TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY NURSING by Nurse (Prof) AJIBADE, Bayo Lawal
A Paper Presented by Professor Ajibade B. L. at the Inaugration of New Director of Nursing Services, State of Osun, organised by Osun State NANNM.
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY NURSING
On Thursday, August 31st, 2017
ABSTRACT:-
Leadership is an art and discipline of guiding directing, motivating, and inspiring a group or organization toward the achievement of common goals. Nursing leadership matters in today’s healthcare environment which is experiencing unprecedented intense reform. More succinctly, transformational leadership allows for the development of followers and subordinates. This write-up adapted transformational leadership theory as the framework. The paper discussed leadership types, implication of transformational leadership to nursing practice and it was concluded that in today’s healthcare environment, there is a need to develop transformational leadership behaviors across the various levels of nursing practice. Nurse leader should be able to implement positive, adaptive behaviours, meet customer needs on the spot, capture opportunities and move quickly in adapting to organizational change.
INTRODUCTION:
The leadership task is to ensure direction, alignment and commitment within teams and organizations. Direction ensures agreement and pride among people in relation to what the organization is trying to achieve, consistent with vision, values and strategy. Alignment refers to effective coordination and integration of the work, commitment is manifested by everyone in the organization taking responsibility and making it a personal priority to ensure the success of the organization as a whole, rather than focusing only on their individual or immediate team success in isolation2. Leadership is an art and discipline of guiding, directing, motivating and inspiring a group or organization toward the achievement of common goals3. Nursing leadership matters in today’s healthcare environment, which is experiencing unprecedented intense reform. It requires effective communication, self-awareness, and social awareness5. Unlike yesterday’s leadership requirement for stabilization and growth, today’s value, beliefs, and behaviours. Effective nursing leaders understand clinical practice and collaborate with leaders in other disciplines to improve patient quality of life, transform healthcare systems, and inspire the next generation of leaders6,7,8.
What is transformation leadership?
It is defied as a leadership approach that causes change in individuals and social systems. In its ideal form it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. Enacted in its authentic form, transformational leadership enhances the followers sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization, being a role model for followers that inspires them, challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weakness of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimize their performance9. The above presupposes that the style of the nurse leader can be important for employees’ acceptance of change and in motivating them to achieve a high quality of care. The American nurse’s credentialing centre identifies transformational leadership as one of the five magnet model components necessary for an organization to be recognized for nursing excellence. ANCC5 emphasizes the importance of using the leadership styles known as transformational leadership which I presume this meeting is trying to put into use. Transformational leaders have vision, influence, expert clinical knowledge relating to professional practice, and are challenging and development oriented.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:
The theoretical framework adapted for this write-up is ‘Transforming leadership” by James MacGregor Burns 197810. Burns first introduced the concept of transforming leadership in his descriptive research on political leaders, but the term is now used in organizational psychology as well. According to burns transforming leadership is a process in which leader and followers help each other to advance to higher level of morale and motivation. Burns related to the difficulty in differentiation between management and leadership, and claimed that the differences are in characteristics and behaviours. He established two concepts: transforming leadership and transactional leadership. According to burns, the transforming approach creates significant change in the life of people and organization. It redesigns perceptions and values, and changes expectations and aspirations of employees. Unlike in the transactional approach, it is not based on a give and take relationship, but on the leaders’ personality, tracts and ability to make change through example, articulation of an energizing vision and challenging goals. Transforming leaders are idealized in the sense that they are a moral exemplar of working towards the benefit of the team, organization and/or community. Burns theorized that transforming and transactional leadership were mutually exclusive styles.
Transactional leaders usually do not strive for cultural change in the organization but they work in the existing culture while transformational leaders can try to change organizational culture. Transforming leadership became transformational leadership theory in 1985 after the research of Bernard M. Bass that extended the work of burns. Bass added to the initial concepts of burns to help explain how transformational leadership could be measured, as well as how it impacts followers’ motivation and performance. The extent to which a leader is transformational, is measured first in terms of his/her influence on the followers. The followers of such a leader develop trust, admiration, loyalty and respect towards such a leader and because of the qualities of the transformational leaders are willing to work harder than originally expected. These outcomes occur because the transformational leader offers followers something more than just working for self gain, they provide followers with and inspiring mission and vision and give them an identity. The leader transforms and motivates followers through his/her idealized influence, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. The key concepts in the theory are (1) individual consideration, (2) Intellectual stimulation, (3) Inspirational motivation and (4) idealized influence.
Individualized consideration: The degree to which the leader attends to each followers needs, acts as a mentor or coach to the follower and listens to the followers concerns and needs. The leaders gives empathy and support, keeps communications open and places challenges before the followers. This also encompasses the need for respect and celebrates the individual contribution that each follower can make to the team. The followers have a will and aspirations for self development and have intrinsic motivation for their tasks.
