Supportive and Transformational Leadership Styles in a Healthcare Environment

Supportive organizations and exceptional individual contributions set the stage for effective teamwork.

Healthcare teams require a clear purpose that integrates specific analytical groups and multiple facets of patient care. “Healthcare teams which have a clear purpose that is consistent with the organizations’ mission, can be more clearly integrated, resourced and supported. Healthcare teams generate commitment through a shared goal of comprehensive patient care and a common belief that the team is the best way to deliver coordinated care” (Proctor-Childs, 1998, pp 616-635).Transformational leadership creates an empowering environment where quality in clinical care is significant. Communicating a vision and influencing others to strive towards this ideal is the premiere responsibility of an effective leader.

Literature Section “Committed individuals are more willing to invest personally in the team, contribute to the decision making and respect the balance of interdependence and collaboration” (Bassoff, 1983, pp 280-286). As the health care system is staffed by more and more professionals, the need for more supportive type leadership based on referent power will increase. In order to achieve the goals of the organization, leaders must begin to rely on their ability to communicate “themselves” to others, rather than on their coercive or legitimate power. Rapport (through empathy, respect, and warmth) is suggested as a means of influencing the attitudes of others and developing supportive leadership capabilities” (Warner, 1981, pp 415-420).When there is trust, open communication, respect, and a sense of camaraderie, the work is still challenging but gets done: priorities are met and people feel good about what they are doing (Disch, Beilman, Ingbar, 2001, pp 366-377). Whenever these prominent elements are absent, staff and patient satisfaction decreases and employee turnover and organizational costs increase (Disch, Beilman, Ingbar, 2001, pp 366-377).

More importantly, research findings suggest that improving collaboration and teamwork are more than “feel-good” exercises: patient outcomes of care can be jeopardized when nurses, physicians, and other members of a critical care team, are not communicating or collaborating” (Disch, Beilman, Ingbar, 2001, pp 366-377). “The nurse manager and medical director of a unit, as leaders of this team, are responsible for ensuring not only that quality care is delivered to patients, but also that the environment is supportive to caregivers” (Disch, Beilman, Ingbar, 2001, pp 366-377).Authors, Morrison and Jones, exploring the relation between leadership style and empowerment of job satisfaction found that transformational and transactional leadership behaviors were positively related to work team success and leadership effectiveness (Morrison, Jones, Fuller, 1997). According to Bass, “transformational leaders strive to elevate the needs of their followers which are congruent with their own goals and objectives through charisma, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration” (Bass, 1987, pp 73-87).Intellectual stimulation encourages employees to think and process ideas for themselves, to challenge valued assumptions about how they get their job done, and to consider new ways to complete ongoing tasks. It is well known that transformational leaders know how to motivate and energize staff to pursue mutually beneficial goals, share similar visions and work towards creating an empowering culture, where personal values and joint respect are fundamental principles.

Transformational leadership creates an empowering environment where quality in clinical care is outstanding. Transformational leadership has been associated with superior performance in both correlational (Howell & Avolio, 1993, pp 891-901; Howell & Hall-Merenda, 1999, pp 680-694) and quasi-experimental research” (Barling, Kelloway & Weber, 1996, pp 827-832). There exists a substantial volume of literature signifying the effects of transformational leadership on optimistic employee morale. “In general, transformational leadership is associated consistently with higher levels of satisfaction with leadership, trust in the leader, and perceptions of fairness” (Bass, 1998; Hater &Bass, 1988, pp 695-702; Pillai, Schriesheim, & Williams, 1999, pp 897-933).

According to Swami Kriyananda, supportive leadership is the only form of genuine leadership. He states that supportive leadership “never loses sight of the most important principle governing any project involving human beings, that people are more important than things” (Kriyananda, S). According to a state government cross-sectional survey, higher levels of supportive leadership predicted higher levels of well-being.A reasonable amount of research has supported pro well-being assertions with respect to the reduction of perceived strain experienced by employees. According to LaRocca and Jones, “found leader support to be associated with higher levels of self-reported employee satisfaction and lower levels of intentions to leave” (LaRocca, Jones, 1978, pp 629-634).

Research has also concluded that supportive leader behaviors to be inversely related to employee burnout (Golembiewski, Munzenrider, & Stevenson, 1986).As per a regression analysis performed by Aiken and West (1991), results revealed that higher supportive leadership significantly predicted greater job satisfaction, reduced intention to leave and elevated organizational commitment. Practical Implication Section Transformational leaders invite, listen and value the opinions of all staff, which reduces interpersonal conflict and non-cooperative relationships (Stoudeur, 2001). They work towards developing individuals’ strengths and promote their development needs.As transformational leaders also promote equity and fairness, they establish equal opportunities for development and growth (Porter-O’Grady, 1992).

According to Irurita, historically nurses and patients felt oppressed and disempowered and consequently, many nurses have deep-rooted negative self-perceptions (Irurita, 1994). Therefore, transformational leaders must be highly sensitive, patient and understanding, and likewise assist nurses with gaining an improved sense of self-esteem and heightened level of empowerment.As cited by Sofarelli and Brown, “who contends that trust is a reciprocal process, as both leader and follower must trust each other to facilitate empowerment” (Sofarelli, & Parker, 1998, pp 201-207). To build a trusting relationship, leaders must exhibit honesty, sincerity, commitment and integrity, in addition to developing an open trusting environment. “The transformational manager must encourage staff to become independent, responsible and autonomous in their decision making” (Kuokkanen & Leino-Kilpi, 2000, pp 235-251).

