Where I am now
As leaders we have a very long list of activities to fulfill such as strategies development ,
followers motivation and vision creation , therefore we tend to pressurize our followers to
turn their contributions into actions by one way or another using different leadership styles
(Li et al., 2021) . A paper published by Hay /McBer concluded that best leaders are the ones
who use different leadership style in different situations . In 1939 , Lewins and his
colleagues proposed three different leadership styles ; autocratic , democratic and LaissezFaire (Mathew et al., 2021) . Depending on the team I am working with and the situation I
am handling; I would switch back and forth between these three leadership styles . As a
leading surgeon in the operating theater , I tend to use the autocratic leadership style to
maintain team members focus and task delegation , as I make decisions based on my ideas
and judgment and I expect them to be carried out smoothly . I would rarely have the time to
listen to others inputs and advices. I do believe that this leadership style eliminates creativity
and innovation , but to me the operation theater is an environment that has little or no
flexibility and requires an error free outcome . Outside the operating theater , I would use the
democratic leadership style whenever I face a complex problem and when I have difficulty
taking a decision . In such situations I build consensus based on the ideas elicited by my team
members .
Finally ; I will share an example of my experience as a leader . During the hospital inpatient
morning rounds , one of my junior surgical resident was presenting a case about a middle age
patient who was recently diagnosed with small bowel obstruction secondary to advanced
rectal cancer . I asked the resident about his plan and he told me that he would like to preform
a diverting colostomy to relieve the acute obstruction . I told him that this was the right plan
and that the procedure would improve the patient quality of life . However , the patient had
no clue about his diagnosis as the family didn’t allow the team to break the bad news .The
resident was excited about the procedure and was about to take the consent without informing
the patient about the primary cause of obstruction. I had to stop the resident from taking the
consent and I asked him if he tried to explain to the family about the importance of breaking
the bad news to the patient and its impact on the patient prognosis . The resident became
restless and told me that he didn’t get the chance to do so ; however he promised me that he
will speak to them before taking the consent . On rounds the following day I asked the
resident about the patient and the family status . The resident managed to convince the family
to break the news to the patient and he informed them about the proposed treatment and the
overall prognosis . The patient accepted the diagnosis and he was realistic about it . Moreover
; the resident advised the patient to join the colorectal cancer patient support group .I praised
the resident for what he have done and as a reward , I allowed him to perform the procedure
under the supervision of a senior staff.
I have demonstrated the four pillars of transformational leadership in the above example , as
I directed the resident to address important aspects of patient care . My statement that the
procedure would improve the patient quality of life emphasis on the important principle of
beneficence . Moreover , I stressed on patient autonomy and I tried to inspire the resident by
emphasizing on the importance of building a strong rapport with the family and the patient .
This is a reflection of the first two tenet of transformational leadership; idealized influence
and inspirational motivation (Fischer, 2016) . The fact that I challenged the resident by asking
him about his attempt to convince the family about the importance of patient autonomy
reflects the fourth pillar of transformational leadership which is intellectual stimulation.
Finally, individualized consideration was demonstrated in the above example, as I
acknowledged the resident efforts by allowing him to perform the procedure by himself
(Gabel, 2013). I used Gibbs model to reflect on what have happened in the above example
(Husebø et al., 2015) . I focused on guiding the resident to solve the conflict , however ,
thinking about this further I felt that I should have spoke to the resident privately and not
Infront of other team members.
Li, R., Chen, Z., Zhang, H. & Luo, J. (2021) How do authoritarian leadership and abusive
supervision jointly thwart follower proactivity? A social control perspective. Journal of
Management, 47 (4), 930-956.
Mathew, J., Rajam, K. & Nair, S. (2021) Leadership style and work engagement: A
comparison of private and public sector firms in india. Vision, 09722629211052642.
Fischer, S. A. (2016) Transformational leadership in nursing: A concept analysis. Journal of
Advanced Nursing, 72 (11), 2644-2653.
Gabel, S. (2013) Transformational leadership and healthcare. Medical Science Educator, 23
(1), 55-60.
Husebø, S. E., O'Regan, S. & Nestel, D. (2015) Reflective practice and its role in simulation.
Clinical Simulation in Nursing, 11 (8), 368-375.