New Leadership Challenge for Nursing - Essay Example

?Introduction Leadership is essential part of human interaction and endorses a flexible approach to the changing aspects of the organizational scope and processes. Leaders within the organization are important linkages that help exploit the personality traits of the workforce to maximize performance outcome. The vision, perseverance and capacity to inspire others are fundamental principles of leadership (Grossman & Valiga, 2012). Consequently, effective organizational leadership has strong followers who are motivated for higher performance that are achieved through hard work and delivered with ethical considerations. The managerial leadership of the firm promotes flexible approach to the changing dynamics of the organizational management. The myriad aspects of leaders and leadership facilitate and influence human behavior for greater achievement of mutually negotiated targets with greater enthusiasm. Indeed, the many challenges of good leadership takes into account the changing environmental factors and translate them into opportunities of growth. The paper would be looking at the various facets of leadership and how it impacts the role of nurse managers. Nature of leadership Organizational leadership assumes special meaning because it motivates and encourages others to strive towards common goals with renewed enthusiasm. It tends to empower people with knowledge and influence their behaviour, attitude and feelings towards important issues so that they are better prepared for changes and become more accommodating in their approach. The traits and styles of leaders within organizations therefore become hugely crucial elements that inherently help exploit new situations and inculcate a sense of stability amongst the followers or workforce especially in adverse situations. The various leadership theories support the varying perspectives of leaders and how they impact the behaviour and attitude of others. The leadership traits and styles become integral part of leaders within organizations. Leadership traits. The four most important traits of effective leaders are: honesty; forward looking; inspiring; and competency (Kouzes and Posner, 2007). These are critical paradigms of that help the leaders to gain the trust of the followers who willingly follow them. Honesty is one of the most desirable traits of leaders that inspires committed following. They set high standard of ethics and moral integrity which inculcates trust and gives them a distinct credibility in the eyes of their followers but also gives credence to their ideological perspectives of issues. Leaders are also forward looking because their vision ensures that followers are well equipped to handle changes. With strong communication skills, they are able to communicate with their followers and inspire them towards visionary goals. They have the ability to’ read emotions in one’s self and in others, and to be able to use this information to guide decision-making’ (Ashkanasy et al., 2002: 317). Indeed, their capacity to look forward to the future is highly pertinent issue as it is able to anticipate and exploit new avenues of opportunities. In the current environment of globalization and changing format of society, they help provide intangible stability among the diverse workforce through cross cultural understanding and facilitate their integration with the system. With strong ideals, indomitable will and highly creative disposition, leaders are hugely inspiring. They challenge the status quo and explore new dimensions to overcome tough situations. Hence, followers tend to imitate and imbibe qualities to move forward. An effective leader therefore empowers followers and motivates them to make decisions based on informed choices. The leaders are very competent individuals which is reflected in ‘leader’s track record and ability to get things done’ (Kouzes and Posner; 35). The leadership competency relies on experience that provides the leaders with necessary knowledge to act aptly under different situations. They understand the hidden dynamics of human relationship and exploit the same not only boosts self-confidence of the workforce but also significantly influences organizational outcome. Thus, a good leader expertly utilizes human potential to achieve great things. Leadership styles The various theories of leadership expound on various aspects like traits, situational-contingency, transactional leadership, transformational leadership etc. Shaw (2007) strongly believes that trait theory is limiting in its aspects because leaders are not necessarily born but often may acquire leadership qualities under different circumstances. The situational-contingency theory corroborates it with high degree of efficacy. It asserts that people emerge as leaders in different circumstances and adopt different styles like autocratic leader or participatory etc.to face the situation successfully (Bolden et al 2003). The following are some of the important leadership styles. Situational leadership adopts flexible approach to inspire and motivate the workforce to accept the change as challenges to improve performance. It is highly effective in the current environment of advancing technology and rapid globalization, when change has become an intrinsic part of business dynamics. Transformational leadership enables the followers to make decisions based on informed choices and thereby start exhibiting traits of leaders themselves. Burn (1978) leaders build relationships that stimulate and help convert the followers into effective leaders. This style of leadership tends to change the leaders into moral agents. Great political leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., Gandhi, Mandela etc. have brought about massive social change by inspiring masses to fight against social injustices. Participative leadership is the most favored styles of contemporary leaders, especially organizational leadership. It promotes shared vision, collective decision making and trust building processes as major drivers of change to improve and improvise productivity. It uses effective communication to share organizational vision, mission and goals with the workforce. The transactional leadership, on the other hand uses incentives and reward to promote higher productivity. Charismatic leadership stresses ‘articulation of ideological goals with moral overtones… high expectation of followers and confidence that they will meet these expectations’ (Northouse, 2004:171). They are role models for their followers. Difference between leadership and management In the contemporary times, the differences between leadership and management have considerably blurred. Traditional role of managers were limited to the defined parameters of organization’s administration and management guidelines (Hughes et al., 2006). They have also short term vision defined by working principle and maintain the work flow by implementing controlling guidelines of work within the organization. Leadership, on the other hand, chiefly refers to people who have the capacity to bring about changes in other people. Leaders create long term visions and goals whereas the managers and administrators work towards achieving them. Moreover, managers are bound by the constraints of organization’s guidelines and use control to get the work done but leaders challenge the status quo and creatively involve and inspire workers for higher performance. Traditionally, managers were responsible only