Intellectual stimulation: The degree, to which the leader challenges assumptions, takes risks and solicits followers’ ideas. Leaders with this style stimulate and encourage creativity in their followers. They nature and develop people who think independently. For such a leader, learning is a value and un-expected situation are seen as opportunities to learn. The followers ask questions, think deeply about things and figure out better ways to execute their tasks.
Inspirational motivation: The degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appealing and inspiring the followers. Leaders with inspirational motivation challenge followers with high standard communicate optimism about future goals, and provide meaning for the task at hand. Followers need to have a strong sense of purpose if they are to be motivated to act. Purpose and meaning provide the energy that drives a group forward. The visionary aspects of leadership are supported by communication skills that make the vision understandable, precise powerful and engaging. The followers are willing to invest more effort in their tasks; they are encouraged and optimistic about the future and believe in their abilities.
Idealized influence: Provides a role model for high ethical behavior, instills pride, gains respect and trust
Application of Transformational Leadership Theory:
The theory seems to be complex, but has shown that transformational leaders are more effective in enhancing the morale and performance of employees and driving change within an organization. The leader will always be ready to explain “how” and “why” of hospital procedures in addition to helping followers understand the facility’s vision. Any leader using the transformational leadership styles according to the theory will trust the subordinates and followers and will be trusted in return. He/she is honest an act responsibly. He/she will be an effective communicator and motivator who focuses on team building and collaboration among employees, and encourages innovation and creative thinking. They have the believe that they may not be the most knowledgeable person but they posses the ability on how to get others to think well about themselves.
What are the qualities of transformational leaders: the transformation leader adheres strictly to the under listed qualities
Listening
Acceptance
Awareness
Persuation
Building relationship
Foresight
Commitment to the growth of others
Building community within the organization
Motivating followers
Researches Supporting Transformational Leadership Styles:
According to ANCC5 the transformational leadership style has been identified through research as supportive of shared decision making and participative management, inspiring commitment to achieve vision, and creating an autonomous climate.
Bass13 opined that transformational leadership style creates a special leader-follower relationship as leaders shared their strong personal value system with others. Behavior associated with transformational leadership include clear vision, commitment to excellence, ability to motivate and lead other to higher achievement and creation of healthy work environments – all essential to achieving quality nursing care. An institute of medicine14 report focused attention upon the relevance of transformational leadership as a necessary element in nurse-led efforts to address a healthy work environment. This is done by achieving goals collectively between nurse leaders and staff, which leads to achieving effective organizational change and positive outcomes.
It has been discovered through literature and researches that transformational leadership style is the bane of nursing practice.
What are Factor that Can Serve as Impediment in Adopting transformational Leadership Styles?:
John C. Maxwell16 identified the following as factors that can hampered the adoption of transformational leadership styles –
Personality And Effectiveness Of Transformational Leaders:
The first major stream of research reflects a long standing fascination with the personality treats of those who become leaders. From this boarder leadership research evidence we can identify core personality traits associated with leadership effectiveness, including (Yuki, 2013).
High Energy Level and stress Tolerance: They have high levels of stamina and can work effectively over long periods. They are also less affected by conflicts, crisis events and pressure, maintaining equilibrium more than others. They are able to think relatively calmly in crisis situations and communicate that calmness and confidence to others.
Self-confidence: They believe they can be effective in difficult situations and give those they lead to sense of confidence and efficacy. They tend to be optimistic and confident in the face of difficulties. They are more likely to deal with difficult situations rather than deny or avoid them. However, excessive self-confidence or self-esteem can make leaders prone to making risky or wrong decision
Internal Locus of Control: The believe what happens around them is more under their control than the control of external forces and are motivated to take action to influence and control events. This is associated with a tendency to be practice rather than passive. They also believe they can influence, persuade and motivate others and win their allegiance to courses of action.
Emotional Maturity: The have emotional maturity and intelligence in the sense that they are less prone to moodiness, irritability and angry outbursts. They are positive and optimistic, communicating their positivity to others. They are aware of their own strengths, weaknesses and typical reactions to situations.
Personal Integrity: Consistency between espoused values and behaviour is characteristic of those with high levels of personal integrity, along with honesty, transparency and trustworthiness. Such leaders also keep promises to staff and other stakeholder groups and tend not to use their leadership primarily out of self-interest
Socialized Power Motivation: They seek power, but primarily in order to achieve organizational objectives and to support the growth, development and advancement of those they lead.