Contemporary literature suggests that empowerment incorporates delegating authority, sharing power, and returning control and power from administration to nurses (Rodwell, 1996). According to Porter-O’Grady, empowerment can only be effectively achieved through shared governance (Porter-O’Grady, 2001). Shared governance stresses that leaders should share authority and decision-making with staff. It requires recognizing and legitimizing the power inherent in the role of nursing staff and establishes an environment which encourages them to use this power (Porter-O’Grady, 2001).Strategies essential to clinical governance includes team building, risk management, patient satisfaction and professional and personal growth, (Moiden, 2002).

Empowered nurses are highly motivated, well informed and committed to the organizational goals, and consequently deliver patient care with greater proficiency (Kuokkanen & Leino-Kilpi, 2000). “They have legitimate power to plan, implement and evaluate patient care and are pivotal valued members of the multidisciplinary team” (Porter-O’Grady, 2001, pp 468-473). Nurses within my organization operate within a shared governance model.They are empowered with a broad scope of autonomy in making decisions that impact patient care. The nurses work in conjunction with their physicians while also acting as a patient advocate. Leaders have the power to influence staffs’ perceptions through shared leadership and mutual information, which are also elements of shared governance.

In addition, leaders must bestow autonomy, accountability and responsibility to teams in order to achieve empowerment, which fosters a cohesive, collaborative approach to patient care.Current literature also suggests that burnout and emotional fatigue are less common amongst nurses who are empowered (Clegg, 2001, Kettering-Murray, 2002). As a result, absenteeism may be minimized, and morale is improved. “A leader that successfully empowers staff develops a climate of mutual trust, increases job satisfaction and fosters commitment to the organizational goals which culminates in the delivery of high quality patient care” (Shelton & Parker, 1997, pp 8-9).Transformational leaders are committed to their vision and emanate determination, commitment and courageousness (Irurita, 1994). They accept and admit their own errors and perceive them as an opportunity to learn and broaden their personal and professional development (Dixon, 1999).

Transactional and transformational leadership span both organizational and cultural boundaries (Bass, 1997). According to Howell, transformational leadership performs particularly well in close supervisory relationships, compared with more remote relationships (Howell 1999).Inadequate transactional leaders may not be so keen to anticipate problems and intervene before issues rise, while more effective transactional leaders often take appropriate action in a timely manner (Jung, 2001). Premature research findings have discovered that there is extensive overlap between emotional intelligence and three of the components of transformational leadership (namely, idealized influence, inspirational motivation, and individualized consideration) but not with the fourth (i.

e. , intellectual stimulation) (Bartling, Kelloway, & Weber, 1996).The obvious distinguishing factor is that the previous three components of transformational leadership are significantly more emotive than cognitive, whereas intellectual stimulation is more cognitive than emotive (Bartling, Slater, and Kelloway, 2000). Discussion Section “As the baby boomer generation ages, the need for more health care workers will increase. Health care institutions will need more than creativity to fill these positions.

The current strategies often focus on recruitment of workers from other health care institutions.Incentives such as sign-on bonuses, tuition reimbursement packages, and flexible scheduling options are used to entice workers from their current jobs. These strategies may get workers in the door, although that will not necessarily keep them there. Retention is the key strategy that health care organizations need to address” (McGuire, Maureen MS; Houser, Janet Ph, 2003, pp 38-44).

Healthcare leadership entails not only empowering and motivating employees, but a primary, crucial focus is for leaders to establish an environment that support and encourage patients and their families (Kilpatrick, 2009).This aspect of healthcare leadership is taken very seriously at my place of employment. Much time and effort is devoted to ensuring that teams work together collaboratively, staff members are consistently challenged and rewarded and leadership is actively involved in every day operations. As a result, staff members feel supported, empowered and excited about their role and work environment. Perceived lack of respect and trust in the work place has damaging effects on both the organization and employees (Spense-Laschinger, Finegan, 2005).Employees who are apprehensive are less likely to contribute to organizational activities and goals to the same extent as those who encounter high levels of trust in their organization (Spense-Laschinger, Finegan, 2005).

Transformational leadership takes place when followers seek an increased awareness of the mission for which they are working towards, creating an environment where followers feel stimulated and interested in shared goals. In this situation, followers are rewarded internally with self-actualization and achievement rather than externally with scrutiny and safety (Bass, 1985, Burns, 1978).A multi-site study of long-term care facilities was performed to examine relationships amongst perceived support from directors of care, and nurse supervisors’ job stress and job satisfaction. The provision of care for frail older adults in these long-term care settings is challenging.

It requires specialized knowledge and skills, supportive commitment on the part of directors of care to their nurse supervisors and unregulated healthcare staff. In these complex work environments, communication and leadership are critical to staff job satisfaction.Therefore, it is essential that directors of care represent a source of support for their nurse supervisors. Forty-five per cent of the total variance in job satisfaction of nurse supervisors was explained by supervisory support, stress and job category.

Greater supervisory support was also associated with reduced job stress. These findings are essential in developing strategies to improve the nurse supervisory role in long-term care settings” (McGilton, McGillis, Boscart, Brown, 2007, pp 52-66).