for achieving the targeted production. They used efficient administration through a well-defined rational analysis, planning and decision making which did not take into the consideration of the importance of human interaction in the organizational culture. Human competency was not recognized as relationship building process. But in the current times, the emerging new concept of managerial leadership acknowledges human capital as major resource and promotes relationship building to construct new paradigm of work ideology. Indeed, while the previous theories of management rigidly follow rules and regulations, modern managerial leadership believes in shared learning and collective decision making to achieve organizational goals and vision. Role of leadership in nursing paradigm In nursing, the leadership initiatives become vital ingredients to the welfare of the patients, carer and the medical fraternity (Sullivan & Decker, 2009). The nursing leadership encourages creativity and innovative practices that give a unique perspective to participatory approach of management, patients and other stakeholders. The motivating factor of leadership facilitates adaptability to changing equations, which occur due to rapidly changing environment of emerging new patterns in various organizational processes and environmental paradigms. Within the healthcare industry, nurse managers play vital role in healthcare industry (Donaher et al., 2007). The managerial leadership of nurse managers needs to be visionary and makes effort to involve other healthcare workers in the decision making process, especially the patients. McGuire and Kennerly (2006) claim that nurse managers who are endowed with transformation leadership qualities have more committed followers than transactional leaders within the nursing profession. Nursing leadership is strongly supported by empowering organizational structure that thrives on participatory approach and shared learning (Pearson et al., 2007). A facilitating work environment greatly motivates students, resident nurses etc. for greater work outcome because they are confident that their creative approach and potential would be utilized by the nursing leadership. Nursing leadership has increasing emerged as vital part of core nursing practice as it tends to positively impact patient outcome, healthy work environment, job satisfaction and lower turnover rates for the organization (Shirey, 2009; Oliver, 2006; Gelinas and Bohen, 2000). In nursing, nurse-patient relationship is key aspect of effective healthcare outcome. The nurse leadership promotes high standard of legal, ethical and moral consideration within the framework of nursing paradigms. They influence the growth and development of pre-registered health workers and nurses. They help them to exploit their competencies and use environment factors to evolve into empathetic and empowered professionals. Professional development and leadership initiative Professional develop and leadership initiatives become important issues within nursing as they help to apply new knowledge into the clinical setting for higher patient satisfaction and outcome. It fills the gap between the education and leadership demand by using innovative training methods (Cummings et al., 2008). Most importantly, nurses are expected to take leadership initiatives in different clinical situation that demands not only greater understanding of medical knowledge but also the wider aspects of ethical practices. Thus, developing leadership traits becomes intrinsic part of professional development within nursing practice. It is essential that nursing professionals must constantly strive for leadership inputs for personal and professional growth. Creative disequilibrium and chaos Grossman & Valiga (2012) assert that the universe is in constant state of creative disequilibrium and chaos. The world is in a state of flux where new opportunities need to be identified and exploited to maintain competitive advantage. In the environment of high volatility and transforming values, nurse leadership becomes one of the most important parts of healthcare delivery. The visionary outlook of nurse leaders and looking at paradoxes with new perspectives helps to apply critical thinking on situations for successful outcome. The new leadership encourages creativity and innovative practices that give a unique perspective to participatory approach in clinical environment. Conclusion Leadership qualities and traits are not always inherent but they can be cultivated and polished to achieve exemplary leadership. Within healthcare environment, nursing leadership facilitates shared learning and acquisition of skills throughout the career cycle. It encourages effective communication as intrinsic part of caring that is designed to earn the trust of the patient as patient-nurse relationship is vital for positive outcome for patient as well as for the healthcare workers. Nursing leadership within clinical practice helps to assess not only nurses’ clinical abilities and improve their nursing competencies but also serve as drivers for their creativity and visionary input. Welfare of the patients is fundamental to the nursing profession and nurse leaders help to fulfil this core principle of nursing. (words: 1802) Reference Ashkanasy, N. Hartel, C. and Daus, C. ‘Diversity and emotion: The new frontiers in organizational behavior research.’ Journal of management 28.3 (2000): 307-338. Bolden R, et al. A Review of Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks. Centre for Leadership Studies, University of Exeter, 2003. Web. 20 July 2013. Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper Row, 1978. Cummings G, Lee H, Macgregor T et al. ‘Factors contributing to nursing leadership: a systematic review.’ J Health Serv Res Policy 13.4 (2008): 240–8. Donaher, K., Russell, G., Scoble, K., & Chen, J ‘The human capital competencies inventory for developing nurse managers’. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 38.6 (2007): 277. Gelinas L, Bohen C Tomorrow’s Work Force: A Strategic Approach. Chicago: Voluntary Hospitals of America, 2000. Grossman, Sheila C. and Valiga, Theresa M. The New Leadership Challenge: Creating the Future of Nursing. 4th ed. NY: FA Davis Co., 2012. Hughes RL, Ginnett RC, Curphy GJ Leadership: Enhancing the Lessons of Experience. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw Hill, 2006. Kouzes, James M and Posner, Barry Z. The Leadership Challenge. 4th ed. NY: Jossey Bass publishers, 2007. McGuire, E., & Kennerly, S. ‘Nurse managers as transformational and transactional leaders’. Nursing Economics, 24.4 (2006): 179. McShane. Leadership and Management. NY: Study guide, 2003. Northouse, P.G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 3rd ed. London: Sage Publications Ltd., 2004. Oliver S. ‘Leadership in health care.’ Musculoskeletal Care 4.1 (2006): 38–47. Shaw S. Nursing Leadership. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2007. Pearson A, Laschinger H, Porritt K et al ‘Comprehensive systematic review of evidence on developing and sustaining nursing leadership that fosters a healthy work environment in healthcare.’ International Journal of Evidence-based Healthcare 5.2 (2007): 208-253. Shirey, M R. ‘Authentic leadership, organizational culture and healthy work environments.’ Crit Care Nurs Q 32.3 (2009): 189–98. Sullivan, E.J., & Decker, P.J. Effective Leadership and Management in Nursing. 7th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2009. Read More