Health Care Leadership

anonymous · Nov 11, 2018 at 11:18 PM

November 12, 2018

HEALTH CARE LEADERSHIP

By Linda L. Davis

Top of Form

Being a leader involves much responsibility. One must search deep inside and do a self-analysis to check whether they have the qualifications to hold that position. Throughout this paper, leadership will be defined, a personal experience, an experience that helps form my idea of healthcare leadership, and the trait of an authentic leader. Also, the skills or habits of an authentic leader and how they may be beneficial will be discussed.

Leadership

A leader should be able to interact with people without prejudice, but maintaining a sense of authority. Respectful, open communication is vital to sustain a positive work environment where employees are not afraid of repercussions if they voice their opinion. Another quality of a good leader is having the ability to take criticism and not hold grudges or have animosity toward workers or their superior.

Health Care Leadership Formed Through and a Personal Experience

Around the age of twenty-three, I held the title of Direct Services Aide with the Department of Children and Family Services. My job entailed providing transportation to abused and neglected children who had been removed from their homes, and assigning the request to the aides. All requests for services came from the social workers. Although, most of them did their job correctly, there were some that waited until the last minute to submit a request, which sometimes required the aides to work past working hours. Naturally, the negative feedback fell on my ears.

It came to the point where the supervisor had to be informed of the situation. He was a handsome ex- Navy Seal with a full beard that never really talked unless it was needed, and was not afraid to use profanity when he was angry. Although the aides felt nothing positive would result in informing him, I approached him with all of the information. To my surprise, this intimidating man told me to write up a memo stating what requirements are needed for all case workers to follow if they want services from the aides, and he would sign it and forward it to all departments. He went on to say that he started out as an aide, and we would get the respect we desired.

As a leader, he put himself in the aides place, accessed the situation, and made what was wrong right, which resulted in the department running in a more productive way.

Authentic Leader Traits

Authentic leadership can be defined as lessons learned from bad leaders from the past. According to George (2018), the following are traits of an authentic leader:

• Built on personality not style

• Real and sincere

• Developing continuously

• Match their conduct to their environment

• Not perfect, nor attempt to be.

• Thoughtful to the needs of others

An Effective Exercise in Developing the Skills or Habits of an Authentic Leader

As a leader, there will be times when an employee or employees will question every request or decision that is given to them. For example, when faced with this situation, the leader would assure the employee that at a later date the issue can be discussed, but for now, their assistance is needed to accomplish the task. The balancing approach is a great exercise to alleviate conflict in the workplace. The approach shows vulnerability, careful listening, and connecting emotionally (Bua, 2015).

Explain How This Exercise is Beneficial to Becoming an Authentic Health Care Leader

A balanced leadership supports a business approach to the workers desires and capacities. It provides the proper results to the employees, which allows them to supply the correct services and products and services to the customer. The results of a balanced leader build trust across the entire organization and with the clients (Bua, 2015).

Conclusion

Many skills, habits, and theories have contributed to leadership approaches that can be useful in business and the medical care industry. The developmental route that a leader operates should be supported by self-assurance, group and structural mindfulness. According to Al-Swai (2013), the most important role of a leader is ensuring a ready supply of replacement leaders to maintain organizational progress in the ever-changing healthcare environment.

References

Al-Sawai, A. (2013). Leadership of healthcare professionals: where do we stand? Oman medical

journal, 28(4), 285-7. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3725246/

Bua, C. (2015). 3 Way to show balanced leadership. Retrieved from

https://www.fastcompany.com/3046174/3-ways-to-show-balanced-leadership

George, B. (2015). The true qualities of authentic leaders. Retrieved from

https://www.forbes.com/sites/hbsworkingknowledge/2015/11/10/the-true-qualities-of-

authentic-leaders/#4d561cbaf74d

K Turner · Jun 8, 2020 at 10:40 AM

Healthcare Leadership Article

From a personal view, leadership is the process used to motivate others to buy in and actively participate in reaching common goals, and success almost always relies on the strength and capabilities of the leader. My definition is of leadership is drawn from ongoing personal experiences and interaction with leaders in the health care industry. This article discusses one of my experiences, provides the traits of an authentic leader, and offers insight into an exercise that can help develop the skills and habits of authentic health care leaders, in addition to ways the exercise can be beneficial.

