APA Assignment: Reflective Essay on Leadership Style

APA Assignment: Reflective Essay on Leadership Style

Leadership is one of the key responsibilities that demand exceptional skills to effectively guide a team towards a common goal. It entails a leader demonstrating professionalism towards their followers to motivate them in fulfilling their roles. Every leader possesses both strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, a determined leader leverages their strengths while also capitalizing on the strengths of others to compensate for their weaknesses. This paper aims to assess and reflect on personal leadership styles’ strengths and their alignment with various leadership philosophies.

Rationale and Summary for Selecting Each Self-Assessment

Various reasons and objectives guided the selection of each self-assessment. Initially, the first self-assessment chosen aimed to determine a leader’s capacity to facilitate consensus among diverse opinions during discussions. This assessment is crucial as it helps assess decision-making capabilities in critical organizational dialogues (Kiwanuka et al., 2021). Comprehending this critical aspect can aid in becoming a successful leader with strong team leadership skills. Based on the assessment results, a score of 2 was achieved, indicating that the concept of reflective supervision might be familiar but requires further effort for improvement.

The second self-assessment revolved around assessing whether leaders actively engage in teamwork with their subordinates during significant decision-making processes. This assessment sought to determine whether a leader effectively utilizes their leadership skills while simultaneously nurturing leadership qualities in others. In this evaluation, a score of three was obtained, indicating that the leader is consistently willing to assist others. The third self-assessment sought to ascertain whether a leader is consistently inclined towards addressing the needs and concerns of others in a positive manner. This is crucial as it fosters a sense of value among subordinates, motivating them to work diligently towards achieving set targets (Kiwanuka et al., 2021). In this case, the results yielded a score of three, indicating that the leader is consistently inclined to address the needs and concerns of their followers.

Leadership Style

The philosophy of care plays a pivotal role in effective leadership. Transformational leadership aligns with this philosophy. Transformational leadership emphasizes openness in the workplace, allowing leaders to seek fresh ideas from their subordinates. This leadership style fosters innovative thinking within a team, exploring new growth opportunities and experiences that promote intellectual stimulation among team members (Wang et al., 2018). Transformational leadership encourages the sharing of ideas among team members regarding emerging elements and concepts that enhance results. It also underscores the importance of leaders being active listeners, enabling them to better understand their followers and make informed decisions.

Integration of Transformational Leadership Elements in a Healthcare Setting

In a healthcare setting, the application of transformational leadership can have a significant impact on both the leader and the healthcare organization, particularly when the 4 I’s aspect is embraced. For example, inspirational motivation is crucial for a nurse leader as it instills confidence in the team. This can be achieved by developing a clear vision, effectively communicating expectations to the team, and demonstrating unwavering commitment to set goals. Effective communication is essential for conveying crucial messages to the team with authority and precision. Another aspect of transformational leadership that can be applied in a healthcare setting is idealized influence, which requires leaders to set an example of leadership by demonstrating charisma while executing their duties. This is exemplified when leaders display a willingness to take risks and adhere to ethical principles and core values in all their actions.

The third important element of this leadership style is individual consideration, which plays a pivotal role in fostering strong relationships between team members and their leader. Achieving this involves carefully observing the needs of each team member. For instance, leaders can identify individual motivators and conduct one-on-one coaching sessions to inspire them to excel in their roles (Boamah et al., 2018). Finally, intellectual stimulation, which encourages innovative thinking, is the last element of transformational leadership applicable in a healthcare setting. It can be implemented by involving team members in critical decision-making and by encouraging them to remain innovative and creative.

Areas for Improvement

The assessment results highlight various areas for improvement, including the ability to make critical decisions during discussions and meetings with staff, as well as retaining some ideas from team members as a leader. These are key aspects that require enhancement for transformational leaders to effectively collaborate with their teams to achieve desired goals. Additionally, seeking a mentor’s guidance is a viable strategy for improvement. According to Liukka et al. (2018), transformational nursing leaders often seek mentors to enhance the quality of services they provide. Finding a mentor is crucial as it helps identify strengths and weaknesses.

Another strategy for improving leadership capabilities is regular self-reflection. Such reflection aids in understanding personal strengths and weaknesses, guiding efforts towards improvement (Boamah et al., 2018). Moreover, acquiring complex and advanced skills is essential for leaders. Team members often look up to leaders when other means fail. Possessing these advanced skills equips leaders to effectively address complex issues.

Characteristics of an Effective Professional Nurse Leader

Several qualities and characteristics define an effective nurse leader. For instance, a nurse leader collaborates with a team of nurses and nurse trainees with diverse personalities, engaging in critical decision-making. Therefore, having emotional intelligence is crucial (Alghamdi, Topp & AlYami, 2018). This characteristic allows leaders to intervene, particularly when trainees face unique stressors. Excellent communication skills are another essential characteristic of an effective professional nurse leader. These skills enable nurse leaders to fulfill their roles, especially when delegating tasks.

