Management and Leadership in Healthcare

Management and Leadership in Healthcare

Leadership and management in healthcare play an essential role in the delivery of quality services (Al-Sawai, 2013). Developing a proper relationship between the management and the clients helps in ensuring that everyone within the organization is satisfied. This paper aims to critically analyze and reflect on my experience and understanding of various leadership styles, which include situational, transformational using case studies. The case studies will be analyzed through the 5 whys framework.  The first case study is regarding the extent to which lack of adequate funding carried the greater potential to increase the chances of disqualification to the World Championship. The second case study brings to light my personal and professional experiences of the various leadership styles and strategies in the National Team of rhythmic gymnastics. The final case study will delve into my placement as a team leader of the National Team, further detailing the opportunities and challenges that came into being prior, during, and after the World Championship. The discussion will also cover my Personal Development Plan, further detailing my experiences in the National Team of Rhythmic gymnastics.

Case Study 1

One of the most critical challenges I faced was minimizing the possibility of disqualification to the World Championship. The significant difficulty I was experiencing was the constant sports injury and the unpaid medical bill for the medical staff. The situation was a cause of concern among the team members. Whilst communication breakdowns dominated, the President and other officials remained very supportive. We managed to qualify the next World and European Championship and finish successfully.

The 5 Whys

A summary of the five whys as per the case study outlined below:

Table 1. A summary of 5 whys. (Serrat, 2017)

The 5 Whys table illustrates the main reasons why the team risked disqualification from the World Championship. Constant sports injuries, lack of enough resources from the Greek State to pay medical staff, and subsequent lack of enough medical staff to heal the injuries top the reasons why the team was almost being disqualified. It reached a level where those who were fit to take part in the sporting activities were not adequate as required by the World Championship.

Management and leadership insights derived from the case study

In the healthcare setting, strategic partnerships and collaboration between the various stakeholders, institutions, and agencies that form a useful basis for improved decision-making, enhanced innovativeness and improvements in health care service delivery (Weberg, 2012).   Indeed, the healthcare sector is characterized by a great deal of diversity in terms of medical personnel and client base, and hence diversity management is gaining prominence as a crucial source of competitive advantage in the health care setting (Weberg, 2012).

In handling the complex professionalized healthcare organizations like in the present case, the President also applied collaborative theory in helping the team not to be disqualified from the Championship competition. The service leadership adopted by the President enabled the effective mobilization of the team members and other stakeholders. However, during this process, he did fully involve other key leaders, including ordinary team members. The active collaboration between various members of the team and beyond was a significant aspect that President instilled in the team and enabled the team to focus on achievement through others.

The President of the Gymnastics Federation displayed transformational leadership based on how he strongly emphasized the need to venture into new grounds by stretching our limits and trying new possibilities. For instance, the President was passionate about diversity, and he was willing to push himself beyond the limit to help achieve various objectives. To avoid healthcare challenges such as insufficient funding and lack of adequate care for patients, as observed in the case study, (Babiker et al., 2014) notes that there is a need to adopt the principles of team-based healthcare, particularly shared goals and effective communication. These resulted in the organization making a highly effective decision and hence, avoiding the risk of being disqualified from the competition.

Healthcare leaders can always use group dynamics by assigning different roles to facilitate professionals’ engagement and improved teamwork. Like what was done by the President, there was a division of labour in which every team member was given a role to play in preventing the team from being disqualified.  Players and team doctors were encouraged to do their best in their respective areas so that the team do not get disqualified.

An alternative management approach that would enhance the performance and management of teams in a healthcare setting is the situational approach. This leadership approach provides that leaders should adjust to cope with the current situation with an organisation (Trastek, Hamilton, and Niles, 2014). Based on the case study, the President of the Federation had to flexibly adjust in finding an alternative way of getting funs to ensure that the players proceed to the champions.

Case Study 2

During my tenure as a team leader, I experienced many leadership styles in the National Team of rhythmic gymnastics. This is primarily due to several factors, which include advancement in training techniques, changes to national policy, and leaving/joining of new coaches. During my seven years of leadership, I had to lead a team of athletes where team members had different characters, backgrounds, as well as a level of experience. On one occasion, I faced a very demanding situation where the head coach had been fired a few months before the final qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The issue had affected all girls in the team who felt de-motivated and did not want to train with another coach at a crucial stage during training. I had to convince them to stay focused on our goal. Some girls could not withstand the physical and mental pressure from the new coach. My primary role was playing as a mediator between the coach and the girls, which helped me, find a balance in times of tension and positively reinforce the girls in times of failure. Eventually, we participated in the final and managed to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics and emerged second runners-up.

