Theories of Leadership in Professional Practise

Leadership is one of the greatest challenges faced by the nursing profession. Powerful leadership skills are needed by all nurses. Now a days the U.K health care field is changing and it is always changing. Leaders in nursing has meet the opportunities and challenges that presently exist and to make work changes. Leaders are not merely a series of skills or tasks rather its an altitude that informs behaviour(Cook ,2001)

A nursing leader one who is involved in the direct patient care and who continuously improves care by influencing others.(Cook,2001) Leaders are not merely those who control others but they acts as visionaries who help employees to plan,control and organise their activities. Nurse leaders should be aware of changing the environment and make changes pro actively.(Jooste.2004)

Several important functions of a nurse leader are Acting as role model.Collaboration to provide optimum care.Provision of information and support.Providing care based on theory and research.An adequate for patients and health care organisation. Knowledge of management and communication skill..(http://www.neurosemantics.com/business-ns/leadership-reflections-1) Characteristics of leaders are appropriate knowledge,trust,recognition,experience,mobility,leading,virtuosity,effectiveness.

The nurses hard work in achieving these goals is responsability of an effecive leadership. Royal college of nursing (1993) in the U.K introduced three initiatives that is the RCN clinical leadership programe,leading an empowered organization and the last one is the regionally -led national programmes linked to national service frame work targets.

The theories of leadership are1. “Great Man” Theories:(1900-1940)

Great Man theories assume that the capacity for leadership is a basic – that great leaders are born with innate qualities, not made and intended to lead. These theories often give detailed description as great leaders are very brave and intended to rise to leadership when needed. The name “Great Man” was used because, at the time, leadership concepts was of primarily as a male quality, especially in terms of military and western

2. Trait Theories:

The Great Man theory and Trait theory were the first form of theories in leadership until the mid 1940s, Trait theory assume that people recieve certain qualities and a particular quality in your personality that make them better to do good leadership. Trait theories frequently identify individual personality or behavioral characteristics shared by leaders. If particular traits are the most important qualities of leadership, then how do we explain people who have those qualities but are not leaders? This question is one of the quality of being hard in using trait theories to understand leadership.

3. Contingency Theories:(1950-1980)

This type of leadership mainly focusing on particular situation related to the environment that might explain which particular model of leadership is best suited for the situation and it was suggested almost 100 years ago by Mark Parker Follet. According to this theory, no effective leadership style is best in all particular circumsatances. Success depends upon a situation , including qualities of the followers, aspects of the situation and the leadership style

4. Situational Theories:

Situational theories says that leaders choose the best course of action based upon situations. It also propose that different styles of leadership may be more appropriate for different levels of decision-making.

5. Behavioral Theories:(1940-1980)

Behavioral theories of leadership are mainly concentrated on the belief that great leaders are made, not born and what leaders do rather than on thier qualities, this leadership theory mainly focuses on the actions of leaders not on their mental qualities or internal states. According to this theory, people can able to become good leaders through teaching and observation.

6. Participative Theories:

Participative leadership theories states that the standard leadership style is one that takes the act of putting others into account. These leaders encourage the involvement and contributions from team members and help team members feel more connected and committed to the decision-making process. In this theories, however, the leader remembers the right to allow the information of others.

7. Transactional Theories:

Transactional theories is also called as managemental theories and it almost focus on the management taks,uses trade-offs to meet goals ,role of supervision, organization and group performance. These theories based on a system of achievements and a penality inflicted.

8.Transformational Theories:

Transformational theories is also known as Relationship theories. It focus upon the relationship formed between leaders and followers and it identifies the common values. It motivate and create a feeling in people by helping group members see the importance and higher good of the task. These leaders are concentrate on the performance of group members, but also want each individual to achieve the latent qualities that may be developed and lead to future success. Leaders with this style often have high principles and moral standards.

I assure that leadership does not make sense without reflection. For now I would like to offer some reflections about leadership that I have been experiencing how it relates to behaviors and implications for all of us. Leadership is not a thing but a process therefore more accurately decribed using verbs than nouns.As a process its about what and how we are doing the things.there is only leadership when some one is leading and people who like that leading and so follow that lead.This makes the whole leadership thing an interpersonal process involving communicating ,relating ,acting collaborating,giving and receiving feedback(http://www.neurosemantics.com/business-ns/leadership-reflections-1)

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Reflections for leadership are heart of leadership about pioneering a new path:-That means Paths are pioneered by the presence of problems,difficulties ,conflicts,stresses distresses ,traumas and things not going right. Leader demands both likes and dislikes,followed and resisted. Set visions about the future. Leaders have to be able to take the heatleaders are only leaders to extent that they add value. Hall,M(1994)

After all, The need for the study of leadership is getting a clear idea about the leadership that I have and want to offer as well as empowering others to manage their own states to become good leaders.

Reflection is just thinking about what you have done and how you could do it better next time. Johns (2004)states that reflection is to face up and deal with a problem and resolve the contradiction between what the professional practitioner wants to be and do and what he actually does. Donald Schon (1985)suggests that there are two forms of reflection .One is during the event that is known as reflection in action and the other one is after the event that is reflection on action. Reflection is a great significance human activity in which they recreate their knowledge or skill gained, think about it, and evaluate it. There are several models of reflection like Bowskill”s shared thinking2008, Rolfe 2001,Johns 1995,Gibbs 1988, Kolb 1984,Argyris and Schon 1978.

The models of reflection which i would like to discuss is the Johns' model 1995 and Bowskills shared thinking 2008

Johns’ model is a quality of beilng well organized reflection which provides a practitioner with a help to gain greater understanding. It is in order to produce a clearly defined through the act of sharing with a team member or an experienced adviser, which make it easier the practical contacts to develop into a knowledge at a faster rate . Johns mainly tells the significance of gained knowledge and the skill of a nurse to access, supply and put into practice information that has been gain through experience rather than theory. Reflection occurs though ‘looking in’ and’ looking out’ at the situation that affects someway. Johns’ write out a note about the result of Carper’s (1978) to expand on the opinion of ‘looking out’ at an experience. Five patterns of knowing are there in the guided reflection, having a practitioner analyze the aesthetic, personal, ethical, empirical and the reflexive elements experienced through the situation. Johns’ model that touches on many important basic principle of a subject and allows for reflection.

Bowskill’s Shared Thinking 2008

Nicholas Bowskill and colleagues at the University of Glasgow (Steve Brindley, Vic Lally, Steve Draper and Quintin Cutts) have suggested and developed a process of group reflection. Bowskill gave this social and a debate about the label ‘Shared Thinking.’ This request completely change the impression of the practice and idea of reflection into a situation which an event happens. Shared Thinking uses for practical tasks to influence what people do the wide range of experiences from reflective informal talking in a class, and to make the people seeing the things clear. By making them public in this way, the Shared Thinking way produce a particular feeling or impression of a resource for cognitive and particular development. This interdependent approach allows each individual to use the group as a good at finding ways of solving difficulties. Each participant will get the ‘take’ of others for comparing with their own personal opinion and experiences.

In this model of reflection, Shared Thinking is a thorough and complete act of leaving from the ideas and to improve the reflection based around participants thinking individually or in small groups. Here in the place of a way in which organizing and can be transferred practice for a group of reflection and to achieve a particular aim of learning. Shared Thinking provides quantitative and qualitative measures of collective experience. Such practices and measures also helps a new group study of teaching methods and a new research model for examine the evidence of experience at the collective level.

The model which i prefer is the Johns model because it includes looking in, looking out, Aesthetics, Personal, Ethics, Empirics, and Reflexivity.

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