Leadership Theories and Approaches Leadership

According to Kurt Lewin, all leaders fall into three basic categories: autocratic, participative, and democratic. I would describe my current supervisor as basically autocratic in her demeanor, although in a moderately benevolent way. I work as a respiratory therapist in a hospital. My supervisor must ensure that patients are seen in a timely fashion, and that all medical personnel comply with basic safety regulations. She oversees scheduling of the various personnel who work on the ward, and is in charge of dealing with any conflicts that might ensue between employees and also between employees and patients.

My supervisor tries to be fair, but her 'word is law.' This is partially because she is dealing with the potential for serious complaints, if hospital dictates are not followed. It is essential that patients are treated in a respectful manner. Also, there are certain protocols that must be followed to ensure that patients remain in good health. The need to check vital signs is not something that is open for debate or can be decided democratically. Additionally, because of the high levels of stress amongst workers that can occur, tension can sometimes be evident. There must be a fair and objective authority who can stand outside of workplace bickering.

One reason that my supervisor may have adopted an authoritarian style is the relative youth and inexperience...

She feels that to ensure that things 'get done,' she cannot get involved in too much debate and discussion. However, being insufficiently participative can also result in problems. For example, one common source of conflict in an understaffed hospital is scheduling. Certain schedules are, for understandable reasons, more desirable than others (such as day vs. night shifts, and having to work on weekends and holidays). There is always a question of how scheduling should be determined -- for example, should seniority be given priority over the fact that a worker has had to labor at more unpleasant shifts recently than other workers, or the fact that she has young children? Workers may also have good ideas about how to make the day more manageable, such as scheduling more frequent break periods for people on long shifts, or how to deal with younger and less assured employees. When a supervisor adopts a dictatorial style, the potential benefits of a more broad and encompassing approach to leadership are often ignored.
The organizational culture of the hospital tends to support a very authoritarian style of leadership. The hospital is large and sprawling, and must deal with many competing interests. Like many hospitals, it is facing demands that it cut costs yet provide more services to patients at the same time. There is a critical shortage of personnel, particularly nursing personnel. Given…