Introduction.
In any organization, there have to be leaders to lead the activities of the organization
at the different levels. There are diverse theories and explanations on leadership, though they
all align to one common impression where a leader provides guidance and organizes the
activities of a given group of individuals under his leadership. In organizational leadership
(leadership in organizations), leaders influence their employees and empower them to work
towards achieving common organizational goals (Gardner et al., 2020). These goals may be
reached as a result of a collective discussion within the management or also involving the
lower-tier employees depending on the nature of managerial style in the organization.
Healthcare organizations are particularly classical examples of where set organizational goals
have to be achieved with every employee being expected to be committed to their work. This
is because of the delicate nature of their consumers, patients whose lives can be at stake at
any given time an employee doesn’t carry out his or her responsibilities earnestly. In the
event where such a scenario occurs, it becomes crucial that the leader applies different
leadership styles and strategies in handling the situation (Oc, 2018). An errant employee is
also most likely to alter the motivation of the other employees while also increasing the
workload of others as they try to cover for him or her. This paper explores an example of
such a situation using the given case study. The chosen leadership styles for the given style
are democratic, transformational and transactional. They`re applicable at different stages
depending on the effectiveness of the proceeding one.
Leadership in Nursing 3
Democratic Leadership
The first type of leadership style that can be applied in the situation given in the case
study is a democratic leadership style. Democracy as a term implies a situation where
individuals are given the opportunity, space and environment to air out their views and
feelings on a particular issue. In a democracy, all stakeholders, whether big or small are
involved in the discussions that involve the organization and their views are taken into
consideration when making decisions and drafting policies (Hilton et al., 2021). A democratic
leadership style is among the most effective leadership style amidst also improving the
morale of the employees as they feel valued and part of the organization.
In the given case, there seems to be `bad blood` between Marty and her colleagues at
the workstation. Her colleagues generally feel that she is taking too much advantage of the
situation of her sick mother. They are devastated that they have to cover her while she finds
the most minute of excuses to not be at work. This is bad for the organization. There needs to
be teamwork amongst all the nurses at the unit. A situation like this pits Marty against her
other co-workers and is bound to hurt the general performance of the unit. As such, there is a
choice of resolving Marty`s issue between her and the manager alone, but this will not do
justice in resolving the animosity that exists between them hence the need of applying a
democratic style. In this case, the nurse manager should organize a meeting with the other co-
workers and get their views and suggestions to resolve the problem. The nurse manager
should also endeavour to encourage empathy from the other co-workers towards Marty (Jan
DeBell, 2019). He or she should also convince them that she understands their plight and that
he will consider their views when addressing Marty. In this environment, the nurse manager
should create rapport and a friendly environment for open discussions. What follows from
this is a separate meet up with Marty and tabling the views and suggestions of her co-workers
without mentioning their names to prevent unnecessary workplace enmity. Considering these
Leadership in Nursing 4
views and suggestions together with Marty`s views, goals and change processes should be
set. Marty is expected to adhere to these change process and goals. In this situation, there is a
win for both the nurse manager, the co-workers and Marty.
Transformational Leadership.
Transformational leadership is also another instrumental leadership style that can be
applied in the given situation involving Marty and her Co-workers. Transformational
leadership was pioneered by James Downtown in the year 1973 with Bernard Bass later on
adding immense contributions to the leadership style by proposing ways of measuring the
success of the transformative