Personal Experience that Informed My Thoughts about Health Care Leadership.

My personal experience is drawn from consulting a pediatric dentist throughout the beginning months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Being the owner, she had to make the overall decision regarding how to proceed once the governor allowed health care organizations like hers to reopen. She consulted her associates and other staff, weighed the options and found that even after four weeks of closure, employees still had a considerable level of fear and only two weeks to come make potentially life-changing decisions regarding the return to work. In the end, she gave all staff members at all locations two extra weeks, a total of eight altogether, and reopened her practices on June 2.

Over the course of those weeks “off” she ordered more advanced personal protective equipment, cell phones that patients would be provided upon check-in so they could sit in their vehicles until called in to be seen, and incorporated other measures to go above and beyond what her staff needed to operate in a more comfortable environment. She and her staff considered the reopening day a success, as her offices were able to treat 40 or more patients each. Even though I was already abreast of her situation, I reached out to her for this assignment to gain more insight from the perspective of her process as a leader in health care.

I asked whether there was a time she was hesitant to take actions based on her staff’s concerns, more specifically if she had thought about sticking to reopening after the six-week period because there will not be a “normal” way to interact with patients for quite some time. She said the only things that concerned her at that time were the health and safety of her patients, staff, and the community; she had to listen to her people because they will be on the front lines. The extra two weeks was worth the risk because at the end of the day, she has to look at the big picture, which would not exist without them.

Traits of an Authentic Leader

An authentic leader is one that goes the extra mile when the team expects the norm, and also during uncertain times. This type of leader builds transparent relationships, takes risks, is flexible, and listens to team members (Hallock, 2019). Respect is a given, and the door is always open for questions and concerns from others. An authentic leader does not take credit for the efforts put forth by the entire team, whether they end in success or failure. Wins are accepted as a team just like losses. Credit is given where it is due, just as constructive criticism, and this does not solely apply in a top-down manner; an authentic leader can handle hearing about areas in need of improvement.

Effective Exercise in Developing Skills of Habits of an Authentic Leader

Participation in education and training programs on a consistent basis can be effective in developing authentic leadership qualities (Hallock, 2019). This exercise keeps leaders on a constant path of learning and growth, personally and professionally. This goes back to being open-minded and flexible; leaders with one style and who do not cultivate self-awareness, compromising, or other skills conducive to reaching organizational goals is an ineffective one.

How Education and Training are Beneficial to Becoming an Authentic Health Care Leader

According to Anthony (2020), one of the top five traits of successful leaders is lifelong learning. Continued education and training aid in the development of authentic health care leaders by keeping them current with changes in this ever-evolving industry and teaching new ways to incorporate their own attributes into stronger, more effective leadership styles that motivate others. Seeking out and participating in opportunities to learn how to become better leaders also aids in growth regarding the bigger picture for health care organizations, especially when innumerable small distractions are present.

Conclusion

Leadership motivates others to reach common goals whether times are good, bad, or uncertain. Authentic leaders build relationships that are transparent, welcome the advice and ideas of others, and are flexible. In health care, continuing education and training make for the best authentic leaders because these individuals are on a constant journey of personal and professional growth that benefits the entire organization.

References

Anthony, C. (2020). To be an effective leader, be a lifelong learner. Retrieved from To Be An Effective Leader, Be a Lifelong Learner

Hallock, A. B. (2019). A Case for Leadership Development in Nursing Practice. Nephrology Nursing Journal, 46(3), 325–328.

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