Achievement Orientation: High achievement orientation is associated with leadership effectiveness but this is not a linear relationship. Managers with very high achievement orientation can become insensitive to the effects of their desires on those around them who feel driven by their leaders ambition
Low Needs for Affiliation: This refers to the need to be like and accepted by others, which effective leaders do not have. Those who did would be likely to put their need to be like ahead of making good decision in difficult situations or ahead of having to manage poor performance among their followers. Neither do they have extremely low affiliation needs, which would mean they were uncaring of others and their opinions.
Leadership competences with reference to transformational leadership
Another body of research (Boyatzis, 1982) has focused on the competencies related to managerial effectiveness, including motives, skills, knowledge, self-image and some specific behaviours. They research suggests the following competences are important for leaders:
Technical competence wins the respect of followers. It includes knowledge about the organization, its strategy, structure and processes; knowledge about healthcare services, treatments and technologies; and knowledge about the organizations environment.
Conceptual skills means having an understanding of the complex environments of organizations (both internal and external) to be able make sense of situations rather than deem them too complex to be comprehended or managed. They ability to analyze, plan and make decision is central to organizational functioning, so leaders who have conceptual skills will increase the confidence of followers within the organization
Interpersonal skills are vital: Understanding the needs and feelings of followe4rs, monitoring the effects of own behaviours and being aware of emotional reactions to other are essential
These conclusions should be considered alongside caveats: only a few studies have rigorously tested the assumption that personality traits and competencies have a causal impact on leader effectiveness or emergence as a leader. For at least some personality traits and competencies, it is not clear which comes first, being in a leadership position or possessing the trait or competency in question. Implicit theories of leadership held by followers can facilitate leadership emergence (e.g leaders should be extravert) rather than leader traits predicting emergence. The trait approach provides little guidance concerning what advice or training to give current of aspiring soon to be leaders.
Other theoretical streams not covered here include literature on authentic leadership, servant leadership and emerging literature around shared, distributive and collective leadership.
LEADERS BEHAVIOURS
What Does the Literature Indicate Leaders are Required to do While Employing Transformational Leadership Style? From extensive and repeated reviews of the research, Yuki (2013) argues for an integrative hierarchical framework of leader behaviours subsuming four broad categories:
Task Oriented: clarifying, planning, monitoring operations, problems solving
Relations Oriented: supporting, developing, recognizing, empowering
Change Oriented: advocating change, envisioning change, encouraging innovation, facilitating collective learning
External Networking: external monitoring, representing
He has also distilled a statement of what constitutes the essence of effective leadership:
Helping to Interpret the Meaning of Events. Effective leaders help their followers make sense of change catastrophes, successes and the future. They provide a narrative which both makes sense to people and inspires them to give of their best and make a positive difference. Martin Luther King’s ‘dream’ speech is an example
Crating Direction and Alignment Around Strategies and Objectives. Effective leaders clarify direction, strategy and the priorities for peoples efforts. They help to create shared understanding and agreement about direction. They define the key priorities (few in number) and make clear what the team is not going to do rather than overwhelming people with inspirational priorities. They help to define clear, challenging, measureable objectives for all.
Nurture Commitment and Optimism. They encourage belief in the team of organization about likely efficacy and a sense of the value of the work. They encourage positive attitudes and experiences rather than cynicism or defeatism and they do so with humour, belief and a sense of purpose which inspires others to be committed.
Encourage Trust and Cooperation. They emphasize the importance of people supporting each other, backing each other up and valuing each others contributions to build trust and cohesion. They work to continually develop mutual respect trust and cooperation among followers. They help to resolve conflicts quickly and fairly. They continuously build a strong sense of community and supportiveness that ensures people act cooperatively and supportively with colleagues
Create a Sense of Collective Identity. They encourage a strong and positive vision of the value of the team’s organization’s work and a sense of pride in the efficacy of the group. They encourage a sense of identity for the group or organization, such that people derive value from being part of the collective. They enable the group/organization to see how their work makes a positive difference and they nurture a sense of the groups character, uniqueness and identity through rituals, celebrations, humour and narrative
Organize and Coordinate Work Efforts. They ensure people are clear about their roles and contributions and help them work together in a coordinated way towards success. They are practical and timely in dealing with systems difficulties and coordination problems so that the group/organization can be successful
Enable Collective Learning. They ensure followers engage in collective learning about errors, successes and means of ensuring continually improving quality. They ensure the group regularly takes time to review objectives, strategies and processes so they collectively learn and improve
Ensure Necessary Resources are Available. They ensure the group of organization has the resources 9money, staff, IT support, time) necessary for them to get the job done and work actively and tirelessly to be certain these resources are in place. This may involve political acumen and risks in dealing with the wider organization, customers and other stakeholders but they are consistent in working tirelessly to get the necessary resources for the group/organization to be effective
Develop and Empower People. They focus on ensuring the continued growth and development of their followers; they provide high levels of autonomy and development opportunities to empower those they work with and ensure they continue to develop efficacy and confidence. They encourage follower to believe in their ability to respond successfully to greater challenges and responsibility while providing the necessary supports and resources to achieve this.
