This paper presents a personal leadership development plan grounded in transformational leadership theory, applied specifically to a healthcare-eldercare context. The paper outlines the core principles of transformational leadership—idealized influence, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration—and maps them to the author's self-assessed strengths, including emotional intelligence, empathy, vision, and self-confidence. It also candidly identifies weaknesses such as managing performance effectively and demonstrating consistent patience. The plan distinguishes between formal development activities (coursework, conferences, committee involvement) and informal ones (on-the-job coaching, workplace culture development), and concludes with a concrete set of action items designed to close the gap between the leader the author is today and the leader they aspire to become.
This personal leadership development plan is based on an intention to use transformational leadership theory to promote healthcare-eldercare advocacy in organizational behavior. As Shanks and Buchbinder (2012) show, "leadership development includes both formal and informal efforts" (p. 279). Completing courses online or at a university are formal ways to develop one's leadership skills, while informal efforts can include anything from mentoring others to coaching and guiding staff members in new tasks or cross-discipline work. No matter the method employed, a personal leadership development plan should utilize a strategy for maximizing leadership effectiveness by implementing appropriate theoretical support, recognizing one's leadership strengths, correcting one's leadership weaknesses, and identifying action items that will help close the gap between being the leader one is now and being the leader one seeks to become.
Transformational leadership is a style of leadership that can be applied in virtually any discipline or arena (Doody & Doody, 2012; Atkin-Plunk & Armstrong, 2013). Its strong appeal lies in the fact that those who practice it use vision, communication, and motivation techniques to encourage workers to identify with and strive towards achieving organizational goals. Transformational leaders present followers with a vision of where the organization is and where it should be, then motivate these followers to rally behind the movement toward that goal. Transformational leadership theory can support positive change and development in a range of settings and certainly applies in a personal leadership plan in healthcare-eldercare.
Warrick (2011) states that "transformational leaders are leaders who are skilled at leading, championing change, and transforming organizations" (p. 14). Their ability to transform workers from moderately productive to highly productive employees is rooted in their vision and the way in which they communicate it. Other qualities of the transformational leadership style include idealized influence, inspiration, intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration (Doody & Doody, 2012). A leader applying transformational theory in healthcare should take care to provide followers with an ideal to work towards. The ideal influences their behavior and gives them a sense of something higher that they can rise up to meet — a way of teaching them about their higher selves, in a sense.
The leader then inspires workers to reach for this ideal by offering encouraging words and supportive communications, which serve as motivation to become the kind of worker represented in the ideal. However, healthcare providers must also be intellectually stimulated to want to achieve the ideal. Emotional encouragement and support are not enough: the ideal itself should be intellectually rewarding. This means that the vision should offer workers advanced knowledge or skills that can be applied professionally and help them develop their careers. Finally, the leader should demonstrate care and consideration for each individual worker, personalizing efforts to drive a team, department, or organization by getting to know the challenges each person faces and finding ways to help that person overcome those obstacles. In this sense, transformational leadership theory truly helps a leader become an effective force for positive change.
Key leadership strengths include self-confidence, a positive attitude, emotional intelligence (EI), vision, the ability to motivate people, the ability to serve as a good role model, and a high degree of empathy towards others. Each of these qualities is vital to being a good transformational leader. Self-confidence enables approaching problem-solving with the assurance that a solution can be found and applied effectively — drawing on past experience and training to analyze situations, identify issues, and develop strategies for addressing them. A positive attitude helps generate a friendly and upbeat atmosphere in any setting.
Emotional intelligence allows for effective communication with peers and followers by enabling one to read body language and use both verbal and nonverbal cues to convey support, solidarity, trust, respect, and other positive feelings. Rather than ignoring the feelings and expressions of workers, EI makes it possible to perceive what is being communicated and to respond in ways that leave everyone feeling satisfied. The ability to envision the ideal and the path forward is imperative in transformational leadership, as is the ability to motivate others and to model the ideal in one's own behavior. Serving as a good role model means having embraced the very principles one strives to instill in others — for the good of the organization, the patients, the staff, and the community. A high degree of empathy in all exchanges with others is equally crucial, as it allows a leader to put themselves in another's shoes, better understand the conditions in which others are operating, and make adjustments to strategies that might otherwise fall short.
Leadership weaknesses include managing performance effectively, providing consistent support and stimulation, and showing patience at all times with employees. Part of the drive to succeed is expressed in enthusiasm for seeing others keep pace, and it is easy to forget that not everyone has the same drive or ability. At times, it is important to recognize and accept that some individuals need more time to process and develop, and that in these moments patience is critical — without it, team morale may suffer, especially if members perceive that the leader is becoming frustrated or exasperated by their lack of progress.
In order to address this issue, it is also important to recognize that managing performance effectively is a skill requiring further development. Staying on top of a team's progress and providing meaningful support when obstacles arise is essential. Offering support in creative and unexpected ways can be the difference between stimulating workers to succeed and leaving them behind in failure.
The plan for making the best use of strengths while developing weaker areas is to engage in both formal and informal leadership development activities, as recommended by Shanks and Buchbinder (2012). This personal leadership development plan takes advantage of the many options available to aspiring healthcare leaders — including higher education and continuing education courses, employee coaching and professional development activities on the job, and attendance at conferences and committee work where leadership development training can be acquired.
Formal elements of the plan include taking leadership development courses, attending leadership conferences, volunteering for committees, and studying scholarly literature on leadership in the healthcare community. By orienting formally toward the pursuit of leadership qualities, it becomes possible to build on existing strengths and address areas of deficiency through study, practice, and participation. Enrolling in university programs and earning additional certificates and higher degrees in healthcare education are two concrete steps planned for formal leadership training.
Informal development focuses on improving weaknesses in real-world settings — particularly monitoring performance, providing better support during challenging times, and practicing patience on the job. By cultivating transformational leadership characteristics in day-to-day work, it is possible to help relieve the stress associated with workplace change. As Atkin-Plunk and Armstrong (2013) note, transformational leaders demonstrate calmness and stability in the face of adversity because they keep the organizational vision before them and continually strive to embody the ideal worker they wish their team to become.
Improving workplace culture is another component of the informal plan. By championing change in the workplace environment, it becomes possible to improve worker morale and foster stable, positive attitudes before difficulties arise. Establishing a strong workplace culture is a first step toward strengthening the ability to support others and inspire them to want to succeed. It will also support better performance monitoring, since a culture of open communication increases awareness of where the team stands, what issues may cause problems, and how to prepare for them in advance. Organizations that invest in positive workplace culture consistently see improvements in both morale and performance.
"Areas needing improvement: patience, support, performance management"
"Formal courses, conferences, and on-the-job informal development"
"Gap analysis between current and aspired leadership identity"
"Numbered action steps and summary of development goals"
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