NR602 week 4 soap note – Kayla, 38-year-old Caucasian and Latino female

Analysis of Leadership Theories and Styles

The selected theory, grounded in the belief that leaders are made, is a behavioral theory. This theory aligns with the notion that leaders can develop their leadership abilities through teaching and observation. It emphasizes that leaders should observe and learn from mentors to enhance their leadership skills. Additionally, the theory shapes a leader’s decision-making, conflict resolution, and negotiation techniques (Al Khajeh, 2018). In contrast, the chosen leadership style is democratic leadership. This style emphasizes effective communication during major decision-making processes (Liukka et al., 2018). Democratic leadership strives to promote collaboration, conflict resolution, and decision-making skills, thereby strengthening the relationship between a leader and their team. It also shapes a leader’s conflict resolution skills and fosters positive team relationships.

References

Alghamdi, M. G., Topp, R., & AlYami, M. S. (2018). The effect of gender on transformational leadership and job satisfaction among Saudi nurses. Journal of advanced nursing, 74(1), 119-127. https://doi.org/10.1111/jan.13385

Al Khajeh, E. H. (2018). Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Journal of Human Resources Management Research, 2018, 1-10. DOI: 10.5171/2018.687849

Boamah, S. A., Laschinger, H. K. S., Wong, C., & Clarke, S. (2018). Effect of transformational leadership on job satisfaction and patient safety outcomes. Nursing outlook, 66(2), 180- https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2017.10.004

Kiwanuka, F., Nanyonga, R. C., Sak‐Dankosky, N., Muwanguzi, P. A., & Kvist, T. (2021). Nursing leadership styles and their impact on intensive care unit quality measures:

An integrative review. Journal of Nursing Management, 29(2), 133-142. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.13151

Liukka, M., Hupli, M., & Turunen, H. (2018). How transformational leadership appears in action with adverse events? A study for Finnish nurse manager. Journal of Nursing Management, 26(6), 639-646. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12592

Wang, L., Tao, H., Bowers, B. J., Brown, R., & Zhang, Y. (2018). When nurse emotional intelligence matters: How transformational leadership influences intent to stay. Journal of nursing management, 26(4), 358-365. https://doi.org/10.1111/jonm.12509

Assessment Description

This assignment aims to assist learners in developing effective communication skills by emphasizing the correct application of APA style, which is a requirement for the graduate program.

Refer to the resources available in the Class Resources and Student Success Center for guidance on APA style. Utilize the APA Style Guide resource, accessible in the Student Success Center, to complete this assignment.

For this assignment, complete the following:

Self-Assessment

Self-awareness is a critical component in developing leadership skills. Recognizing personal strengths, weaknesses, values, and understanding emotional intelligence and learning styles can enhance one’s effectiveness as a nurse leader.

For this assignment, you have the opportunity to take several self-assessments to gain insight into your leadership qualities and identify areas for improvement. This will aid you in enhancing your self-leadership skills. Ensure you document the results of each assessment to assist in completing the reflection portion of the assignment.

Self-Assessment Reflection

Self-awareness is an ongoing process that requires introspection. Regular self-reflection provides numerous opportunities to comprehend one’s behavior, adapt approaches to working with others, and improve both personal and professional capabilities.

In a reflective essay of 1,000-1,250 words, address the following:

1. Provide a rationale and brief summary for selecting each self-assessment. Summarize the results you obtained from each assessment.
2. Identify the leadership style that closely aligns with your philosophy of care and explain what aspects of that style appeal to you.
3. Reflect on how you can incorporate elements of that leadership style as you exercise leadership in a practice or healthcare organization setting.
4. Discuss specific areas for improvement identified through the assessments and outline steps for enhancing your leadership capabilities.
5. Analyze the characteristics of an effective professional nurse leader and explain why these characteristics are valuable for nursing leadership.
6. Analyze various leadership theories and styles. Select one theory and leadership style, different from your own, and explain how they support professional nurse leaders. Consider how these theories shape leaders in areas such as collaboration, conflict resolution, decision-making, and negotiation.

You are required to cite three to five sources to complete this assignment. These sources should have been published within the last five years and be relevant to the assignment criteria and nursing content.

Use the “APA Writing Checklist” to ensure that your paper adheres to APA style and formatting guidelines, as well as general academic writing guidelines. Include the completed checklist as an appendix at the end of your paper.

Prepare this assignment following the guidelines outlined in the APA Style Guide, which can be found in the Student Success Center.

This assignment will be assessed using a rubric. Review the rubric before beginning the assignment to understand the expectations for successful completion.

Submit this assignment to LopesWrite. If you need assistance, you can find a link to the LopesWrite technical support articles in the Class Resources.