Leadership and Management - Essay Example

Although the leadership can be defined in various ways, the principles and practice are the same in most organisations. According to Northouse, (2004), leadership involves influencing an individual or a group of people towards achievement of goals in a particular situation. Management is the collaborative involvement with individuals or groups in the achievement of the organisational goals. The 21st century has witnessed an increase in the attention given to the concept of change in organisational leadership and/or management by various individuals. For example, the insufficient public health care reforms in the 1990s did not mean that changes in the public health care system were not taking place or they will not be enhanced in the future. Changes, especially advancement in health care innovativeness, aims to ensure that majority of the human population access to public health care. The responsibilities of the public health leaders have increased due to the complexity in health orientation of the population due to the recent changes in human lifestyles. According to Rowitz (2001), the public health problem has been further aggravated by insufficient information on disease prevention among the population. Effective leadership is essential for management of the changes and innovation and requires the public health teams to integrate external factors affecting public health service delivery such as political, legal, economic and social (Fitzsimons et al 2006, McKenna et al 2004). This provides a critical environment for the enhancement of teamwork and the organisation behaviours that characterise service delivery in the public health sector. Public health leaders require these techniques in the effective handling of the employees as well as enhance the application of latest leadership techniques and tools. There are eight leadership theories. These include Trait Theory, Skills Theory, Situational Theory, Contingency Theory, Path-Goal Theory, Transformational Theory, Transactional Theory and Servant Leadership Theory. In this paper, the focus is on Situational, Path-goal and Transformational leadership theories in relation to their application in the public health leadership styles such as supportive, directive, achievement-oriented and participative. According to the department of health (2012), public health sector in the United Kingdom is concerned with assisting people to lead a healthy lifestyle. This suggests that the leadership should focus on policy areas such as nutrition, immunisation, sexual health alcohol and tobacco, pregnancy and children health. The performance of the public health sector is characterised by the effectiveness of the leadership. A leader is defined as an agent who spearheads goal achievement the through provision of direction and inspiration. Leadership theories can be used in promoting our realization of the individual obligations in management of change and innovation in the public health context. Leadership is an inclusive term that incorporates both character and individual traits. Effective public health leadership is a product of commitment to the community and respect to their values. Theories of leadership have emerged overtime, with some gaining more significance over the others. Three of the most significant theories include situational leadership theory, transformational theory and path goal theory. Moreno, Verčič and Zerfass, (2010) define leadership as the process that involves influencing people towards achievement of goals in a particular situation. On the other hand, management is defined as a collaborative involvement with individuals or groups in the achievement of the organisational goals (Goodwin, Gruen and Ives, 2006). The current public health situation in the United Kingdom requires effective leaders. They should be capable of developing a work force committed to action, empower them and mould the junior leaders into agents of change. Modernisation has led to shift from preference of management (enterprise control) to focus on leadership that enhances human potential and applies necessary strategies leading to change. The control-oriented traditional leadership structure of the public health sector has been replaced by information-dominated leadership models (Yang, 2008). The mechanical tasks have been replaced by the mental ones whereby people are managed through the utilization of knowledge they possess; not energy (Price, 2009). This is the reason for the focus on organisation behaviour and teamwork in the promotion of the employee roles. Information-based organisations or sectors require only a few clear instructions in enhancing the role-play. Effective leaders of information-based public health organisations are knowledge specialists with abundant leadership and management skills. The traits define the way leaders think and apply their thoughts on their daily obligations. The leadership styles among different individuals reflect these traits. Traits combine both learned and innate qualities of an individual. According to Caruso and Mayer (2004), the most efficient abilities and skills that a leader should possess include technical skills, supportiveness towards group work, task application and motivation, interpersonal and social skills, emotional control and general leadership effectiveness and achievement. Some of the most admired traits that public health leaders should possess include the ability to inspire, intelligence, competence, honesty and visionary. One of the prominent leadership theories is situational leadership theory. The situational leadership theory purports that effective leaders should change their leadership styles depending on the maturity of the people they are leading and the nature of the task (Northouse, 2004). This implies that effective leaders in the public health sector should focus on the strategies that will promote the achievement of the set target rather than relationships with followers or the nature of the task itself. Situational leadership theory focuses on developing followers with the aim of ensuring task completion. Some of the skills that situational leaders apply in leading the public health workers include delegating, selling, telling and participation. These skills lead followers through a successful process. This model is the most effective in a public health sector facing challenges from external factors such as political, legal, social, economic and technological. This is because of its ability to adapt to situations and develop strategies that enhance performance in the new environment. Situational leaders apply both leader-oriented and follower-oriented skills in adapting to various leadership styles that correspond to the prevailing situations. The situational leader will also be required to adapt to the changing situation in order to effectively lead processes. According to the theory, leaders should use different strategies when handling different employees (Rowitz, 2001). Any leadership style occurs in an environment characterised