Part One
My Personal Model: Transformational Leadership

My own personal model of leadership is transformational leadership. This model focuses on giving following a vision of what they should work to become. The transformational leader identifies and explains the goal that the organization is trying to reach and how workers can help the organization to achieve that goal. It typically requires a change in the behavior and approaches of the workers, so logic and reason are used to show why this change is needed, which is a way of helping to break down resistance to the change (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). Communication is a key skill used in this model, and transformational leaders have to be able to relate well with followers, provide support along the way, and keep them focused on the vision and the mission. When it comes to organizational development, transformational leaders can be a very valuable asset (Warrick, 2011).

My personal leadership model reflects servant leadership characteristics in that I incorporate into it the aspects of servant leadership that all the leader to support the workers and assist them in fulfilling their potential. In my model, it is important to communicate with followers to see what their needs are. Once needs are identified, the leader should strive to see that the needs are met—which is basically what Maslow (1943) recommends with his theory of human motivation and the hierarchy of needs model. Servant leadership in my model is used to help the workers achieve a level of self-actualization so that they no longer require the leader’s support but are capable of being self-motivated and self-directed.

Servant Leadership

The servant leadership model is a little different in that, though it also focuses on being supportive of followers, the approach is less vision-oriented and more person-centered. The servant leader focuses not on the vision of the worker that will help the organization achieve its goals but rather on the strengths of the individual workers and how those strengths can be used to develop whatever weaknesses are holding the worker back. The servant leader is there to provide the follower with whatever he or she needs to get the job done and thinks not of himself but rather only of the followers. The point that De Vries (1998) makes is that servant leaders are effective because they get out of the way and let workers work to their full potential: they give them the space and resources they require to be as successful as they possibly can. Workers who are self-motivated and self-directing typically like servant leaders because they are empowering.

Autocratic Leadership

The servant leadership model is essentially the exact opposite of the autocratic leadership model. The latter posits that the leader should assume total control of the decision-making process and issue orders to followers with the expectation that those orders will be executed with alacrity (De Cremer, 2006). It differs...…on the go instead of waiting until I am back in my office. This will show workers that I am always being mindful of their needs and do so with the aim of helping the organization to meet its own goals of efficiency and quality service.

The plan will also require me to speak directly to at least 5 workers everyday and to make sure I find a relevant way to know what encouraging words they need to here. The plan here will be to address them in groups if possible, in the first half of a shift and then in the second. I will start by asking how everything is going and what the challenges of the day are. I will then give positive reinforcement, using positive psychology to make them feel inspired and empowered, believing they can overcome all obstacles and challenges to succeed (Reivich, Seligman & McBride, 2011).

This plan can be evaluated by surveying workers after one quarter (three months) to see whether they feel inspired or supported by leadership’s example of accountability and/or words of encouragement. The plan can also be evaluated by way of direct observation to see if workers are demonstrating similar examples of accountability and supportiveness to one another. It can be measured quantitatively or metrically longitudinally by looking to see if nursing errors are on the decline, as they should be if accountability and support are on the rise.