Summary

Kouzes and Posner’s transformational leadership model plays a significant role in presenting a systematic overview of the leadership trends taking place across global societies. According to the Kouzes and Posner (2017) model, leadership needs not to be perceived as the position occupied by an individual but as a collection of the personal characteristics, traits, practices and behaviors portrayed. According to Lin, MacLennan, Hunt and Cox (2015), the aforementioned attributed act as crucial sources of guidance of what leaders need to fulfill in order to attain extraordinary heights. Similarly, Vaismoradi, Griffiths, Turunen and Jordan (2016) identify these aspects as essential concepts of transformational leadership. The Kouzes and Posner’s model identifies the practices of leadership as: “challenging the process; inspiring a shared vision; enabling other to act; modeling the way; and encouraging the heart” (Kouzes and Posner, 2017).

All transformational leaders consider challenging certain set institutional processes as ways of life. According to Weng, Huang, Chen and Chang (2015), leaders challenge processes through creation of new ideas and offering support to the model viewpoints created. The challenges imposed to the existing systems are meant to show their willingness to change the ideas expressed into refined processes. According to Boamah, Laschinger, Wong and Clarke (2018), to challenge the process, leaders play an active role in experimenting and taking new risks that are based on new propositions.

A leader’s ability to inspire a shared vision plays an influential role in consolidating the members of the institution while fostering the stakeholders’ commitments towards attaining the shared vision they yearn to create.  According to Ross, Fitzpatrick, Click, Krouse and Clavelle (2014), effective leaders uphold the belief that they can achieve the desired achievements by having a scope of the future and creating an ideal view of what their firm needs to become. As a consequence, such administrators inspire their followers with the set visions and generate enthusiasm for the se vision.

Institutional empowerment and collaborations are enhanced by enabling other organizational players towards taking action. According to Herman, Gish and Rosenblum, (2015), leaders can enable others to act by involving them in their plans and availing an environment that allows them to express their views in decision making processes. Similarly, a transformational leader strives towards creating a working environment that adores the aspects of human dignity and the personal feel of power.

According to Wong (2015), leaders model the way by setting examples. In organizational settings, administrators could demonstrate their ability to shape the desired path by setting daily progresses and goals. Similarly, these leaders show their ability to live by the morals, values and ethical standards they advocate for (Park, 2015).

Organizational stakeholders need to be encouraged and motivated in order to attain the goals, objectives and strategic propositions set by their firms (Alghamdi, Topp and AlYami, (2018). On the other hand, Liukka, Hupli, and Turunen (2018) explain that leaders encourage the heart of their team players by increasing the height of expectations they set for their employees and themselves. Similarly, Cheng, Bartram, Karimi, and Leggat (2016) explain that transformative administrators base their credibility on their track records of attainments, levels of dedication and their day-to-day validations of the institutional goals that need to be met.

Challenging the process

In my line of duty as a registered nurse, I was posted to a local healthcare institution that had just started its operations about three years earlier. As a consequence, the facility was in deep struggle to deliver high quality services for the local population that experienced an exponential growth rate. The hospital’s administration gave me the role of establishing and leading a taskforce aimed at fostering the adoption and implementation of evidence based practice in critical areas of operation such as keeping the patients’ records, prescription and administration of medications, minimization of patient wait times and enhancing the quality of services offered. The task was undoubtedly complex. I attribute the complexity of this role to the fact that it did not only require the engagement of nurses working in this facility but also called for adoption of a framework that would foster optimal levels of inclusivity among other stakeholders such as physicians, ground workers, administrators, funding organizations, the community, service seekers and other institutions that had adopted such a framework. On the other hand, I knew that the program would attain the desired levels of success since most of the facility’s employees were in their youthful age and were eager to learn. Similarly, the management was highly effective in ensuring that the resource commitments made would be availed within the stipulated timeframes.

