Question

Every person has times in their life when they are leaders and other times when they are followers. Sometimes, these two roles happen within the same group. The skills and knowledge to successfully lead are useful for everyone, even those who don’t aspire to management careers. There are many different definitions of leadership, but at its core, leadership is the ability to motivate people to act toward a goal. Whether your work involves inspiring a large group to pull together and achieve a big goal, or to influence an individual patient to take actions to improve their health, the qualities and skills of leadership will come in handy.

Leadership Theories
There are different ways to lead. Some might call these leadership styles, but the way people lead has many dimensions. When we look at how people behave as leaders, we come up with three primary types of leadership.

Two boats are shown filled with three team members and each has a different leader with a different leadership style.
Different leadership styles can either motivate or hinder a team.
Democratic leadership, also called participatory leadership, involves members of the team having a say in the decision-making process. Leaders who use this style will often guide rather than control the group. Democratic leadership fosters motivation and creativity, though it requires flexibility to implement. Though more time-consuming than some types of leadership, the output of groups who are democratically led is of high quality.

Authoritarian leadership entails giving orders, making the decisions, and taking most of the responsibility for the outcomes. This style of leadership is also called autocratic, controlling, or directive. Authoritarian leaders may be kind or punitive. For a group that needs a lot of direction, authoritarian leadership is an efficient way to run a group.

Laissez-faire leadership has followers making most of the decisions, with the leader only intervening when problems arise. This relatively inactive style of leadership is also sometimes referred to as permissive or non-directive leadership. This style works well with mature group members who can achieve results in a self-directed, autonomous manner.

A diagram is shown on a light grey-green background with the leader at the top and different levels of command leading to the next.
Considered a traditional style of leadership, transactional leadership focuses on the chain of command.
Another way to look at leadership involves focusing on inspiration and vision as a primary motivating force for workers. Transactional leadership is a theory that assumes people work best within a strong chain of command and are motivated primarily by reward and punishment. This type of leadership requires very clear structures, so workers understand clearly what is expected of them.

The opposite theory, transformational leadership, focuses on inspiring people to have a sense of mission that transcends relationships and financial rewards. Transformational leadership is characterized by a support environment, leaders who listen, and workers who are motivated to work hard towards the vision of the group. With workers who care about the health of their patients, transformational leadership can work very well to help build a cohesive and motivated team.

Transactional vs Transformational
Transactional Transformational
Directive Participative
Top Down Bottom Up
Information Conversation
Hierarchy Mentoring
Rigid Flexible
Rules Risk-taking
Individual performance Team and relationships
What Is a Leader?
Some people may find leadership comes to them more naturally, but the traits that characterize good leadership can be learned and put into practice. Leadership requires excellent interpersonal skills, or the ability to interact positively and work effectively with others. Leaders need to have a clear focus on goals, achieving results, and a positive outlook that helps to inspire confidence and cooperation in workers. Other traits that are helpful in leadership are creativity, integrity, passion, emotional intelligence (awareness of and control over one’s emotions), self-confidence, and decisiveness.

What does a leader do? As you can see from the very different theories about leadership, there are some different ideas about what the role of the leader should look like. But there are some basic ideas that most theories will agree on. Leaders set, or help set, the vision and goals for the organization. When change needs to happen, leaders manage that change, reallocating resources and determining the needs of the team during any change in process. Leaders do have responsibility to make sure the team is performing well, and part of doing this is to manage the roles and responsibilities of team members. This can involve deciding which team members are accountable for which parts of the project and holding each member to their tasks and role.

Leadership to Build the Team
Leaders use their interpersonal relationship skills and their emotional intelligence to work effectively with members of the team, no matter what style of leadership they practice. But there are additional skills that leaders can use to build a strong team.

Part of the job of leading a team is to give appropriate feedback to other members about their performance. Managers have many formal requirements to give feedback, but in any leadership position, providing feedback is a tool to help build teams. Negative feedback, in the form of corrections or honest criticism, can be effective in some situations, though being careful not to blame the individual but to focus on the work behaviors is important.

Four healthcare professionals sit around a table after a meeting and high five each other in the center.
Part of a leader’s duties is to build team morale and reinforce positive behaviors.
Another way to give feedback that has been shown to deliver results in the motivation of workers is the use of positive reinforcement. Positive reinforcement is adding a reward, or a reinforcing stimulus, to encourage desired behavior. Positive reinforcement can be used in many situations, not just in leadership. The reward can be something tangible, like a treat or a financial incentive. Even more effective rewards are less tangible, like praise, commendation, recognition, or other acts of emotional encouragement. In fact, the praise or added responsibility can inspire and motivate team members to perform even better and at the same time build relationships of mutual trust and respect.

Tips on Using Positive Reinforcement
Positive reinforcement can work between team members, with yourself (promise yourself an ice cream once you clean your room and see if it works), and even to train your dog (treats, anyone?) Here are some tips to make it most effective at improving work performance.

Be Specific
Reward ASAP
Give frequent, random rewards
Reward Small Improvements
Personalize and be realistic
Another way to do teambuilding is to mentor (advise and train) members of the team. Having more experienced team members take newer members “under their wing” to give advice, demonstrate methods of problems-solving, and provide practical guidance can build good relationships within the team and foster trust.

Being a good leader or mentor to newer workers can build confidence in leadership skills. Working with a mentor can allow followers to observe the interpersonal and practical skills first hand. Leaders are responsible for setting meaningful and manageable goals so the members of the group have something to work towards. Creating ways for the team members to build relationships through common projects and mentorships is a leader’s job. Giving recognition as positive reinforcement also builds good relationships and, eventually, a strong interdisciplinary healthcare team.

Consider some of the great leaders of all time - what are the prominent characteristics that each of them have? Explain. Which of these traits would translate to making a good leader in healthcare? How and why?

Write 3 sentences in your own words using evidence from text above.

Answer 1

Great leaders throughout history often share key characteristics such as emotional intelligence, integrity, and the ability to inspire and support their team. In healthcare, these traits are essential as leaders must foster motivation and trust among team members while guiding them towards shared goals. The emphasis on positive reinforcement and mentoring discussed in the text illustrates how effective leadership can strengthen team relationships and enhance overall performance within a healthcare setting.