Leadership Theories in Practice

Discussion 1: Leadership Theories in Practice A walk through the Business section of any bookstore or a quick Internet search on the topic will reveal a seemingly endless supply of writings on leadership. Formal research literature is also teeming with volumes on the subject. However, your own observation and experiences may suggest these theories are not always so easily found in practice. Not that the potential isn’t there; current evidence suggests that leadership factors such as emotional intelligence and transformational leadership behaviors, for example, can be highly effective for leading nurses and organizations. Yet, how well are these theories put to practice? In this Discussion, you will examine formal leadership theories. You will compare these theories to behaviors you have observed firsthand and discuss their effectiveness in impacting your organization. To Prepare: Review the Resources and examine the leadership theories and behaviors introduced. Identify two to three scholarly resources, in addition to this Module’s readings, that evaluate the impact of leadership behaviors in creating healthy work environments. Reflect on the leadership behaviors presented in the three resources that you selected for review.Leadership Theories in Practice

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Leadership Theories in Practice

Formal leadership theories include theories such as transformational, transactional, great man theory, situational, behavioral, and trait theory. The transformational leadership theory entails a leadership style where the leader inspires and motivates the team members to achieve the set team goals (Smith & Gullett, 2019). For instance, in my organization, the chief nurse consistently meets the nurses in different departments for talks and assessment on progress in their work. These talks are motivational in nature, and I noticed that all teams working under the chief nurse have low levels of conflict and heightened levels of inter-professional collaboration. Therefore, this leadership theory is highly effective within the organization because of enhanced nurse productivity, and it creates a positive working environment for the nurses.

The transactional leadership theory is result-focused and operates on a system of rewards and punishments for the team members (Dugan, 2017). This theory is hierarchical and the leaders tend to prioritize order over creativity. My organization has adopted this leadership theory because there is a hierarchy among the nurses and management. While the hierarchy is important for order, it presents bureaucracy, which has a negative effect on some nurses considering they are fearful of approaching the management whenever they develop any concerns. Such a leadership theory tends to have a negative impact on an organization because of the fear that workers develop in the presence of bureaucracy and punishments.Leadership Theories in Practice

The great man theory refers to a leadership approach that assumes that leaders are born, and not developed, and that leadership is inherent in an individual. The leader is believed to be intelligent, courageous, confident, and intuitive (Hafsteinsdóttir et al., 2019). This leadership approach is not present in my organization. However, it tends to be retrogressive for the organizations that adopt it considering the leader may severely lack in leadership qualities and professional knowledge required to guide other teams. It tends to be successional in nature, and could be detrimental to an organization when the leader lacks important leadership qualities within the nursing realm.

The situational leadership theory posits that the best leader is one who can adopt their leadership style based on a situation. Most times, the response to the situation is coaching, participating, delegating, and commanding (Dahlkemper & Anderson, 2018). In my organization, this leadership theory is applicable in various situations. For instance, the lead nurse in the oncology department once joined the rest of the nurses in an operation because of the increased workload that would overwhelm nurses. She participated in the team tasks, despite being a leader. This leadership theory is effective in organizations when the nurse leader participates, delegates, coaches, and persuades. Commands could be detrimental because of the negative feelings it arouses in the team members.

Lastly, the behavioral theory tends to focus on how an individual’s environment hones their leadership skills, but not their natural abilities. This theory applies the concept of conditioning, where it posits that a person acts a specific way when exposed to a specific environment (Dahlkemper & Anderson, 2018). In my organization, there a few situations where some nurses have acted as leaders when the lead nurse is absent. The exposure to the nursing profession and environments such as emergency rooms exposes nurses to leadership and how to run departments if need arises. For instance, in one incident at my workplace, the nurse leader was unavailable to command the rest of the team members in delegating duties. One of the nurses, having worked in the department volunteered to use the knowledge she gained from the workplace to perform the nurse leader’s role, and delegation of duties was successful with no glitches. While this leadership theory is effective in some situations, organizations should focus on appointing qualified leaders with experience because some situations may require an experienced leader who has handled certain issues before.Leadership Theories in Practice

References

Dahlkemper, T., & Anderson, M. (2018). Anderson’s nursing leadership, management, and professional practice for the LPN/LVN in nursing school and beyond. F.A. Davis.

Dugan, J., 2017. Leadership Theory. John Wiley & Sons,.

Hafsteinsdóttir, T., Jónsdóttir, H., Kirkevold, M., Leino-Kilpi, H., Lomborg, K., & Rahm Hallberg, I. (2019). Leadership in Nursing. Springer.

Smith, M., & Gullett, D. (2019). Nursing theories and nursing practice. F.A. Davis. Leadership Theories in Practice