Philosophy of Leadership Discussion Paper
This paper will be a discussion of your current personal philosophy of leadership. You do have one, whether you realize it or not! All nurses engage in some form of leadership activities, regardless of what your position is, and whether or not you are in a formal or informal leadership position. As you complete this program’s requirements and enter into advanced practice, whatever your current philosophy of leadership is will impact how you enact your new role. You may indeed change your leadership style, but your leadership philosophy will more than likely remain constant. You are asked to provide your current leadership position, your philosophical approach to leadership and then discuss how that philosophical viewpoint fits within an established leadership theory (please note the grading rubric for this assignment included in the syllabus – this should be attached to the assignment when submitted). This assignment should be completed in conformance with APA requirements, typed, and submitted via Canvas Assignment Dropbox. Please avoid using “first person” in your scholarly writing. I will attached the rubric and my role
Philosophy of Leadership
Description of current position
The current position is as a nurse involved in planning and providing nursing and medical care to patients in different settings. These responsibilities are conducted within a team environment that includes medical and professional staff such as therapies, social workers, pharmacists, dieticians, laboratory technicians, and doctors. Philosophy of Leadership Discussion Paper Typical duties of a nurse include providing emotional support to patients and their relatives, organizing workloads, supervising junior staff tutoring student nurses, writing records, taking health readings, and collecting patient samples. Other duties include administering and monitoring intravenous infusions and medications and assessing and planning nursing care requirements. Working as a nurse requires a compassionate and caring nature, as well as the ability to deal with pressured and emotionally charged situations (Ledlow & Coppola, 2014).
Description of leadership role
Being a leader in the community is a very engaging activity. This is particularly so because it involves unique approaches and goals. It is not about coordinating or managing. Rather, the role is about stewardship and requires the application of five main attributes. The first attribute is thinking forwards as a community is longer lasting than any other informal group. The second attribute is accountability to the community as it is about the members of the community and not procedures, processes, or policies. The third attribute is practicing stewardship that involves taking responsibility for the surroundings and physical spaces to include natural areas with a focus on protecting and preserving them. The fourth attribute is mobilizing other community members through motivation, inspiration, and education. The fifth attribute is maximizing individual strengths in a manner that keeps every participant involved (Iszatt-White & Saunders, 2017).
Personal philosophy of leadership
Personal leadership philosophy refers to the set of thoughts and principles that guide performance when engaging others. The ideal personal philosophy is one that seeks to learn from predecessors and learning from mistakes so that they are not repeated. A leader should learn from good and bad as presented by strong and weak leaders since every interaction is a learning opportunity. Leadership should be through credibility and acting with integrity and character. Also, leaders should place great value in quality, communication, knowledge, honesty, and trust. Through this philosophy, leadership can improve over time and gain the capacity to inspire others to meet and exceed their leadership goals (Ledlow & Coppola, 2014).
Theory of leadership
Transformational leadership theory is perhaps the most ideal for leaders in the 21st century. It focuses on guiding leaders to create positive and valuable change among those they lead. As the name suggests, it focuses on transforming subordinates/followers to support the team and each other to achieve set goals. The leader engenders feelings of respect, loyalty, admiration, and trust among the followers so that they are more willing to put greater effort into the team activities (Marquis & Huston, 2017).
Significance/transferability to advanced practice
Transformational leadership has great significance for advanced nursing practice. The advanced practice focuses on delivered patient-centered care through developing holism, interconnection, and therapeutic relationships. Transformational leadership helps in achieving these objectives by presenting a framework that uses idealized influence, inspirational motivation (charisma), intellectual stimulation, and individual consideration to motivate others towards implementing the needed changes and achieving set nursing objectives. Advanced practice nurses are well-positioned to use transformational leadership to lead health care teams by placing the patient at the center of every decision and bringing the essence of holistic care to the forefront. Also, the leadership approach presents them with conflict resolution, negotiation, inspiration, and positive communication tools (Marquis & Huston, 2017).
References
Iszatt-White, M. & Saunders, C. (2017). Leadership (2nd ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Ledlow, G. & Coppola, N. (2014). Leadership for health professionals: theory, skills and applications (2nd ed.). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Marquis, B. & Huston, C. (2017). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: theory and application (9th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins. Philosophy of Leadership Discussion Paper