My Functionality as a Leader - Essay Example

?My Functionality as a Leader Especially in the field of healthcare, whether it is administrative as I do or it is practicing, we must all develop leadership skills in order to facilitate efficiency in the chaotic world. This includes developing essential skills such as communication, delegation, vision, cultural competency, etc. It also involves me working and moving back and forth between aspects of transactional leadership and transformational leadership. Specifically, I work with the finances at a veterinarian hospital, so most of the time I rely on the use of transactional leadership. As a leader in my workplace, the context and conflict caused by diversity is a constant occurrence. Diversity can be defined in my workplace not only by race, but also by occupation, age, upbringing, etc. In order to be an effective leader, I had to learn how to integrate all of these different aspects into one cohesive unit to achieve our collective goals. Sometimes this was difficult and other times it was hard. Differences in occupation are one of the hardest ones to address because of the conflicting nature of each occupation. Some work under me with finance and we have to cooperate with nurses, physician assistants, doctors, maintenance work, etc. Under the terms of the prime minister, he calls for corporate responsibility of health care as well as measuring progress and outcome. In my particular area of administration this is what I focus on because it is necessary as a leader to take responsibility for ones actions as well as being aware of the progress being made by not only my department, but also by the university (Department of Health and Social Security, 1972). Because each group focuses on a different aspect of the work we do at the veterinarian university, sometimes when we are forced to work together on a multidisciplinary problem, each person focuses on solving it from his/her perspective rather than trying to find a unified solution. Also, other problems with diversity range from the decreasing of females in the workforce and the increase in males. This sexual inequality sometimes creates tension not only among individual apartments, but also among our workplace as a whole. As a leader, I have to be able to deal with these problems in diversity quickly and efficiently while using sound judgment and making sure that we stay functional. The first important component in the scheme of diversity is understanding the protocol and policies in which the nature of my work focuses on. The healthcare world is constantly updating and changing. As a leader, it is my responsibility to be adaptable and get these changes out to my subordinates so they are completely informed when they are dealing with their work. This also includes being aware of policies that are not only made by national standards, but also by our work center. By being proactively involved in the creation of better and more incorporating policies, differences in diversity as well as making work more efficient and effective can result (Hughes, 2005). In addition to being adaptable, the nature of my work requires me to be proactive in change. This occurs by me using my political and social influences and knowledge in order to shape policy (Thomas et al., 2004). This requires me to have knowledge of how to know what policies I want to effect as well as the tactics to go about doing it as well as who it will effect (Antrobus et al., 2009). This requires knowing what my vision of my department is and trying to influence it in such a way that I will see the desired changes. While diversity can promote development within the workplace, sometimes it can hinder it was well. In particular, my role as a manager at a clinical hospital often relies on the interaction with not only my staff, but that of others as well. For example, once I had a problem dealing with the payment of insurance for a patient’s pet that was checked in for surgery. This required communication and understanding not only within the hospital as far as clinical staff, but also with the insurance representatives. Due to problems with understanding one another, some conflict resulted and as a leader, it was my responsibility to help de-escalate it. This required expert training in communication, problem solving skills, and problem solving. The first part to dealing with the problem understood what exactly the treatment protocols were with the client. As in all healthcare fields, this requires sensitivity and understanding. This brings in the implied sense of transformational leadership in that we want to make the client feel comfortable. Next, was dealing with the payment issues and discrepancies dealing with the client. This involved understanding not only university policy, but also payment types and issues. This brought in the transactional component in that the system was based on reward and punishment. Luckily in the end, due to teamwork and problem solving skills, we were able to complete and solve the problem. This demonstrates the inherent danger when dealing with multiple interest groups within the same organization. When they are not working together efficiently, it can be disastrous. However, when everyone is synchronized together, many of the harder tasks become easier and accomplishable. In particular, there are two key viewpoints in which the reading addresses which are relevant to my work and the above situation that I had to deal with. There is the PPI, which is patient and public involvement, and PALS, patient advice and liaison services. PPI monitors and looks at issues from the perspective of the client. They focus on making sure that the medical treatment of the client is being made. PALS works on behalf of the company, but works to make sure that the client’s needs are being met (Department of Health, 2000). This is important because in both aspects, it is important to remember that healthcare is a business. The relationship between the health services system and the clients is a marketable one; therefore it is good to maintain the relationship in order to keep transactions flowing quickly and smoothly. Critically evaluating this component of work is especially important in learning how to work together efficiently and cooperatively. In this context, the idea of transactional leadership and managerial duties is more important than the transformational aspect. In working towards the common goal, in order to achieve objectives it is reliable to use positive encouragement through incentives and things as well as negative punishment in order to encourage work to be completed efficiently and thoroughly. Compared to transformational leadership and the context of my specific duties when dealing with the managerial duty of finances, transactional leadership works the most effectively for me. The other source of conflict in my work environment results from sexual inequalities that can result from it. Due to the increasingly political nature of human society and differences in expressions of males and females, conflicts are often to result from gender discrimination. This is due to the inherent traits of each sex. Males have always been viewed as the more dominant role in