by social context whereby norms and values influences decisions. One leadership style is not favourable for each employee in a public health agency. Unfortunately, some public health leaders use only one style predominantly. Situational leaders do not require enhanced leadership skills compared to transformational leaders. Such leadership may also confuse followers because role strategies changes with situations. Situational leaders also work under assumptions; people are ready to learn new and develop their skills and that there is no effective leadership style that can make this happen. The four leadership styles applied by situational leaders include delegating, supporting, coaching and directing. The situational theory is closely associated with the Path Goal Theory. Leaders applying the path-goal theory should be flexible and adapt to the changes taking place in the public health sector. The theory alludes that effective leadership is not an inherent trait; it emanates from situations that a potential leader faces. These provide skills and experience required for offering directives and advice that characterise leadership. The situations are dependent on the nature of the leader obligations, culture or the working environment, and the external socio-economic environment affecting the public health sector. The theory portends that effective leaders should be capable of convincing their subjects that their needs and expectations will be achieved if they perform their roles and obligations well. Expectations motivate workers to work hard towards achievement of the set organisational objectives and goals. Public health leaders should guide the members of the community as well as the public health employees on the efficient strategies suitable for the prevention and avoidance of risky behaviours and situations that may negatively affect their wellbeing. Additionally, the theory emphasizes that apart from providing psychological support to the subjects, an effective leader should provide infrastructure, information and technical support to the public health workers as well as the community members (Spector, 2005). The theory incorporates four distinct leadership styles namely supportive, directive, achievement-oriented and participative (Stewart Clegge., Kornberger, and Pitsis, 2008). The directive style involves leaders laying clear goals and indicating the benefits to be accrued from the defined goals. The style is efficient because it encourages the underperformers to improve their productivity for them to receive rewards as well as avoid the consequences that accompanies failures. Public health leaders can apply this style to promote innovation and adaptation to change through ensuring that innovative ideas are rewarded. Public health workers will adapt to change easily if the working conditions motivate them (Davies and MacDowall, 2006). Learning new ways of doing things requires the correct attitude and willingness that can only emanate from the strategies that a leader puts forward to motivate employees. Even the society can only conform to change if they are assured of gain. However, the style is heavily task-oriented because leaders must ensure that achievements are rewarded while failures are punished. Supportive style of leadership is adopted by leaders through showing concern and support for the physical or psychological needs of the team members or colleagues. The style also purports that a leader should yearn to understand the personal aspirations and goals of the team members in order to apply the necessary strategies required for offering the most suitable support. Support provides a favourable and congenial working environment for the employees. Application of support style in the public health sector occurs when leaders guides the public members on the most effective lifestyles that minimises health risks. Support can also be offered through rewards and recognition. Leaders that apply this style succeed in enhancing teamwork. The participative style involves the leader incorporating input and involvement in the making of health decisions that affects the public life. The resulting goals and strategies emanating from participation are inclusive and serve the interests of all stakeholders, including the public and government. This assists in eliminating the barriers such as social, legal or political, as all parties will be contented with the strategies being applied by the participative leaders. Achievement-oriented style of leadership style focuses on goal achievement. A high level of commitment is required for a leader to accomplish goals at both the individual and organisational levels. According to Yang, (2008) the underlying assumption of the style is that challenging situations enables leaders as well as the employees to take responsibility for its achievement. However, the style does not analyse the negative impact of the challenges on the leader-performance, especially the decreased motivation levels. Supportive leadership is successfully adopted by leaders that are capable of establishing both internal and external coalitions and partnerships (Umble et al, 2005). This enhances performance as the productivity potential among employees improves. Supportive leaders guides and educates their followers on the efficient mechanisms suitable for harnessing innovation and changes in the improvement of service delivery. Supportive elements of leadership should be extended to the strengthening of the public health infrastructure and the system in which it is harboured. The infrastructural support should be carried out through evaluating the health status of the population and assessing the capacity of the public in addressing their health issues. According to Davies and MacDowall, (2006), implementation of preventive measures that eliminates or reduces the impacts of crises in the public health sector supports the organisation’s infrastructural orientation. Supportive leaders guides and participates in the establishment and application of new intervention strategies in the management of the public health sector. Ensuring effective future changes will call for engagement in the policy making processes with the focus on future, based on the realities of the present and built on the past experiences. Supportive leaders will also guide their followers on the effective methods of incorporating technology to improve processes. However, supportive leadership is prone to discrimination. Davies and MacDowall, (2006) asserts that leadership should not be discriminative towards any community member regardless of the economic or social affiliations. Transformational leadership theory focuses on the relationship between a leader and his or her subjects. According to Antonakis and House (2002), the theory focuses on the morals and ethics of various team relationships and teamwork (p. 7). Leaders that apply transformational theory attract their followers’ trust and admiration. There are four components of transformational leadership theory; intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, inspirational