Authentic Leadership

Leadership to me is the ability to use emotional intelligence to effectively interact and interface with a variety of individuals for the purpose of accomplishing an established set of goals. According to Bello (2018), “Emotional Intelligence is the ability to understand your emotions and the emotions of others.” (p. 1). Therefore, if one is going to be a leader, it is important that the leader can identify with his emotions as well as the emotions of others and use that information to empower everyone to be successful. One of my personal experiences that informed my thoughts about health care leadership is an experience that I had with a physician in an emergency room setting. I went to the Emergency Room complaining of stomach pain and the physician wanted to admit me for surgery. However, I wasn’t comfortable with that and I had a conversation with the nurse who was my charge nurse. The nurse was very effective in sharing with me and the physician what we all were thinking. Consequently, the nurse used her leadership skills that allowed me to go home without having surgery and the physician was able to give me some treatment that was a temporary aid for me and made me comfortable.
One of the things that the experience with the nurse in the hospital made me think about was the traits of a leader. According to Stander (2015), “Authentic leadership has influence on optimism, trust in the organization and work engagement of employees in the public health care sector.” (p. 1). Although this nurse wasn’t the leader of that hospital, in my situation, she exhibited the qualities of an Authentic Leader by achieving the goal of influencing both the physician and me as well as having the trust of the physician and myself.
When thinking about an effective exercise in developing the skills of an authentic leader, I would employ one to be mindful of the next experience that they have when faced in a situation where they are having a difficult time with someone due to a situation that they and the other individual might be experiencing. I believe that using this experience will allow one to tap into emotional intelligence and using that emotional intelligence will allow them to be a successful leader identifying a solution for them and the other party. I think this exercise would be beneficial in becoming a health care leader because it will use the skill of emotional intelligence on a small level to validate how successful such a skill can be for a leader on a broader level.
Although becoming a leadership in the health care industry is something that this particular exercise focus on, I think leadership skills are transferrable regardless of the sector to which it is being applied. Therefore, I believe that anyone who is interested in being an effective leader can utilize the same exercises to become an effective leader regardless of the industry that they might be a member of. In addition, an authentic leader can lead in any environment if that individual has mastered the concept of emotional intelligence because emotional intelligence is the cornerstone of an authentic leader.

References
Written by Gurnek BainsWeek 5 What is your,leadership spike. (2008, Aug 23). Four sides to a leader individuals can show greatness by being either creative, cohesive, compassionate or courageous. South China Morning Post Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/docview/266615384?accountid=35812
Bello, S. (2018). Develop your emotional intelligence. Chemical Engineering Progress, 114(9), 46. Retrieved from https://search-proquest-com.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/docview/2113198512?accountid=35812
Stander, F. W., de Beer, L. T., & Stander, M. W. (2015). Authentic leadership as a source of optimism, trust in the organisation and work engagement in the public health care sector. South African Journal of Human Resource Management, 13(1), 1–12. https://doi-org.contentproxy.phoenix.edu/10.4102/sajhrm.v13i1.675