decision making and females have been the more submissive role. The interesting argument to make is that throughout history and many different types of cultures, women have been thought of as caretakers and healers, but recently the medical field has seen a drastic increase in it’s male population (Elliott and Watt, 2005). Women have always claimed the role of the glass ceiling when trying to exert power and authority (Bass and Avolio, 1994). When they try to overcome this submissive attitude, there is conflict which results between the men and women of the workplace (Acker, 1992). Also, according to Indvik, women’s advancement is blocked based on three primary factors: organizational, interpersonal, and personal. This could be due to the superposition that women tend to be more emotional than men and the lack of logic and clarity is deemed weakness in leadership (Indvik, 2004). One of the theories stated regarding the inequality of women in leadership is that leadership roles are derived from the aggressive male energy. Therefore, in order to have the femininity of leadership, it must be placed at a greater value in leadership theory (Stivers, 1991). In order to be an efficient leader, especially in my line of work, I have to recognize the inherent differences and find a way to make both sides amicable to one another. My development as a leader has had to make me understand both sides to the conflict by being more empathetic and trying to find solutions that are a win-win scenario to both sides. I also see conflict sometimes in different cultures of the same sex, such as women. When it comes to the management interaction, there are inequalities in cultures even within the sexes. For example, white female nurses tend to have a slower burnout rate than those of other ethnicities (Parish, 2003). As a leader, I must know how to deal with both the issues of gender, but also the group dynamics of race in the workplace. In this side of dealing with diversity, the transactional component cannot be evaluated critically in comparison to the transformational leadership. Transactional works best with qualities which are specific and black and white in nature. The context of gender discrimination and conflict in the workplace is the result of multidimensional problems such as biology, psychology, and beliefs (Indvik, 2004). In order to tackle the problem effectively as a leader, I must be able to focus on the development of individuals and ensuring equality. This can be difficult because of the competition in the declining economy, but is easily facilitated by making sure that the needs of both sides are being met. Making sure that there are equal opportunities for all while promoting diversity requires walking a very fine line. Although difficult at times, understanding attitudes and behaviors of the different gender types while applying transformational leadership concepts can produce highly efficient groups which develop mutual respect within for one another. The best way to accomplish this can be through shared governance in some situations. This allows everyone to have a say in the decision making at hand, however this is impractical in major decisions that do not require a complete democratic vote due to constraints such as time and money. However, it has been shown that it increases morale, job satisfaction, motivation, and other things once it is implemented (Scott, & Caress, 2005). Both of these difficult topics with dealing with diversity are essential to my continued growth as a leader in the healthcare environment. I may not be responsible for just dealing with the aspects of medicine, but my management job relies on constant knowledge and precision when dealing with the business aspect of it. This requires being up to date as far as being aware of what is going on the people that I am leading from a professional and work context. In this way, I will be able to use my transformational and transactional leadership skills in order to make sure that diversity in the workplace does not promote problems, but rather enhances it (Health Act, 1999). In terms of the nurses and the transactional duties that I take charge of when dealing with the nurses are similar to that what the Health Act talks about such as: performance review, risk management, complaint issues, etc. The ability to effectively communicate and take risks is the way in order to inspire change in both policy and group dynamics. It is a way in which to make sure that my duties and the group that I work for remain progressive in the work field (Large et al., 2005). The shared responsibility of dealing with conflicts and problems in leadership sometimes results in the radical merging and changing of leadership theories in order to address the concepts and situations being dealt with currently. References Acker, J. (1992) ‘Gendering organizational theory’, in Mills, A.J. and Tancred, P. ( ed s ) Gendering Organizational Analysis, Newbury Park, CA, Sage Publications, pp. 248–60 Antrobus, S., Macleod, A. and Masterson, A. (2009) ‘Developing political leaders in nursing’, in Bishop, V. (ed) Leadership for Nursing and Allied Health Care Professions, Maidenhead, Open University Press/McGraw-Hill Education, pp. 98–119. Bass, B.M. and Avolio, B.J. (1994) ‘Shattering the glass ceiling: women make better managers’, Human Resource Management Journal, 33, pp. 549–60. Department of Health (2000) The NHS Plan – A Plan for Investment. A Plan for Reform, Cmnd 4818–I, Norwich, The Stationery Of?ce. Available online at www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/ PublicationsPublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4002960 (accessed 8 May 2009) Department of Health and Social Security (1972) Report of the Committee on Nursing, Cmnd 5115, London, HMSO Elliott J. and Watt, H. (2005) ‘Fancy a son? Then get a man’s job’, The Sunday Times, 22 May. Available online at www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/ article525160.ece (accessed 28 July 2010) Health Act 1999 (ch. 8), London, HMSO. Available online atwww.opsi.gov.uk/ acts/acts1999/ukpga_19990008_en_1 (accessed 18 July 2010) Hughes, F. (2005). Policy- a practical tool for nurses and nursing. JAN Guest Editorial, 331. Indvik, J. (2004) ‘Women and leadership’, in Northouse, P.G. (ed) Leadership: Theory and Practice, Thousand Oaks, CA, Sage Publications, pp. 265–99 Large, S., Macleod, A., Cunningham, G. and Kitson, A. (2005) RCN Clinical Leadership Programme: Transforming Clinical Leaders to Become Agents of Positive Change, Executive Summary, London, Royal College of Nursing Parish, C. (2003) ‘Left out of the leadership loop’, Nursing Standard, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 12–13 Scott, L, & Caress, A. (2005). Shared governance and shared leadership: meeting the challenges of implementation. Journal of Nursing Management,13, 4-12. Stivers, C. (1991) ‘Why can’t a woman be less like a man? Women’s leadership dilemma’, Journal of Nursing Administration, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 47–51 Thomas, S., Billington, A. and Getliffe, K. (2004) ‘Improving continence services – a case study in policy in?uence’, Journal of Nursing Management,vol. 12, no. 4, pp. 252–7 Read More