The 5 Whys

A summary of the 5 whys as per the case study is outlined below:

Table 2. A summary of the 5 whys. (Serrat, 2017)

One of the key problems that I faced during my tenure in a leadership position in the National Team is the possible disqualification from the O.G.  As international athletes, the physical and mental pressures associated with continuous training are something that is rewarded by making it to levels where the athlete can engage competitively and successfully. Another key challenge that I faced is that the team refused to do training a few months before the final qualification. As an enormous duty, rhythmic gymnastics required constant, and well-measured training in order to ensure a great deal of perfection and to reduce instances of injuries during the competition, and hence the ultimate decision by the team not to engage in training proved a major setback to my leadership orientations. Changes to the training plan also introduced unfamiliar schedules that could potentially undermine the already achieved change and also reduce the momentum and flexibility of the training sessions. Given that the previous coach firmed, the hiring of a new couch before the final qualification was also a blow to the National Team.

Management and leadership insights derived from the case study

In a complex and rapidly healthcare organisation, leaders should adopt a situational leadership style as they encounter different situations every single day (Xu, 2017). This would ensure that they remain flexible in every case and be able to deal with different teams of healthcare they manage (Kutz, 2012). According to Kowskeand Anthony (2007), motivation is a significant aspect of situational leadership since it allows a leader to meet and exceeds the targeted results. In the present case, the emerging third position was a significant achievement due to the challenges we had faced that had led to team members feeling demotivated to continue with training.

For healthcare professionals, the core challenge in achieving team motivation is associated with changes to leadership approaches and organisational culture and practices. In the case of transactional model, the leadership system is always constrained through a top-down approach, which limits the cultural dynamics that can facilitate positive team motivation. The participatory leadership style is the most preferred since every individual in a group may provide valuable insight that may help improve the current situation.

In order to avoid challenges like de-motivation among the team members as a result of changing the coach, as has been observed in the case study, the team leader adopted a mediation theory to ensure that the girls continued to work as a team even with the new coach. This led into the organization making very effective decision and thereby avoiding the risk of being disqualified from the Olympic Games.

With group dynamics, healthcare professionals can catalyse the process of collaboration, problem solving, creativity, and team management, which are crucial for team motivation (Babiker et al., 2014).

Based on the case study, an alternative management approach that can enhance teamwork and team motivation is the participatory leadership style. An emotionally intelligent leader can understand their mood, drives, and emotions, and how these factors affect the group. In the case study, I was able to control my emotions and reach out to the team to give them motivation. With emotional intelligence, a leader is able to possess social skills, empathy, motivation, self-regulation, and awareness that are critical in managing a team. In the healthcare context, emotional intelligence will enable the leader to listen to the teammates, and as a result, communicate effectively in a manner that motivates the team members, increases productivity, and rectify errors (Smith, Profetto-McGrath, and Cummings, 2009). In the healthcare setting, emotional intelligence is paramount.

Case Study 3

I am going to describe the following case in the 1st person as it is based on my own experience as a leader of the team. One month before the World Championship, I dealt with a case where I had to support one of our athletes who were undergoing appendicitis, and we replaced her position with another athlete to enable her to recover. When she came back to the team, she had much pain after the surgery, and she had lost most of her physical condition. As a leader, I helped her get back, recover her technique and improve her psychology. Moreover, I emphasised on her strengths and until the last month before the competition, I tried to motivate her to give her best, and she finally succeeded.

The 5 Whys

A summary of the five whys as per the case study is outlined below:

Table 3. A summary of 5 whys (Serrat, 2017)

The problem identified from the case study is the reconstruction of the team members before the Olympic Games.The challenge was due to the replacement of one of the team members by another since the main athlete lost their self-assurance, physical condition and therefore out of training for a month to undergo and nurse a surgery. Whilst the leader’s experience was exceptional, insightful and highly practical, several problems appeared to undermine the level of team’s preparedness for the completion. The main problem experienced during the tenure as the leader of the team was the reconstruction of the team one month before the O.G. This was due an unfortunate event where one of the main team members had to go through medical surgery, and this negatively affected her in terms of reduced physical condition, non-involvement in training, reduced self-assurance and the effects of surgery.