Promote Social Justice and Morality. They emphasize fairness and honesty in their dealings with all, challenging unethical practices or social injustices on behalf of all, not just their followers. They set an outstanding example of ethical/moral behavior, especially when it requires them to sacrifice their personal interests
Other Types of Leadership Styles in Nursing
Transactional Leaders: Are more effective in crisis situations or for projects that need to be carried out in a specific way
Seek to motivate employees through reward and punishment
Are more concerned with increasing the efficiency of established routines and procedures and following rules within an organization rather than making changes
It is mostly use with huge success when leading lower-skilled workers
It does not allow for the development of subordinates and followers
Authoritative Leadership: Authoritative leaders mobilize people toward a vision and according to Goleman, are considered the most effective e leadership in enforcing compliance. This leader paints a vivid picture of concreter outcomes
Democratic Leadership: democratic leaders seek input from employees and as a result build consensus through participation. Also known as participative leaders, this style encourages participation from everyone, but the leader has the final say in the end decision. This leadership style is best used when a leader is unsure about next step and need ideas from others
Affiliative Leadership: Affiliative leaders seek to form emotional bonds with followers by offering positive feedback and creating a sense of belonging this style is effective when trying to build team harmony, increase morale or repair broken trust. According to Goleman, this style works best in conjunction with the authoritative style
Coaching Leadership: Coaching leaders focus on developing people for the future. They help employees identify their strengths and weaknesses, set development goals and help plan how to achieve them. This leader is concerned with employees personal and career aspirations and achieving personal growth
What Leadership Style Works Best for Nurses?
Evidence based research suggests transformational leadership in health care enhance nurse satisfaction promotes a positive work environment and reduce staff turnover. Many authorities in leadership styles in heath institutions have identified transformational leadership as a crucial element to implementing a change initiative or toward achieving work environments that optimize patient safety. This was collaborated by Joyce Clifford, a nurse executive and Beth Israel Deaconess medical Centre a transformational leader, when she advocated a partnership of equals between doctors and nurses in the treatment of patients, and her ideas were adopted in some of the nations largest hospitals because they reduce medical errors, improved survival rates and prevented staff turnover16.
Implications for Nurse Leaders
According to Yuki transformational leaders should be able to
Develop a challenging and attractive vision, together with the employees
Tie vision to a strategy for its achievement
Develop the vision, specify and translate to actions
Express confidence, decisiveness and optimism about the vision and its implementation
Realize the vision through small planned steps and mall success in the path for its full implementation
Do away with egocentrism in achieving the set plans
See the subordinates and followers as being importation in decision making
Helping to interpret meaning of events by inspiring the followers to give of their best
Nurture commitment and optimism by encouraging belief in the team of organization about likely efficacy and a sense of the value of the work
Create a sense of collective identity
Develop and empower subordinate and followers
Promote social justice and morality must emphasis fairness and honesty in their dealing with all
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the evidence clearly suggest the value of transformational and authentic leadership as a predictor of quality outcome in health care settings. Research evidence as enunciated in the write-up showed that transformational leaders empower their followers and subordinate to bring about quality improvement, influence job satisfaction. Therefore I am advocating for the adoption of a transformational leadership style in our nursing care
Thanks for listening and God bless
REFERENCES
Roesener, J. *(1990). Ways Women Lead. Harvard Business Review. November – December
Kotlyar, I. & Karakowsky, L. (2006). Leading Conflict? Linkages Between Leader Behaviors and group conflict Small Group Research, Vol. 37, No. 4, 377-408
Kotlyar, I., & Karakowsky, L. (2007). Fallign Over Ourselves to Follow the Leader. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, Vol. 14, No. 1, 38-49
Nissinen, Vesa (2006). Deep Leadership. Talentum, Finland
Albritton, R.L. (1998). A New Paradigm of Leader Effectiveness for Academic Libraries: An Empirical Study of the Bass (1985) Model of transformational Leadership in T.F Mech & G.B McCabe (Eds), Leadership and Academic Librarians (pp.66-82). Westport, CT: Greenwood, 1998
Bass, B.M (1998). Transformational Leadership: Industrial, Military, and Educational Impact. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
Bnass, B.M & Avolio, B.J (Eds). (1994). Improving Organizational Effectiveness Through Transformational Leadership. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage publications
Burns, J.M (19978) Leadership. New York. Harper & row
Pielstick, C.D (1998). The Transforming Leader: a Meta-ethnographic Analysis. Community College Review, 26(3), 15-34