motivation and idealized influence (Antonakis and House, 2002). For leaders to be transformational they should be knowledge synthesizers. They should bring intelligence to the public health sector. According to Hayes (2010), transformation is not all about focusing on the future improvements, but also understanding the realities of the past and the present conditions. They must not only be familiar with their chosen field but also in others such as social skills. This would enable them offer quality and satisfactory services to the public as well as avoid conflicts with the people they serve; it can affect their performance due to lack of motivation. Therefore, in addition to possession of intelligence as the theory purports, an effective leader should exhibit other personal traits such as self-control and self-confidence. Building intelligence requires leaders to ignore pertinent information and be enthusiastic on what they are doing. Creative leaders have the capability to devise and design efficient strategies that can enhance the creativity status of the members of the team they are leading. Lucas and Lloyd (2006) posit that transformations in the public health sector require visionary leaders, capable of sharing their objectives and portraying commitment to the vision and the mission represented. Additionally, transformational leaders should be creative i.e. they should not only be able to manage large amounts of health information, but also use it to guide action. The public and employees in the public health sector can only have confidence towards a leader who offers them support and guidance. Effectiveness in leadership calls for the understanding of the fact that the organisational goals are only achievable if the organizational culture is adhered to i.e. restricting organisational behaviours to development strategies. With this in mind, effective leaders should recognise the contribution of the members of public towards development of ideas. They should also respond to their individual needs in ensuring that their needs are incorporated in the transformation process. Transformational leaders sort the problems facing their members individually and uniquely in respect to their talents and abilities. This allows the followers to reach the peak of their career that could otherwise be impossible or difficult without leadership support. Billsberry (2009) asserts that transformative leaders should satisfy the external restrictions affecting the public health sector such as political intrigues, social alignments and economic changes. However, some of the transformations may be beneficial to the public while being unfavourable to other factors such as legal. Transformational leaders should ensure that their leadership decisions fully satisfy the needs of all stakeholders in the public health sector. A leader cannot transform people unless he or she is committed towards resoling the problems facing people or the institution they are leading. This is affirmed Ciulla, (1998: 153) who asserts, “...occurs when leaders broaden and elevate the interests of their employees, when they generate awareness and acceptance of the purposes and mission of the group, and when they stir employees to look overlook their self-interests for the good of the group.” Such leaders should have energy and stamina to lead by example and steer the teams through adaptation to change and innovation. Transformational leaders focus on intangible tasks such as change and innovation management. However, this theory is not appropriate when the public health sector is not undergoing any transformation. This is because the approach is variably concerned with the application of the strategies that promote change. Therefore, transformational leadership is not suitable at all times and occasionally requires the inclusion of alternative approaches (Grint, 2005). Transformational leaders are also required to have a several other traits that enhances their effectiveness. Such traits are referred to as passive-avoidance traits (Avolio and Bass, 2002). This is because its application involves avoiding a problem until the necessary changes are need for the leader to act. Transformational leaders are not ideal until they incorporate other traits such as low passive avoidant traits and transactional leadership. Its application is also limited to certain situations that require the maintenance of stability and order. The public health sector is prone to uncertainties such as epidemics whereby application of skills related to maintenance of law and order could be more effective than change. According to Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee, (2002), promotion of innovation and change in the public health sector is determined by how the core functions are carried out and the essential services being provided. Conclusion Leadership can be defined as creativity in action. Public health leadership can be defined as the commitment and respect of the values that characterise a community. Leadership is different from management. Leadership is the process that involves influencing an individual or a group of people towards achievement of goals in certain situations. On the other hand, management is defined as a collaborative involvement with individuals or groups in the achievement of the organisational goals. Some of the most efficient abilities and skills that a leader should possess include technical skills, supportiveness towards group work, task application and motivation and interpersonal and social skills. Effective leaders possess traits such as the ability to inspire, intelligence, competence, honesty and visionary. Effective leaders should understand that organisations do not exist in a vacuum. They should develop an understanding of the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, eco-environment and the legal measures in play. There are eight leadership theories that can be applied in the public health sector leadership; of these, path goal-theory, transformational leadership theory and situational leadership theory were evaluated in this paper. Some of the leadership styles incorporated in the theories include supportive, directive, achievement-oriented and participative. An effective leader should focus on the application of principles that harness innovation and changes in the improvement of service delivery such as strengthening the public health system. References Antonakis, J. & House, R.J. (2002) Transformational and charismatic leadership: the road ahead, New York, Free Press. Avolio, B.J. & Bass, B.M. 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Appendices Appendix 1: Situational Leadership Theory Source: http://leadingforwardblog.wordpress.com/2012/10/05/understanding-contingency-and-situational-theory/ Appendix 2: Transformational Leadership Theory Source: http://www.managementstudyguide.com/transformational-leadership.htm Appendix 3: Path Goal Theory Source: http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/5?e=carpenter-ch10_s03 Read More