Collab. Lead. Theory Addresses Lit. Gap: Visual Explained

A Narrative Explanation of The Visual Representation and How the Developed Theory Addresses the Literature Gap

As shown in Figure 1 above, the proposed leadership theory that will be used to address the challenges identified in Week 5 Assignment 2 is known as Collaborative and Coaching Leadership Theory. The theory is comprised of four fundamental tenets, which are the key principles of the theory. The first fundamental principle of this theory is known as 'enhanced leader-follower communication'. This refers to the establishment of good communication between the leader and the follower. That is, I hope to establish a work environment where the subordinates see me (the leader) is being part of them and thus ensuring that the followers are free to communicate or air out the challenges that they are encountering in the workplace.

The need to establish excellent communication is anchored on the practical benefits of good leader-follower communication. First, the need to establish effective leader-follower communication is aimed at addressing the current challenge of conflict management that exists in healthcare organizations. One of the ways in which effective communication reduces conflict is by reducing leader isolation and enhancing leader-subordinate congruence. Moreover, the presence of excellent leader-follower communication is also useful in helping the leaders to have effective conflict management by making him or her aware of the grievances of his or her juniors and thus being in an excellent position to address them. Moreover, effective communication is needed to ensure that the leader delivers on his or her transformational agenda through his or her ability to boost the morale of the employees and the ability for the subordinates to provide diverse feedback and requirements to the management.

The second key tenet of the proposed leadership theory is what is referred to as leader-follower mentorship sessions. The mentorship program is aimed at addressing the current gap in leadership skills training of individuals as noted in Moodie's (2016) study. There are various ways in which leader-led mentorship of the subordinates will help to address this gap. First, such mentoring sessions enables the leader to identify the specific leadership skills that the employees currently exhibit. Consequently, a leader will be in an excellent position to identify the appropriate strategies for addressing the gaps in leadership skills. Also, through mentoring sessions, the leader is capable of tailoring his or her mentoring strategies to suit the leadership gaps identified in each of the subordinates. Apart from fixing the gap in leadership skills, mentoring sessions can help the leader to motivate the followers (Eddolls, 2018; Grossman & Valiga, 2016; Loue & Slimane, 2017).

Mentoring of subordinates is also crucial in addressing the healthcare workers' current knowledge gad related to the lack of "skills which would ensure that every patient has been catered for efficiently" (Mianda & Voce, 2017). That is, such mentoring sessions will be aimed at ensuring that the subordinates are equipped with the latest skills needed to provide quality patient care. Through improved patient care, there will be increased patient satisfaction scores. There are many ways in which patient satisfaction is beneficial to hospitals or any healthcare organization. First, it builds loyalty (Berkowitz, 2016; Fottler, Malvey, & Slovensky, 2015). That is, a patient who is satisfied with the services being offered in a particular hospital will continue to choose the hospital as his or her medical treatment provider rather than searching for another facility. Secondly, improved patient satisfaction is necessary for attracting new patients. This is because a satisfied patient is more likely to tell other patients about their experience, thus helping the hospital to keep new patients knocking it its doors (American Dental Association, 2016; Hunter, Hunter, & Kessler, 2014). Lastly, improved patient satisfaction is vital in minimizing the risk of litigation. That is, patients with a high level of patient satisfaction have lower likelihoods of initiating legal action against a hospital compared to those who have experienced unsatisfactory clinical outcome.

The third fundamental principle of my proposed leadership theory is referred to as an 'integration of followers in the management processes'. This refers to the process of bringing onboard all the subordinates, especially involving them in making decisions related to the management of the organization. I believe that by seeking subordinates' opinions and views regarding the management, the subordinates are more likely to feel that they are part and parcel of the organization. Consequently, there is an increased likelihood that their motivation towards the accomplishment of the organizational objectives and goals will be increased. Because of this, the employees are capable of taking the organization to greater heights, especially through improved productivity and delivery of quality services capable of surpassing clients' expectations.

It is also essential to add that when the leader involves his or her subordinates in making managerial decisions, the subordinates are more likely to own the decisions made. Moreover, according to Roe (2017), in combination with proper management and achievable goals, involving subordinates in the decision-making process has been found to lead to increased loyalty and better production. Integration of followers in the management processes is aimed at addressing a leadership gap identified in the literature, especially strengthening management in public health.

The fourth pillar of my proposed leadership theory is job expectations and success criteria. This refers to the process of clearly outlining what is expected of each of the employees of the organization, especially regarding the objectives and goals, as well as the performance indicators. The performance indicators are used to measure whether the employees are meeting their expectations. The fourth pillar is also useful in addressing the gap of ensuring "that every patient has been catered for efficiently" (Mianda & Voce, 2017).

How the Visual Representation Incorporates Aspects of Systems Thinking?

Systems thinking refers to a holistic approach to analysis focused on the interrelationship among the constituent parts of a system work within the context of larger systems. The above visual representation incorporates aspects of systems thinking because it shows how different parts of the system (enhanced leader-follower communication, leader-follower mentorship sessions, integration of followers in the management processes, and job expectations and success criteria) contribute to Collaborative and Coaching Leadership theory of leadership. That is, it can be seen that each of the four parts of the system is linked to a whole. Lastly, the proposed collaborative and coaching leadership theory uses systems thinking because it is not a standalone theory but comprised of parts which must work in unison to achieve organizational goals.

References

American Dental Association. (2016). Managing patients: the patient experience guidelines for practice success: best practices. Chicago, IL: American Dental Association.

Berkowitz. (2016). Essentials of health care marketing. Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Publishers.

Eddolls, T. (2018). Hypnofacts 6. Morrisville, NC: Lulu.com.

Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell. (2016). Business ethics: ethical decision making & cases. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Fottler, M. D., Malvey, D., & Slovensky, D. (2015). Handbook of healthcare management. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

Grossman, S., & Valiga, T. M. (2016). The new leadership challenge: creating the future of nursing. Philadelphia, PHL: F.A. Davis.

Hunter, C. M., Hunter, C. L., & Kessler, R. (2014). Handbook of clinical psychology in medical settings: evidence-based assessment and intervention. New York, NY: Springer Publishing.

Loue, C., & Slimane, S. B. (2017). ECIE 2017 12th European conference on innovation and entrepreneurship. Reading, UK: Academic Conferences and publishing limited.

Mianda, S., & Voce, A. S. (2017). Conceptualizations of clinical leadership: a review of the literature. Journal of healthcare leadership, 9, 79.

Moodie, R. (2016). Learning about self: leadership skills for public health. Journal of public health research, 5(1)

Roe, K. (2017). Leadership: practice and perspectives. Oxford, OX: Oxford University Press.