Alimo-Metcalfe, B. & Alban-Metcalfe, J. (2001). “The Development of a New Transformational Leadership Questionnaire’. The Journal of Occupational & Organizational Psychology, 74, 1-27
Kouzes, J., Posner, B. (1999). “Encouraging the Heart.” San Francisco, CA: Jossey Bass Inc., Publisher
Muhammad Faisal Aziz (2009) Casual Management Concept, Articlebase.com
Edmund Elizabeth (2013). Leadership of Nurse Management in a Designated Magnet Hospital
https://em.mwikipedia.org/wki/trasformational leadership assessed 22/08/2017
http://onlinenursing.wikes.edu/critical-need-for-nursing-leadeship assessed 23/08/2017
https”//www:nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/leadership/what assessed 23/08/2017
TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP IN CONTEMPORARY NURSING
On Thursday, August 31st, 2017
ABSTRACT:-
Leadership is an art and discipline of guiding directing, motivating, and inspiring a group or organization toward the achievement of common goals. Nursing leadership matters in today’s healthcare environment which is experiencing unprecedented intense reform. More succinctly, transformational leadership allows for the development of followers and subordinates. This write-up adapted transformational leadership theory as the framework. The paper discussed leadership types, implication of transformational leadership to nursing practice and it was concluded that in today’s healthcare environment, there is a need to develop transformational leadership behaviors across the various levels of nursing practice. Nurse leader should be able to implement positive, adaptive behaviours, meet customer needs on the spot, capture opportunities and move quickly in adapting to organizational change.
INTRODUCTION:
The leadership task is to ensure direction, alignment and commitment within teams and organizations. Direction ensures agreement and pride among people in relation to what the organization is trying to achieve, consistent with vision, values and strategy. Alignment refers to effective coordination and integration of the work, commitment is manifested by everyone in the organization taking responsibility and making it a personal priority to ensure the success of the organization as a whole, rather than focusing only on their individual or immediate team success in isolation2. Leadership is an art and discipline of guiding, directing, motivating and inspiring a group or organization toward the achievement of common goals3. Nursing leadership matters in today’s healthcare environment, which is experiencing unprecedented intense reform. It requires effective communication, self-awareness, and social awareness5. Unlike yesterday’s leadership requirement for stabilization and growth, today’s value, beliefs, and behaviours. Effective nursing leaders understand clinical practice and collaborate with leaders in other disciplines to improve patient quality of life, transform healthcare systems, and inspire the next generation of leaders6,7,8.
What is transformation leadership?
It is defied as a leadership approach that causes change in individuals and social systems. In its ideal form it creates valuable and positive change in the followers with the end goal of developing followers into leaders. Enacted in its authentic form, transformational leadership enhances the followers sense of identity and self to the mission and the collective identity of the organization, being a role model for followers that inspires them, challenging followers to take greater ownership for their work, and understanding the strengths and weakness of followers, so the leader can align followers with tasks that optimize their performance9. The above presupposes that the style of the nurse leader can be important for employees’ acceptance of change and in motivating them to achieve a high quality of care. The American nurse’s credentialing centre identifies transformational leadership as one of the five magnet model components necessary for an organization to be recognized for nursing excellence. ANCC5 emphasizes the importance of using the leadership styles known as transformational leadership which I presume this meeting is trying to put into use. Transformational leaders have vision, influence, expert clinical knowledge relating to professional practice, and are challenging and development oriented.
THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK:
The theoretical framework adapted for this write-up is ‘Transforming leadership” by James MacGregor Burns 197810. Burns first introduced the concept of transforming leadership in his descriptive research on political leaders, but the term is now used in organizational psychology as well. According to burns transforming leadership is a process in which leader and followers help each other to advance to higher level of morale and motivation. Burns related to the difficulty in differentiation between management and leadership, and claimed that the differences are in characteristics and behaviours. He established two concepts: transforming leadership and transactional leadership. According to burns, the transforming approach creates significant change in the life of people and organization. It redesigns perceptions and values, and changes expectations and aspirations of employees. Unlike in the transactional approach, it is not based on a give and take relationship, but on the leaders’ personality, tracts and ability to make change through example, articulation of an energizing vision and challenging goals. Transforming leaders are idealized in the sense that they are a moral exemplar of working towards the benefit of the team, organization and/or community. Burns theorized that transforming and transactional leadership were mutually exclusive styles.
