Strength Based Leadership 'Dream Leader'



Strength Based Leadership "Dream Leader"Cristina MardisBon Secours Memorial College of NursingServant LeadershipNUR 4241Professor EllcessorJanuary 21, 2018 “I pledge”Strength Based Leadership "Dream Leader"The purpose of this paper is to evaluate a workplace situation where conflict has occurred and improvement is necessary in order to better the unit’s employee morale, teamwork, relationships, and outcomes. Desirable strengths for hiring a new nurse manager to resolve conflicts and overall improve the unit will also be discussed. IntroductionCurrently, a labor and delivery unit is experiencing poor morale due to several factors. Nurses on the unit are resigning faster than being hired. Nurses’ workload has increased due to the staffing shortage and monthly call hours have increased. Nurses are being pulled to other units in the hospital that are in need of help. This results in increased stress levels, burnout, and unhappiness. A lot of frustration has occurred because the current staff feels as though nothing is being done to fix the problems. With such unpleasant feelings, there has been inadequate teamwork as well as support for one another. Nurses are less willing to help their coworkers because they are overly strained with their own patient assignment. The staff is also less likely to pick up extra hours for the unit. Why should staff help the unit if their own thoughts and feelings are being ignored? The stress of the job can and has negatively impacted personal lives. The former nurse manager resigned, unable to resolve the current issues and provide the necessary support to the team. This left the unit further unhappy and discouraged, which further worsens the morale. The director is currently in the process of hiring a new nurse manager and will include nurses in the interviewing process. Involving nurses in the hiring process makes them feel as though their opinion matters. The director will need to select someone for the position who displays certain strengths that are most important to effectively manage the unit. Priority at this time will be addressing the causes of the dissatisfaction among staff members to reestablish the unit morale. Leader ProfileThere are various leadership styles to take into consideration when hiring a nurse manager. A few characteristics that all leaders should possess are as follows; listening, empathy, awareness, commitment to others, and building a community (Sorbello, 2015). Effective communication is another pertinent quality of a leader. It would be ideal and beneficial for the nurse manager to have labor and delivery experience. By having this background, this person can better relate to his/her employees. The four domains of leadership strengths are executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking. “…contributions from all four domains lead to a strong and cohesive team.” (Rath, 2008, p. 23). Individuals who possess strength in executing make things transpire. They work endlessly to reach a resolution. Those with strength in the influencing domain, help their team’s thoughts and ideas become known. They make sure their group is heard. Every leader needs to be skilled in relationship building. By not holding this quality, employees are less willing to work together and it is more difficult to accomplish tasks. Tension is more likely to arise amongst everyone leading to discontent. Lastly, someone with great strategic thinking helps the team make better decisions and expand people’s thinking for the future (Rath, 2008).The top five strengths the director believes to be the most important for the nurse manager to lead the labor and delivery team are achiever, communication, connectedness, empathy, and strategic. An achiever is in need of constantly achieving. Someone with this quality has the energy to begin new tasks and overcome obstacles. With the unit having such low morale, an achiever will continue to perform optimally. A leader using communication might get people involved by helping them feel more comfortable with the current issue or issues (Rath, 2008). Connectedness is part of relationship building and is a sense of wholeness. Individuals that feel like they belong together are more willing to work together and achieve goals. Empathy is the ability to be aware of someone else’s feelings and understand their needs. When people are empathic in their work environment it shows that they respect and care for each other. Lastly, a nurse manager should be a strategic thinker, ensuring the unit is operating as efficiently and effectively as possible and planning for future changes in healthcare. Strength Application When applied by the nurse manager, the strengths previously mentioned, can provide the opportunity for improvement in employee morale, teamwork, interactions, and outcomes. A labor and delivery nurse manager with the achiever theme will have the energy to continuously work hard in hopes of improving the unit’s current issues. Staff will be pleased to see their leader’s positive determination to meet desirable outcomes. The nurse manager has the benefit of communicating information outside the unit. Because one of the issues is staff shortage, the nurse manager can relay this concern to human resources to see if the unit can be approved for new positions. A manager with connectedness has the ability to help staff work together as a whole, which builds trust amongst one another and strong relationships. An empathetic leader will understand and respond to the needs of the staff he/she is leading. In this case, the manager will focus on the specific issues causing burnout. If the nurse manager has labor and delivery background, they can better relate to the team’s thoughts and feelings. A strategic planner works diligently to obtain and absorb information to help the team make the best decisions for the unit (Rath, 2008). Having this quality better prepares everyone for possible changes and/or updates. Organization reduces stress levels. EvaluationA follow up plan should be implemented to allow staff to voice their thoughts and feelings regarding the new nurse manager. After three to four months the nurse retention specialist will reach out to the labor and delivery staff via e-mail providing dates and times for an open forum. For convenience purposes, staff will have the option to either meet in person or talk over the phone. In the e-mail, the nurse retention specialist will state that the meetings will be confidential so everyone feels comfortable being truthful and forth coming. The staff will be able to voice whether or not they feel improvements are occurring. They will also have the opportunity to voice any other concerns they may have. Staff involved in the interviewing process should definitely follow up. After the open forum is completed, the nurse retention specialist will share the feedback with the nurse manager. Issues that were brought up frequently by different staff members should be addressed first. ReferencesRath, T. (2008). Strengths based leadership. New York, NY: GALLUP PRESS.Sorbello, B. (2015). Introduction to Servant Leadership [Lecture notes]. Retrieved from ................
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