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The role of leadership can be challenging and contingent upon various circumstances. Within the healthcare industry, leaders play a pivotal role in enhancing the quality of care, thereby influencing patient outcomes. Effective leaders are essential for managing institutional workflows, maintaining employee satisfaction, facilitating information sharing, and achieving improved clinical outcomes. Additionally, they contribute to fostering positive and robust organizational cultures. In leadership positions, there is often a need to guide and refocus personnel to ensure a productive and secure workplace environment. The healthcare sector recognizes several leadership styles, and the ability to make informed decisions and plan for potential challenges is paramount (Cummings et al., 2021).
Case Study
To illustrate a challenging workplace scenario, we can examine the case of Marty, an African American healthcare worker with over six years of experience caring for rehabilitation patients at a university healthcare facility. She provides care to patients admitted to hospitals across the town, working independently. Additionally, Marty has been employed for over two years in an office setting, typically during weekdays. Marty’s mother was diagnosed with dementia three years ago, and she has since become responsible for her mother’s daily care needs. This entails assisting her mother during her off-time and days off, which has resulted in work-related challenges.
Marty’s work performance has been adversely affected by her caregiving responsibilities. She has been consistently arriving late to the office for a year and leaving early to care for her mother. Consequently, her colleagues have grown frustrated with her work patterns. In response to their concerns, Marty disclosed that she had been diagnosed with a sleeping disorder called “apnea” but refused to use a CPAP machine.
Nursing professionals have accused Marty of neglecting her duties and using her mother’s illness as an excuse to leave work early. She has also taken extended leaves for various reasons, including mourning her sibling’s loss for three weeks and experiencing chronic back problems for twelve weeks. Colleagues and clinical staff members have reported Marty’s behavior to her supervisor, suggesting the hiring of additional nurses due to her inability to fulfill her responsibilities. However, Marty is currently on Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), and her supervisor is aware of these issues and the stress they are causing in the healthcare facility but has not taken any action (Cummings et al., 2021).
Relevant Leadership Styles and Practices
Three key leadership styles relevant to this situation are democratic, transactional, and transformative. Transformational leadership is characterized by a leader’s ability to inspire change, build trust, encourage creativity, and empower team members. This leadership style enhances team performance, motivation, psychological empowerment, and reduces work-related fatigue, leading to increased productivity. Transformational leaders assess individual team members’ strengths and allocate tasks accordingly to mitigate social loafing (Robbins & Davidhizar, 2020).
Transactional leadership focuses on daily tasks, emphasizing short-term goals, rewards, recognition, and intervention as needed. This style establishes clear objectives, defines responsibilities, and suits the complex healthcare delivery setting. Combining transactional leadership with other styles, such as transformational leadership, can yield better results, including improved care delivery, clinical skills, delegation, and task deployment (Richards, 2020).
Democratic leadership involves inclusive decision-making and respect for employee input. It fosters teamwork and empowers employees in policy development and implementation. Encouraging employee contributions enhances self-esteem and optimism, positively impacting employee productivity (Oliveria et al., 2020).
Leadership Style Applicable in the Case Study
Considering Marty’s situation and her tendency to underperform at work, a transformational leadership style is most suitable for her supervisor and colleagues. The manager must adopt this effective leadership style to address the issues causing a negative work environment rather than ignoring them. Despite Marty’s FMLA status, which entitles her to a maximum of 12 weeks of annual leave, she has exceeded this entitlement due to her medical condition and caregiving responsibilities, causing distress among colleagues. Implementing transformational
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