Transactional leaders usually do not strive for cultural change in the organization but they work in the existing culture while transformational leaders can try to change organizational culture. Transforming leadership became transformational leadership theory in 1985 after the research of Bernard M. Bass that extended the work of burns. Bass added to the initial concepts of burns to help explain how transformational leadership could be measured, as well as how it impacts followers’ motivation and performance. The extent to which a leader is transformational, is measured first in terms of his/her influence on the followers. The followers of such a leader develop trust, admiration, loyalty and respect towards such a leader and because of the qualities of the transformational leaders are willing to work harder than originally expected. These outcomes occur because the transformational leader offers followers something more than just working for self gain, they provide followers with and inspiring mission and vision and give them an identity. The leader transforms and motivates followers through his/her idealized influence, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration. The key concepts in the theory are (1) individual consideration, (2) Intellectual stimulation, (3) Inspirational motivation and (4) idealized influence.
Individualized consideration: The degree to which the leader attends to each followers needs, acts as a mentor or coach to the follower and listens to the followers concerns and needs. The leaders gives empathy and support, keeps communications open and places challenges before the followers. This also encompasses the need for respect and celebrates the individual contribution that each follower can make to the team. The followers have a will and aspirations for self development and have intrinsic motivation for their tasks.
Intellectual stimulation: The degree, to which the leader challenges assumptions, takes risks and solicits followers’ ideas. Leaders with this style stimulate and encourage creativity in their followers. They nature and develop people who think independently. For such a leader, learning is a value and un-expected situation are seen as opportunities to learn. The followers ask questions, think deeply about things and figure out better ways to execute their tasks.
Inspirational motivation: The degree to which the leader articulates a vision that is appealing and inspiring the followers. Leaders with inspirational motivation challenge followers with high standard communicate optimism about future goals, and provide meaning for the task at hand. Followers need to have a strong sense of purpose if they are to be motivated to act. Purpose and meaning provide the energy that drives a group forward. The visionary aspects of leadership are supported by communication skills that make the vision understandable, precise powerful and engaging. The followers are willing to invest more effort in their tasks; they are encouraged and optimistic about the future and believe in their abilities.
Idealized influence: Provides a role model for high ethical behavior, instills pride, gains respect and trust
Application of Transformational Leadership Theory:
The theory seems to be complex, but has shown that transformational leaders are more effective in enhancing the morale and performance of employees and driving change within an organization. The leader will always be ready to explain “how” and “why” of hospital procedures in addition to helping followers understand the facility’s vision. Any leader using the transformational leadership styles according to the theory will trust the subordinates and followers and will be trusted in return. He/she is honest an act responsibly. He/she will be an effective communicator and motivator who focuses on team building and collaboration among employees, and encourages innovation and creative thinking. They have the believe that they may not be the most knowledgeable person but they posses the ability on how to get others to think well about themselves.
What are the qualities of transformational leaders: the transformation leader adheres strictly to the under listed qualities
Listening
Acceptance
Awareness
Persuation
Building relationship
Foresight
Commitment to the growth of others
Building community within the organization
Motivating followers
Researches Supporting Transformational Leadership Styles:
According to ANCC5 the transformational leadership style has been identified through research as supportive of shared decision making and participative management, inspiring commitment to achieve vision, and creating an autonomous climate.
Bass13 opined that transformational leadership style creates a special leader-follower relationship as leaders shared their strong personal value system with others. Behavior associated with transformational leadership include clear vision, commitment to excellence, ability to motivate and lead other to higher achievement and creation of healthy work environments – all essential to achieving quality nursing care. An institute of medicine14 report focused attention upon the relevance of transformational leadership as a necessary element in nurse-led efforts to address a healthy work environment. This is done by achieving goals collectively between nurse leaders and staff, which leads to achieving effective organizational change and positive outcomes.
It has been discovered through literature and researches that transformational leadership style is the bane of nursing practice.
What are Factor that Can Serve as Impediment in Adopting transformational Leadership Styles?:
John C. Maxwell16 identified the following as factors that can hampered the adoption of transformational leadership styles –
Personality And Effectiveness Of Transformational Leaders:
The first major stream of research reflects a long standing fascination with the personality treats of those who become leaders. From this boarder leadership research evidence we can identify core personality traits associated with leadership effectiveness, including (Yuki, 2013).
High Energy Level and stress Tolerance: They have high levels of stamina and can work effectively over long periods. They are also less affected by conflicts, crisis events and pressure, maintaining equilibrium more than others. They are able to think relatively calmly in crisis situations and communicate that calmness and confidence to others.
Self-confidence: They believe they can be effective in difficult situations and give those they lead to sense of confidence and efficacy. They tend to be optimistic and confident in the face of difficulties. They are more likely to deal with difficult situations rather than deny or avoid them. However, excessive self-confidence or self-esteem can make leaders prone to making risky or wrong decision
Internal Locus of Control: The believe what happens around them is more under their control than the control of external forces and are motivated to take action to influence and control events. This is associated with a tendency to be practice rather than passive. They also believe they can influence, persuade and motivate others and win their allegiance to courses of action.
