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Introduction
In this essay, leadership will be defined and analysed. A detailed leader profile from my workplace will be developed and described using transformational theory, as this is the most adequate theory to describe the performance, effectiveness and styles used by the leader to achieve the objectives and goals in my workplace. Moreover, the nature of the leaderās role and achievement utilising the theory will be analysed. In addition, transformational theory will be defined and analysed based on different explanations.
Leadership
Leadership is one of the most essential criteria of the nurse manager. It is the process of interaction between the leader and the other staff, influencing them toward workplace goals achievement (Yukl, 1998). Leadership is the ability to provide direction toward preferred future aspirations and aligns the followers toward goals achievement (Kelly-Heidenthal, 2004). Moreover, leadership is viewed as a dynamic interactive process that involves various dimensions, including planning, organising, directing and controlling. The activities of an organised group can be influenced by a process in which the efforts to achieve the goals and tasks are managed by leadership (Roussel, Russell & Swansburg, 2006). Leadership is also defined as inducing individuals or a group to take an action in accordance with the purpose of the leader. Moreover, Roussel, Russell and Swansburg (2006) correctly pointed out that leadership can be explained as a group of individuals who have been inspired by a person to work together toward achieving common goals and missions using appropriate means. A crowd can be transformed into a functioning and useful organisation, and this is a vital component of leadership. Leadership can be formal or informal. As Sullivan and Decker (2004) explain, it can be formal when a nurse manager demonstrates power and authority within a framework of legal approval by the organisation. Leadership can be informal when utilised by a staff member who does not have effective leadership skills, ideas and roles to promote the performance of the work outcomes.
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Leaderās Profile
Mrs. Zahra is a nursing officer who has been working since 1996 in charge of a department in the Armed Forces Hospital, Sultanate of Oman. She is known to everybody in the department and all around the hospital as a friendly person who is intelligent, hard working, motivational, a good communicator and a person with a strong personality that inspires others to follow her. In addition, Mrs. Zahra has problem solving skills and extensive experience and knowledge in her speciality as well as in leadership and management. Further, she is a member of the Quality Assurance and Staff Development Committees. As she is in charge of the operating theatres department, she manages the planning and coordination of the operating rooms scheduling system. Moreover, she adjusts the staffing assignments of nursing and ancillary personnel to provide adequate room coverage. Motivation, direction, controlling and evaluation of the staff performance are some of the leaderās responsibilities.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational theory is the most appropriate theory to describe my leaderās role, nature and achievements. Transformational leadership focuses on how the followers can be motivated, guided and directed to achieve the goals of the work by the leaders (Sullivan & Decker, 2005). Sullivan and Decker (2005) emphasise that generating employeesā commitment to the vision is the goal of transformational leadership. According to Kelly-Heidenthal (2004), ātransformational leadership is based on the idea of empowering others to engage in pursuing a collective purpose by working together to achieve a vision of a preferred futureā. The work of Roussel, Russell and Swansburg (2006) reveals that there are four components of effective and dynamic transformational leadership: management of trust, attention, self and meaning. In management of trust and reliability, decisions based on fairness, honesty and equity that have been made by the transformational leaders will be respected, followed and executed by the nurses. A transformational leaderās judgment is usually consistent and sound. Having vision, goals or a sense of outcomes will lead to achieving the management of attention. Any health care organisation will be defined by how it serves the community and where it is headed in order to achieve its vision statement. Vision means the credible, attractive and realistic future stated for the organisation. Knowing the skills of the staff and how to utilise them effectively is defining the meaning of self. Leaders develop their leadership skills through continuing their education in
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responsible to work harder and more effectively. This causes all staff to be more motivated and work hard to accomplish the goals and tasks of the organisation. The leader holds general meetings with all staff frequently sharing with them decision-making, work strategies and any other new ideas from the staff. Consequently, all staff are inspired to be a part of the team, working hard and effectively for the vision of the organisation.
The leader inspires the staff by being a model of a hard working, responsible and motivational person. In doing so, she motivates and stimulates staff performance and commitment to achieve the goals of the organisation. As Mrs. Zahra is a trustworthy and reliable leader. All staff follow her decisions with a sense that she is doing the best for the achievement of the organisationās tasks. She directs, guides and controls all operating theatres scheduling systems. She delegates and allocates staff to fulfil various functions as a motivation process, which increases the trusting relationship between her and the staff. This leads to increased staff commitment, goalsā achievement and job satisfaction. The leader develops staff knowledge and experience in collaboration with the staff development department by involving them in ongoing job training programs in the Armed Forces Hospital or by sending them for short courses in Oman or nearby countries. Thus, staff will be more knowledgeable, educated, and more capable to carry out the work and tasks effectively and on time. As an example of the leaderās motivation of the staff, she has assigned a monthly reward for one of the staff members who works hard and effectively with high performance. This creates competition amongst the staff to work harder with a high level of performance and commitment to achieve the goals of the organisation. Moreover, this process demonstrates the meaning of inspiration skills and how to motivate the staff positively within the organisation. After all, the organisationās performance and productivity in general will be increased and delivered with high quality standards.
Conclusion
Leadership is one of the most important skills in nurse managers. It is a process of interaction between the leader and the staff, influencing them positively toward achieving the goals and tasks of the organisation. Transformational leadership is very effective and is commonly used in hospitals. It is based on ideas of empowering, inspiring and motivating the staff toward working together to achieve the organisationās goals and vision. A transformational leader who acts as a role model can influence the staff and make them accountable for their own practice, work
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achievement and staff development (McNaron, 2009, pp. 589-560). Moreover, high levels of competency can be gained by using transformational leadership skills and the quality of patient care outcomes will be improved as a result.
Staff development, commitment and job satisfaction can be improved by using transformational leadership skills. These are motivation, inspiration, empowerment, building a trusting relationship between the leader and the staff, sharing power and decision-making, and rewarding staff for quality and excellence of job achievement.
My leaderās profile has been discussed in detail. As well as her nature, goals and achievements, using transformational leadership theory has been recognised with many similarities between them. She applied transformational leadership skills very effectively and utilised them toward the improvement of staff and the organisationās productivity in general. I enjoyed working in the operating theatres department with Mrs. Zahraās leadership and I hope that I will continue working with her for many years to come. I wish the best for my leader and for her to continue in her current leadership style.
