Transactional leaders usually leave the current organizational structure and goals intact, since the characteristic of these leaders is not effective in situations that require change. Suliman, (2009) also argue that some leaders are very passive and only get involved if the necessary actions are contrary to the overall goal or achievement of the organization.
Visionary leaders are usually characterized as individuals who do not compromise their personal integrity for the overall goal of any organization or process. These leaders do not portray ordinary character traits, since they are usually concerned with direction or organizing action based on new possibilities or a progressive agenda as argued by McIntosh and Tolson (2009). These are usually interested in the creation of processes or procedures that are considered pivotal and usually affect the lives of individuals. Examples that immediately come to mind are like Martin Luther King Jr. Or Mahatma Gandhi, when this type of leader is mentioned.
Also supported by the analysis of Nielsen, Yarker, Randall, and Munir (2009) the evidence seems to show that the leadership styles that are used in practical settings require a fundamental integration of understanding employees, communicating, motivating, and helping to define the success of the entity by acting a transformational leader. Nevertheless, the leadership styles discussed above all seems to have essential strengths and depend on the organization and/or situation that are being presented.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP at WORK -- ENGAGING the NURSING UNIT
Ralston (2005) argue that in using change management and recommendations and integrating the framework of a hospital nursing unit there has to be a focus on implementing policies and procedures that will increase efficiency at the hospital. This however, has to be accomplished via a leadership style that is focused on patient care, helps to achieve efficiency and develops teamwork. This type of multifaceted duty for a leader, the literature argues can only be supported via a transformational leadership model. In fact Cummings et al. (2010) present the following six principles are important to the overall strategic management implementation process and are integrated into change management and overhaul of a hospital nursing unit.
The strategic management program has to be compatible with the current organization outcomes and schedule.
Scheduling criteria has to be clearly defined so that the connection between achievements and rewards can be understood by the hospital nursing unit before activities commence.
The schedule has to be free of conflicts and should not interfere with productive activities of the hospital.
Programs should be scheduled for short life-cycles of six to 18 months with performance factors attached to understand its relative benefit to the organization
The schedule should not be used as a way to mask any inadequacies within the hospital that may require additional funding or program overview.
The scheduling process should be kept clean.
Similarly, transformational leadership and change management also require reviewing and monitoring the implemented process aimed at improving efficiency. Ralston (2005) states that, change management is the "planned systematic development and diagnosis of an organization so as to identify and execute a plan for improvement and how to provide adequate resources for an entity." Nevertheless, it is necessary to augment this process with a leadership style that will maximize the outcomes of workers. Lunn (2008) argue that transformational leaders usually seek to develop a vision for the organization. The important characteristic of this leader is that the necessary energy and commitment to the goals of the organization are translated to the followers in very passionate and energetic ways. Transformational leaders are usually charismatic, since it is necessary for them to have the trust of followers, and can usually provide the fostering and embracing of the common values embedded within the organizational outcomes, develops teamwork, acts as a problem solver, and aims to improve processes and procedures within the organization, states Lunn (2008).
However, it is noted that by McGuire and Kennerly (2006) that change management has allowed entities to continually be successful if it is effective at integrating leadership styles such as transformational leadership models within the strategy of the unit. This processes the helps the supervisors to be better at:
Identifying credible information services and products on affect the current insurance policies and procedures
Prioritizing and analyzing strategic, so that the current system can achieve its maximum efficiency
Using research methodology and other analytical tools to monitor the overall performance of the strategic management program chosen.
Review and seek measurable savings and reduction in total strategic management alternatives.
Evaluating the current hospital...
Figure 2 below identifies the strategic roles of the leadership.
Figure 2: Strategic Roles of the Leadership
It is common knowledge that motivating the workforce is a necessary prerequisite for effective leadership. Many companies have gained tremendous success, by enforcing being able to correctly identifying rewards to performance and hence motivating the workforce to support the organizational structure. Other organizations have failed to realize their strategic objectives because they have not realized how important the overall mechanism of the organization is. Leach (2004), shows that these roles of leadership can only be developed if they are practiced and used in situations that can benefit from the process -- that is effective leadership styles, especially transformational leaders are made from practice.
Transformational leadership and change management cab act as the champion of change at the hospital. Employees use the leadership as a model for the organization's direction and development. This is why a transformational leader within a nursing unit, has to be able to scan the external market environment and be able to predict and analyze the future changes within the industry. Employees have confidence in leaderships that act as "visionary, a problem solver, and a communicator, which are all processes that are learnt for leadership," states Sturm (2009). Sturm (2009) also posits to the fact that a transformational leadership has to set performance standards and promote these standards as part of the structure associated with the organizational structure. These standards are not arbitrary, but should be necessary prerequisites for the company to maintain a competitive edge in the nursing industry.
A hospital nursing unit with effective transformational leadership is a source of competitive advantage, if and only if, employees are motivated towards the outcomes, as argued by Stanley (2006). Atter (2008) also identified some major strategies that have proven to be common among numerous successful nursing units, which have used the change management timetable as a support mechanism for motivating employees to work towards corporate objectives. Transformational leadership and change management as integrative processes incorporates the following strategies:-
Strategy #1: Identify environmental factors that will utilize the skills and talent of the employees -- this will motivate the workers. It is clear that a motivated employee wants to contribute to work areas outside of their specific jobs and to help enhance the work environment by embracing the leadership.
Strategy #2: Correct rewards have to be based on performance designed to boost employee morale -- change management and leadership style has to support these programs thinking that paying the employee is enough is obviously an erroneous assumption. Research shows that workers are demoralized when they don't receive the recognition they want or feedback on how they are doing.
It is pointless to have a leader who has the ability and aptitude to predict market trends and make sound business decisions, but not be able to communicate these changes to the corporation; this Adams (2010) argues is what makes a transformational leader so effective within a nursing unit. The key to motivating employees towards a set of principles embraced by the organizational outcomes is via communicating the necessary information or changes to the corporation as needed, states Adam (2010).
As an essential strategist, the leadership sets the future direction of a company; the process for creating effective strategy inevitably involves a team-centered strategic planning approach. The success of the team depends solely on effective communication. Studies show that leaders who communicate with workers and get to know the work outcomes and integrate that process with the organizational outcomes have higher profit margins and smaller turnover ratios -- the outlined processes and procedures conducted by transformational leadership is to ensure that the hospital can be successful and the employees feel important to the overall strategic development of the hospital.
McIntosh and Tolson (2009) argue that without a capable management team who is informed of the organizational processes as well as embracing the organizational outcomes, then the operational processes of a company will be stagnant. In essence it is impossible for leader to not have traits similar to transformational leadership and function or be…