Emotional Maturity: The have emotional maturity and intelligence in the sense that they are less prone to moodiness, irritability and angry outbursts. They are positive and optimistic, communicating their positivity to others. They are aware of their own strengths, weaknesses and typical reactions to situations.
Personal Integrity: Consistency between espoused values and behaviour is characteristic of those with high levels of personal integrity, along with honesty, transparency and trustworthiness. Such leaders also keep promises to staff and other stakeholder groups and tend not to use their leadership primarily out of self-interest
Socialized Power Motivation: They seek power, but primarily in order to achieve organizational objectives and to support the growth, development and advancement of those they lead.
Achievement Orientation: High achievement orientation is associated with leadership effectiveness but this is not a linear relationship. Managers with very high achievement orientation can become insensitive to the effects of their desires on those around them who feel driven by their leaders ambition
Low Needs for Affiliation: This refers to the need to be like and accepted by others, which effective leaders do not have. Those who did would be likely to put their need to be like ahead of making good decision in difficult situations or ahead of having to manage poor performance among their followers. Neither do they have extremely low affiliation needs, which would mean they were uncaring of others and their opinions.
Leadership competences with reference to transformational leadership
Another body of research (Boyatzis, 1982) has focused on the competencies related to managerial effectiveness, including motives, skills, knowledge, self-image and some specific behaviours. They research suggests the following competences are important for leaders:
Technical competence wins the respect of followers. It includes knowledge about the organization, its strategy, structure and processes; knowledge about healthcare services, treatments and technologies; and knowledge about the organizations environment.
Conceptual skills means having an understanding of the complex environments of organizations (both internal and external) to be able make sense of situations rather than deem them too complex to be comprehended or managed. They ability to analyze, plan and make decision is central to organizational functioning, so leaders who have conceptual skills will increase the confidence of followers within the organization
Interpersonal skills are vital: Understanding the needs and feelings of followe4rs, monitoring the effects of own behaviours and being aware of emotional reactions to other are essential
These conclusions should be considered alongside caveats: only a few studies have rigorously tested the assumption that personality traits and competencies have a causal impact on leader effectiveness or emergence as a leader. For at least some personality traits and competencies, it is not clear which comes first, being in a leadership position or possessing the trait or competency in question. Implicit theories of leadership held by followers can facilitate leadership emergence (e.g leaders should be extravert) rather than leader traits predicting emergence. The trait approach provides little guidance concerning what advice or training to give current of aspiring soon to be leaders.
Other theoretical streams not covered here include literature on authentic leadership, servant leadership and emerging literature around shared, distributive and collective leadership.
LEADERS BEHAVIOURS
What Does the Literature Indicate Leaders are Required to do While Employing Transformational Leadership Style? From extensive and repeated reviews of the research, Yuki (2013) argues for an integrative hierarchical framework of leader behaviours subsuming four broad categories:
Task Oriented: clarifying, planning, monitoring operations, problems solving
Relations Oriented: supporting, developing, recognizing, empowering
Change Oriented: advocating change, envisioning change, encouraging innovation, facilitating collective learning
External Networking: external monitoring, representing
He has also distilled a statement of what constitutes the essence of effective leadership:
Helping to Interpret the Meaning of Events. Effective leaders help their followers make sense of change catastrophes, successes and the future. They provide a narrative which both makes sense to people and inspires them to give of their best and make a positive difference. Martin Luther King’s ‘dream’ speech is an example
Crating Direction and Alignment Around Strategies and Objectives. Effective leaders clarify direction, strategy and the priorities for peoples efforts. They help to create shared understanding and agreement about direction. They define the key priorities (few in number) and make clear what the team is not going to do rather than overwhelming people with inspirational priorities. They help to define clear, challenging, measureable objectives for all.
Nurture Commitment and Optimism. They encourage belief in the team of organization about likely efficacy and a sense of the value of the work. They encourage positive attitudes and experiences rather than cynicism or defeatism and they do so with humour, belief and a sense of purpose which inspires others to be committed.
