Reflective Leadership Blog Entry

             Before beginning this unit, I expected to learn about leadership in general including its definition and what traits constitute a leader. What I actually learned from the unit is what I had expected to and more. The definition of leadership is “a process of influence in which the leader influences others toward goal achievement” (NURS 4500 Lecture).  Basically, leaders help motivate others from point A to point B, and there are different ways they do this. Being positive, uniting team members, and being an example of hard work yourself, can be ways to motivate others to accomplish a task. Most influential leaders have common traits such as confidence, courage, innovative thinking, and are fearless. They affect others by inspiring, enlivening, and engaging others to participate. A leader has followers. These team members are essential in accomplishing the task at hand. George S. Patton discussed leaders and followers in this way, “There is a great deal of talk about loyalty from the bottom to the top. Loyalty from the top down is even more necessary and much less prevalent.” I enjoyed this quote. I think it is essential for a leader to be entirely devoted to their team members. They will feel that devotion and be more willing to follow and achieve the goal.

            There are three main leadership styles including autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. Autocratic is seen a lot in the military. This style has been described as controlling, power-oriented and closed-minded (Bass, 2008). They stress obedience, loyalty and strict adherence to the rules. Usually they are disliked by their team, but it can turn into appreciation and fondness once positive results of their leadership become evident (Bass, 2008). Democratic leaders are considerate and share responsibility with their followers, which allows the followers to become independent and develop their own leadership skills (Bass, 2008). It also helps decrease stress and burn-out in the leader. Democratic leaders also like to present a plan, have members vote on it and decide as a group (NURS 4500 Lecture). The last leadership style is laissez-faire. This style is more passive. Most often the leader doesn’t care about how the task is accomplished, as long as it gets done.

            Lastly, I learned there is a difference between leadership and management. Management is a process of coordinating actions and allocating resources to achieve organizational goals. They help oversee the day to day tasks to help the organization run efficiently. Leadership is more of motivating and cheerleading team members to complete the task. Management focuses on the nuts and bolts, such as putting out fires with staff members, hiring/firing, and getting the day to day jobs done. Both leadership and management need each other to be successful.  

            I enjoyed the team activities of learning about different historical leaders, their traits, and process of influence to get followers to achieve a goal. Leaders can very influential, whether for good or bad motives. For example, Hitler and James Warren Jones were excellent leaders in getting others to follow them and accomplish horrible things. Others, such as Abraham Lincoln or Muhammad were influential for doing good. I enjoyed reading the discussion posts from my team members and their insights on what it takes to be a leader.

            I am excited to utilize the information I have learned about leadership in my nursing career. When I return to work in the Emergency Department, I plan to level as a charge nurse, precept other nurses, and train as a trauma nurse. I have learned that being confident in my abilities will help others want to follow me. They will trust me more as a leader. This is a skill I hope to be able to develop. I usually doubt myself or second guess myself. I will continue uniting others through friendship and helping others feel included. I realize delegating tasks to my fellow staff members helps them feel important and useful. This in turn helps me be a stronger, more trusted, leader.

            Overall, what I liked learning best this past week, is although some people are natural leaders, everyone can be a leader, given the necessary knowledge and skills (Whitehead, et al., 2009). This gives me hope for myself. With the insight I gain from this Nursing Leadership course, I can learn ways to be a very influential leader.  

References

Bass, B. M. (2008). The Bass handbook of leadership: Theory, research, and managerial            

             applications. (4th ed.). Free Press: New York, NY.

Giltinane, C. L. (2013). Leadership styles and theories. Nursing Standard, 27(41), 35-39.  

Whitehead, D. K., Weiss, S. A., & Tappen, R. M. (2009). Essentials of nursing leadership and                        management. (5th ed.). FA Davis Company: Philadelphia, PA.