The Leadership Models and Their Effectiveness

¶ … Leadership Styles in the Health Sector

The aspect of leadership has been the subject of discussion over a long period of time and the approach has changed significantly over the decades. The consideration of leadership qualities has over the decades moved from concentration purely on the individual to inclusion of the people being led and how they respond and are impacted by the leadership to be a measure of the quality of the leadership. This article looks at the leadership styles that are displayed by three individuals within the healthcare sector and the qualities, skills, behaviors and attributes that make them outstanding leaders in their respective areas.

The three leaders who were interviewed had a lot of attributes in common and skills since they have been in the medical practice each for more than three years. They have two separate leadership style, the first two used democratic leadership and the third leader adopted more of the situational leadership style.

The two that used the democratic leadership style were observed to be having a large number of people under them and working in a city hospital where majority of the clients were also highly receptive to new ideas and open to the city life. The democratic leaders often allow room for open communication and inclusion of members in the decision making process. This kind of leaders allow for opinions from even sectors that they do not necessarily agree with and are open to discussion of these ideas with the relevant individuals (Gonos J. & Gallo P., 2013:Pp159). Here, the leaders behave in a manner that suggests they share the leadership with the people under them and not like bosses. Despite having significant amount of skills in the line of duty, they are ready to share and show each individual how the work is done and work collectively towards the organizational goals. This style often works positively since members embrace it to take greater responsibility to accomplish the assigned tasks. The employees will also show greater interest in the tasks they are given since they feel they are part of the organization and leadership. This response, the leaders indicated, further strengthened their commitment to the democratic leadership style.

The third leader was seen to adopt the situational leadership which is known to take care of variables as they present themselves in a task. These variables often include the position one is given, the kind of task that is at hand and the background of the people involved in the task (Lester C.N., 1975:Pp4-5). The main reason why the third interviewee seemed to adopt a totally different leadership method is because he was hardly stationed at one hospital for long and his work involved working in the field with communities that are afflicted by some infections or disasters. He is often charged with leading teams to not only rural America but also other continents like Asia and Africa. This, he indicated, predisposes him to different cultures, and different people he walks around with as well as holding varied positions in the missions he gets involved in. This hence calls for adoption of a leadership style that best fits the situation hence the situational leadership adopted. This leader appeared to posses varied skills relating to people skills and vast experience in cross-cultural communication. He paid attention to details that ordinarily would not catch attention or could be taken for granted. He also was sensitive in choice of words even during the interview due to the care not to hurt the feelings of others. His personal belief is that each individual is right in their own way and only need to be given room to prove their point (Elder A.E., 2000). He always pointed out on Mother Theresa for inspiration due to the ability she had to work with people of diverse cultures.