Leadership
Understanding the basic principles of leadership is paramount to the delivery of a successful project. I found that one of the difficulties of looking at leadership for healthcare professionals is that most of the theories were developed in a business context and were then applied to healthcare organisations. Because of the focus on organisational leadership, it is sufficient here to distinguish two important aspects of leadership. The first is that of providing direction, organisational vision and making related decisions about resource allocation and distribution. The second aspect of leadership is the issue of control and exerting influence. Both aspects of leadership involve power and the ability to obtain, retain and move resources. Power can be used to enforce decisions and ends that may be desired or undesired by particular groups or individuals. Power can also be shared with the group so that the members can have equal participation in decision-making. Variations in power distribution in decision-making are foundational in the development of numerous concepts in leadership (Bass & Aviolio, 1994; Goldring & Pasternak 1994 and Halllinger & Heck 1996). However one of the most influential writers on leading is change is Kotter (1998, 1996). It is claimed that his book Leading Change is one of the top ten leadership publications of all times (Washington Post 2009). Kotter claims that large numbers of people are needed to make change happen rather than any one person, and their needs to be a culture of leadership within the organisation. For the nursing strategy work plan, I focused on three leadership theories, Kotter's methodology – an eight step formula and adapted this process for the development of the nursing strategy and work plan (Appendix *****). The plan demonstrates how the leadership methodology behind the nursing strategy work plan created using simultaneously Kotter's eight stage and eight fundamental error theories. The process of the eight stages is associated with one of the eight fundamental errors that undermine transformation efforts:
Error 1: Allowing too much compliancy
Error 2: Failing to create a sufficiently powerful guiding coalition
Error 3: Underestimating the power of vision
Error 4: Under communicating the vision
Error 5: Permitting obstacles to block the new vision
Error 6: Failing to create short-term wins
Error 7: Declaring victory to soon
Error 8: Neglecting to anchor change firmly in the culture
I should also acknowledge The Hersey-Blanchard Model of Leadership (A review of Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks – Centre for Leadership Studies June 2003) Situational Leadership and Arthur F Carmarzzi's (Environmental Leadership: The New Leadership Style of the not so distant future 200*) Model of Environmental Leadership. Both theories I critically analysed for my People's Challenge. The Hersey-Blanchard Leadership model takes a situational perspective of leadership. This model demonstrates that the developmental levels of a leader's subordinates play the greatest role in determining which leadership styles (leader behaviours) are most appropriate. Their theory is based on the amount of direction (task behaviour) and relationship behaviour a leader must provide given the situation and the level of maturity of the followers.
Task behaviour is the extent to which the leader engages in spelling out the duties and responsibilities to an individual group. This behaviour includes telling people what to do, how to, when to, where to and who's to do it. In task behaviour the leader engages in one-way communication.
Relationship behaviour is the extent to which the leader engages in two-way or multi way communications. This includes listening, facilitating and supportive behaviours. In relationship behaviour the leader engages in two-way communication by providing social emotional support.
Maturity is the willingness and ability of a person to take responsibility for directing his or her own behaviour, People tend to have varying degrees of maturity, depending on specific task, function, or objective that a leader is attempting to accomplish through efforts.
In summary, therefore leader behaviours fall into two categories:
Carmarzzi's Environmental Leadership model also fits well in the development of nursing strategy work plan. He describes leadership from a group dynamics perspective, incorporating group psychology and self-awareness to nurture environments that promote self-sustaining group leadership based on personal emotional gratification from the activities of the group. As a leader I believe that this is also important to any work group or person that's tasked to lead a project, team or service. The role of an Environmental Leader is to in still passion and director to a group and the dynamics of that group. Carmarzzi is passionate about not changing the mindset of the group but cultivating an environment that inspires the individuals in the group and brings out the best in them. It is also important to note his observation, which I am in agreement with and that is leadership is not about carrying others to the end results, but setting the surroundings for developing qualities in the group so they may carry each other.
