in encouraging and motivating my team members to commit to the vision of the institution and to strive to reach laid goals and objectives (Rolfe, 2011). Creativity and innovation are key factors in the success of any organization. In my leadership position, I encourage team members to explore new ways of service delivery while creating a conducive environment for them to exercise their creativity. Whenever the team members encounter challenges in some of their tasks, I am readily available to assist, coach and advise them on how to effectively reach their desired goals.

My delegation skills can be classified as moderate. This is because I am scared of delegating tasks that demand quality and attention. My delegation skills are affected by a lack of trust in others to perform specific tasks efficiently. As a result, I prefer doing them myself and closely monitor the progress when I have to delegate. I view communication as the key element in maintaining relationships and cohesion in any workplace (Henderson, 2015). I, therefore, try to use effective strategies to communicate the vision and mission of the institution and the team. I also ensure that I listen to others, tolerate their shortcomings and strive to hold reasonable discussions to identify the strengths and weaknesses of workmates. When setting priorities, the quality of the nursing services offered to the patients always comes first. I recognize that it is the responsibility of health organizations and care systems to provide high quality and service-oriented nursing care with disciplined cost management while advocating for nurses and patients.

Collaborating Strategy

As per the assessment, my most preferred conflict management style is the collaborating strategy. The assessment is correct because I have always desired to arrive at an amicable solution that is acceptable to all parties whenever I find myself in a conflicting situation. I place much value in relationships and try the best I can to maintain them (Yoder-Wise, 2014). This perspective enables me to view any conflict as just a normal problem that can be solved peacefully. Before solving any conflict, I first identify the interests of all parties and formulate ways of how such interests will be met.

I think my greatest strengths in the nursing field are emotional intelligence and dedication to quality. Clinical settings are stressful to the nurses. This drives me to work closely with trainees to develop their emotional intelligence as well. The assistance not only helps the trainees and team members cope with stressors but also manages other counterproductive influences that can lead to exhaustion, depression and poor team collaboration (Grossman & Valiga, 2020). Aside from that, I am dedicated to excellence. This dedication can be seen in my commitment to passion, purpose and exemplified perseverance in the caregiving settings. To foster the same in the other nurses, performance assessment is done quarterly. I also set an example to trainees and the rest of the staff by delivering top-notch services.

Lack of Trust in Team Members

My two greatest weaknesses in leadership and management are lack of trust in team members and the need to be liked. I have severally found myself taking more tasks than I can handle due to failing to trust the team to perform to the expectations. I also micromanage my team and go beyond my role to ensure that things are done. sometimes I also find myself inspecting every detail of any task being done as a team to ensure it is perfectly done. I am also scared of sharing important information with team members which sometimes derails progress. The weakness of wanting to be liked has greatly influenced my decision making. I have made several popular decisions to please teammates which have sometimes resulted in bad outcomes. The need to be in everyone's favor has also clouded my judgments.

To deal with the issue of trust, I will train myself to focus on specific outcomes and trust the team to do the various tasks without supervision. To counter the urge to monitor every detail of the task, I will adopt the use of periodic checkups to ensure progress is being made rather than requiring daily status reports. I have realized how holding back valuable information derails progress. I will therefore start trusting team members with information and watch how they manage the information. This not only enhances the outcome but also boosts the trust among all members of the team. To counter the need to be liked, I have to learn to make unpopular decisions sometimes. The best outcome should be the desire for every leader and popular decisions may not always be the best for the institutions. Instead of wanting to be liked, I will strive to be understood and respected. This will be achieved by openly speaking to colleagues and taking the time to make them understand me.

Conclusion

In conclusion, leadership and management in nursing are crucial for the delivery of top-notch services to patients. A personal assessment of the nursing leaders is therefore useful to check on weaknesses and build on strengths. In my personal assessment and reflection, I prefer the transformational leadership style. In conflict resolution, I find the collaborating strategy most effective in serving the interests of all parties. In setting priorities, I prefer having quality services at the top. Effective communication is vital and I maximize communication strategies to promote cohesion and good relationships in the workplace. My strengths lie in emotional intelligence and dedication to excellence while my weaknesses are the need to be liked and lack of trust.

References

Burkus, D. (2010). Transformational leadership theory. Retrieved from: https://davidburkus.com/2010/03/transformational-leadership-theory/

Grossman, S. C., & Valiga, T. M. (2020). The new leadership challenge: Creating the future of nursing. FA Davis.

Henderson, A. (2015). Leadership and communication: what are the imperatives?

Rolfe, P. (2011). Transformational leadership theory: What every leader needs to know. Nurse Leader, 9(2), 54-57.

Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2014). Leading and managing in nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.