Encourage Trust and Cooperation. They emphasize the importance of people supporting each other, backing each other up and valuing each others contributions to build trust and cohesion. They work to continually develop mutual respect trust and cooperation among followers. They help to resolve conflicts quickly and fairly. They continuously build a strong sense of community and supportiveness that ensures people act cooperatively and supportively with colleagues
Create a Sense of Collective Identity. They encourage a strong and positive vision of the value of the team’s organization’s work and a sense of pride in the efficacy of the group. They encourage a sense of identity for the group or organization, such that people derive value from being part of the collective. They enable the group/organization to see how their work makes a positive difference and they nurture a sense of the groups character, uniqueness and identity through rituals, celebrations, humour and narrative
Organize and Coordinate Work Efforts. They ensure people are clear about their roles and contributions and help them work together in a coordinated way towards success. They are practical and timely in dealing with systems difficulties and coordination problems so that the group/organization can be successful
Enable Collective Learning. They ensure followers engage in collective learning about errors, successes and means of ensuring continually improving quality. They ensure the group regularly takes time to review objectives, strategies and processes so they collectively learn and improve
Ensure Necessary Resources are Available. They ensure the group of organization has the resources 9money, staff, IT support, time) necessary for them to get the job done and work actively and tirelessly to be certain these resources are in place. This may involve political acumen and risks in dealing with the wider organization, customers and other stakeholders but they are consistent in working tirelessly to get the necessary resources for the group/organization to be effective
Develop and Empower People. They focus on ensuring the continued growth and development of their followers; they provide high levels of autonomy and development opportunities to empower those they work with and ensure they continue to develop efficacy and confidence. They encourage follower to believe in their ability to respond successfully to greater challenges and responsibility while providing the necessary supports and resources to achieve this.
Promote Social Justice and Morality. They emphasize fairness and honesty in their dealings with all, challenging unethical practices or social injustices on behalf of all, not just their followers. They set an outstanding example of ethical/moral behavior, especially when it requires them to sacrifice their personal interests
Other Types of Leadership Styles in Nursing
Transactional Leaders: Are more effective in crisis situations or for projects that need to be carried out in a specific way
Seek to motivate employees through reward and punishment
Are more concerned with increasing the efficiency of established routines and procedures and following rules within an organization rather than making changes
It is mostly use with huge success when leading lower-skilled workers
It does not allow for the development of subordinates and followers
Authoritative Leadership: Authoritative leaders mobilize people toward a vision and according to Goleman, are considered the most effective e leadership in enforcing compliance. This leader paints a vivid picture of concreter outcomes
Democratic Leadership: democratic leaders seek input from employees and as a result build consensus through participation. Also known as participative leaders, this style encourages participation from everyone, but the leader has the final say in the end decision. This leadership style is best used when a leader is unsure about next step and need ideas from others
Affiliative Leadership: Affiliative leaders seek to form emotional bonds with followers by offering positive feedback and creating a sense of belonging this style is effective when trying to build team harmony, increase morale or repair broken trust. According to Goleman, this style works best in conjunction with the authoritative style
Coaching Leadership: Coaching leaders focus on developing people for the future. They help employees identify their strengths and weaknesses, set development goals and help plan how to achieve them. This leader is concerned with employees personal and career aspirations and achieving personal growth
What Leadership Style Works Best for Nurses?
Evidence based research suggests transformational leadership in health care enhance nurse satisfaction promotes a positive work environment and reduce staff turnover. Many authorities in leadership styles in heath institutions have identified transformational leadership as a crucial element to implementing a change initiative or toward achieving work environments that optimize patient safety. This was collaborated by Joyce Clifford, a nurse executive and Beth Israel Deaconess medical Centre a transformational leader, when she advocated a partnership of equals between doctors and nurses in the treatment of patients, and her ideas were adopted in some of the nations largest hospitals because they reduce medical errors, improved survival rates and prevented staff turnover16.
Implications for Nurse Leaders
According to Yuki transformational leaders should be able to
Develop a challenging and attractive vision, together with the employees
Tie vision to a strategy for its achievement
Develop the vision, specify and translate to actions
Express confidence, decisiveness and optimism about the vision and its implementation
Realize the vision through small planned steps and mall success in the path for its full implementation
Do away with egocentrism in achieving the set plans
See the subordinates and followers as being importation in decision making
Helping to interpret meaning of events by inspiring the followers to give of their best
Nurture commitment and optimism by encouraging belief in the team of organization about likely efficacy and a sense of the value of the work
Create a sense of collective identity
Develop and empower subordinate and followers
Promote social justice and morality must emphasis fairness and honesty in their dealing with all
CONCLUSION
In conclusion, the evidence clearly suggest the value of transformational and authentic leadership as a predictor of quality outcome in health care settings. Research evidence as enunciated in the write-up showed that transformational leaders empower their followers and subordinate to bring about quality improvement, influence job satisfaction. Therefore I am advocating for the adoption of a transformational leadership style in our nursing care
Thanks for listening and God bless
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https://em.mwikipedia.org/wki/trasformational leadership assessed 22/08/2017
http://onlinenursing.wikes.edu/critical-need-for-nursing-leadeship assessed 23/08/2017
https”//www:nursingtimes.net/clinical-archive/leadership/what assessed 23/08/2017
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