Situational Leadership and Chaos Theory

Leadership

The classical and contemporary leadership styles over the years run the gamut from transformational, transactional, global and virtual/social media-driven in nature. However, the author of this response has notice that no single tool or type is going to work in all situations and thus a leader who is able to shift gears and change types based on the particular situation at hand is the leader that will be able to adapt and adjust based on the situation currently happening (Schreuder, Groothoff, Jongsma, Zweeden, Klink & Roelen, 2013). One theory that not many people explore with seriousness, that being chaos theory, is absolutely taken seriously by the author of this response given the author's prior work in an emergency room setting (Chinnis & White, 1999).

Theories of leadership are truly honed and perfected quickly when it comes to experiences in nursing and leadership. Indeed, they are both situations where getting things right is very important and getting it done the first time is even better. While the author of this response has always deemed leadership to be important, it is doubly so when lives are on the line and when the people that save those lives in hospitals are the ones being educated. Themes and trends like evidence-based practice take on new importance because there is much less room for guesswork and abstract theories when getting things nailed down and standardized is of the utmost importance. As noted above, there is much to be a said for someone who can base their leadership approach on the situation rather than using a generic leadership style in all situations even if there is scholarly approach underpinning it. Sometimes, being inspirational and motivating is the way to be. Other times, being more transactional and robotic is a must. Such leadership has come to be known as situational leadership (Schreuder, Groothoff, Jongsma, Zweeden, Klink & Roelen, 2013).