Management and leadership insights derived from the case study

One month before the World Championship, one of our team members had to leave and undergo appendicitis, and after resuming training, she experienced various challenges renewing her initial condition.  This is a typical feature of any healthcare organization as issues will always arise. The decision making processes was to simply encourage the player and improve her psychology

Within the healthcare setting, in the event an employee is incapacitated in performing their duties effectively, the leaders should find an alternative to avoid stopping essential activities (Spurgeon, Clark, and Ham, 2017). In such a situation, a leader should practise empathy and compassion, which can help the people to establish a more favourable environment for each stakeholder (Spurgeon, Clark, and Ham, 2017).

In order to help one of the team members regain his physical condition due to the appendicitis, the team leader replaced her with another player and subsequently helped her get back, recover her technique and improve her psychology. The team leader emphasised on her strengths and this made her recover successfully. The decision in this case was very effective as it helped the team member recover.

Like in the present case, group dynamics can be used by healthcare leaders in different contexts to facilitate professionals’ engagement and improved teamwork. For instance, the team leader replaced the sick player with another athlete and this made the team to go on in the competition despite one of them being injured. This action actually helped improve engagement and teamwork among all the athletes in the team.

There was no substantive alternative leadership option here as the player was already sick and had to sick medical attention. On the same note, the team would not participate in the competition with few athletes as this would lead to their disqualification from the competition.

Personal Development Plan

Successful leaders can provide solutions for different issues of their followers, which leads to the achievement of the set objectives. Thus, below is the assessment of my development plan.

My Ideal (Authentic) Self

My leadership experience in the National Team of Rhythmic gymnastics has inspired me to be is a motivator. I wish to get a job which will allow me express my leadership skills and gain more experience. I would inspire my followers and help them deal with issues which may affect their ability to deliver work. I want to help and inspire others to achieve their goals, no matter the challenging circumstances. As a leader, I aspire to be able to encourage each of my followers to not only follow their dreams but always to remain focused to achieve them.

My dream career is a job that allows me to express myself, grow personally and professionally, and to be able to apply my leadership personality to my team. I am motivated to be a leader as it offers the opportunity to serve others. I prefer demonstrating my skills, innovations, ideas, and mind so that I can help others around me to grow as I learn from them. This is why I would prefer working in an organisation that creates opportunities for employees and facilitates a team culture. My particular career of interest is a health manager at the private or public sector of the healthcare sector. The healthcare setting has the key opportunities that I value; there is the aspect of team-building, growth, learning, and serving not only patients but other practitioners as well.

In the next 15 years, I aspire to develop and use transferable skills in becoming a successful manage, achieving all the goals and challenges in the field of health. Moreover, I will be pleased to use my transferable skills to inspire people in the team to become future managers. Creating opportunities for others is an important transferable skill that I aspire to develop. My ideal legacy is to keep employees engaged: leaders make their vision and goals clear to employees by explaining the reasons. Research shows that leaders in today’s rapidly changing healthcare environments can adopt a wide range of leadership approaches including situational leadership, transformational, democratic leadership, transactional leadership, distributed and participatory leadership styles

My Real Self

I am a charismatic, situational leader with an ambition to serve. I am always self-driven and self-assured, and more often, I am aware of other people’s feelings. When vision is shared within my team, I do forge ahead to meet the goals and challenges without any fear. My five-course include integrity, respect, achievement, justice, and optimism. I am always optimistic about my future endeavours and goals; I always believe that with hard work, everything must turn out well.

My strength as a leader with the behavioural style is being able to respond to challenging situations. I am a direct, team builder and an honest and respectful person and would always be rational at all times. I am a positive competitor; I don’t see other people as a threat, but rather individuals who can influence my growth. Being visionary is a key strength I possess; I never give up on any of my goals, and I can generate fast results through dedication and hard work.

However, some of my weaknesses include being upset when my team members are too slow to respond to situations. Getting angry when others get in my way of leadership; I love my private space, and I rarely entertain being controlled in my position as a leader.

Action Plan

References

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