Authentic leadership for a healthy work environment
The Authentic Leadership is drawn from the principles of positive psychology; positive organizational scholarship is aimed at understanding positive human processes and organizational dynamics that make life meaningful (Cameron, Dutton, Quinn, & Wrzensniewski, 2003). That the progress is best achieved by focusing on and building people’s strengths rather than learning interventions that focus on what is wrong with people and their weaknesses. It aims to incorporate the leadership theories of positive leadership, transformational leadership and moral or ethical leadership. Authentic leaders do not fake their leadership wherein they do not pretend to be leaders simply because they are in a management position. These leaders lead from personal conviction rather than a desire for status or reward. Authentic leaders’ actions are based on their values. And according to the article “Authentic Leadership: A New Theory or Back to Basic?” there are components of the authentic leadership, self awareness which is developing an understanding and sense of self that provides a firm anchor for decisions and actions, balanced information processing which is an unbiased collection and interpretation of positive and negative self-related information, moral and ethical perspective behavior that is guided by core values, beliefs, thoughts and feelings rather than outside pressures and personalities and relational transparency high levels of openness, self-disclosure and trust in relationships.
In the health care setting, one of the greatest stressors nurses face is the environment in which they work is how they are treated in the workplace. The health care system is undergoing exponential change and nurses are faced with internal and external pressures that affect the functioning of the profession. Changes in nursing roles and settings carry implications for how nursing care is delivered and by whom. To cope with the complexity inherent in health care, it is imperative that nurses become strong leaders. Nurses must take part in directing the health care system, or risk having no voice in what it becomes. Nurses need to be skilled collaborators who can lead interdisciplinary teams to accomplish great things. A leader therefore is expected to help a group meet its goals, which involves taking risks and making unpopular decisions at times. A leader should be trustworthy, have integrity, possess strong communication skills, and be committed. This brings up the notion that leadership is an in-born “trait.” Leaders can only exist if there are also followers.
There is mounting evidence that unhealthy work environments contribute to medical errors, ineffective delivery of care, and conflict and stress among health professionals. Negative, demoralizing and unsafe conditions in workplaces cannot be allowed to continue. The publication, Silence Kills (Maxfield, Grenny, McMillan, Patterson, & Switzler, 2005), focused public awareness on the negative outcomes resulting from nurses' inability to communicate skillfully. The creation of healthy work environments is imperative to ensure patient safety, enhance staff recruitment and retention, and maintain an organization's financial viability. The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses identified authentic leadership as a key element in a healthy work environment. Authentic leaders have been called the “glue” needed to create a successful work environment; Attributes of effective leaders are genuineness, trustworthiness, reliability, compassion, and believability (American Association of Critical Care Nurses). Healthy work environments are supportive of the whole human being, are patient-focused, and are joyful workplaces.
Therefore to have a healthy environment there must be authentic leaders that conform to fact or speak the truth and therefore are worthy of trust, reliance, or belief. They develop heart and compassion by getting to know the life stories of those with whom they work and by engaging coworkers in shared meaning. Becoming one an authentic leader requires a personal journey of self-discovery, self improvement, reflection, and renewal. Healthy work environments, guided by authentic leaders, produce superior outcomes for both staff nurses and patient (Shirey, 2006)
Questions:
1.How does someone become an authentic leader? Site example
2.Do the interpersonal antecedents of authentic leadership only develop naturally or can the development be accelerated?
3.For you, how is a healthy environment be manifested?
Reference:
1. Ilies, R., Morgeson, F., Nahrgang, J. (2005). Authentic leadership and Eudaemonic Well-being: Understanding leader–follower outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 16: 373–394. doi:10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.002
2. Shirey, Maria. (2006). Authentic Leaders Creating Healthy Work Environments for Nursing Practice. American Journal of Critical Care, 15: 256-267. Retrieved from
http://www.aacn.org/WD/CETests/Media/A0615032.pdf3. Maxfield, D., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., Patterson, K., & Switzler, A. (2005). Silence kills: The seven crucial conversations in healthcare. Retrieved October 15, 2010 from
www.aacn.org/WD/Practice/Docs/PublicPolicy/SilenceKillsExecSum.pdf