Considering the strength of the leadership mandate assigned to me, I made the decision of forming a multi-disciplinary team comprising of professionals drawn from different areas of representation within the medical facility. The team formed was highly effective in undertaking comparative analyses, availing the desired expertise, fostering discussions, making recommendations and drafting the necessary adjustments needed for proper implementation of evidence based practices in the hospital. As the overall leader, I had the zeal of inculcating a transformative environment in which all views expressed by members were put into consideration. Further, I stirred the processes of institutionalizing an inter- professional team that operated based on the spirit of inclusivity, teamwork and collaborations. For instance, I made the stakeholders aware of the fact that the decision making processes adopted for the program would treat all concerns put forth by the members with the weight key deserved without alienations and discriminations based on issues such as the position occupied by the member. As a consequence, the program achieved greater heights of success; an aspect that enhanced the quality and standards of services offered by the healthcare facility. Following this initiative, the medical facility boasts of its current position as one of the leading and most operative in the region.

The success achieved by the project would not be realized had I not applied each of the exemplary leadership practices and ten commitments as highlighted by Kouzes and Posner’s model. I applied the five exemplary practices put forth by this model to ensure that the program of intent attained the desired organizational goals and objectives as discussed in the ensuing subsections 

Top, Akdere, and Tarcan (2015) explain that effective leaders tend to acquire higher levels of commitment and appreciation for their efforts from their employees in instances where they model the desired institutional behaviors. As a leader in the aforementioned firm’s taskforce that was faced with the obligation of availing workable evidence based program, I worked hard to build optimal levels of credibility in everything I said as well as what I did. There are instances where the project implementation framework seemed to be unrealistic. I would attribute this position to the fact that the organization did not deliver the required financial resources in time and the human resources availed for this project was very limited. However, I continued articulating the fact that the project would attain the success sought among my team members despite the inadequacies faced. Further, I upheld ethical standards whenever I met with other stakeholders since in my professional practice; I have always believed that personal values play a significant role in guiding my life a work. According to Scully (2015), the values upheld by an individual are highly influential in informing his/her decisions.

Inspiring shared vision

According to Fischer (2016), transformative leaders must have the innate zeal to create and accomplish institutional goals. As a newly posted nurse in the organization, I developed the vision of fostering the delivery of high quality services that are based on the financial strength of the institution. For instance, I realized that there was need for adoption of changes when one patient fell unconscious as a result of longer waiting periods before getting the services sought. On the other hand, some of the clients complained of pertinent issues of laxity such as poor prescription and administration of medications as well as the dilapidating state of the facility’s wards. In my position as an advocate for these patients, I developed the passion to instill changes. Therefore, I took time to advise key organizational players on the importance of adopting evidence based program. Similarly, I fostered moral interactions with other members to attain higher levels of acceptance and buy in of the idea.

Transformational leaders develop the zeal of inculcating a challenging environment as a way of fostering growth (Fischer, 2017). As a leader in the evidence based initiative, I encouraged my team members to ensure that their departments strive towards making incremental advancements in this initiative in order to attain the desired micro-accomplishments. Further, I encouraged them not to refute other stakeholders based on the mistakes they committed as they would act as platforms on which rectifications would be launched to foster optimal levels of success. I remained open to all forms of criticism while searching for new opportunities to instill the changes I wanted for this organization as an aspect of challenging my status quo.

Extraordinary achievements are not made by a single person but with a team (Giddens, 2018). Consequently, collaboration occupies a noble position in the success of any firm. In my role as the leader in the evidence based program, I realized the importance of inculcating teamwork, trustworthiness and creating an operational environment that is based on mutual trust as key elements of fostering success. For instance, I made the decision of adopting a multidisciplinary team that appreciated the roles played by other institutional stakeholders through inclusion of members from all departments within the facility. To create an environment of mutual trust, I ensured that all members had a clear understanding of my beliefs, values and the desired outlook of the facility after the program was fully implemented. Similarly, I encouraged my team players to deliver their feedbacks through multiple channels such as suggestion boxes, emails and text messages in order to express their disappointments and appraisals. Further, I encouraged my members to remain open and share their concerns, information and genuine feelings regarding the progress of the initiative.  

People feel motivated to accomplish a challenging task proper feedback is availed concerning their progress (Kouzes and Posner, 2017). According to Cleeter e al. (2017), availing feedback in an intermittent way allows organizational players to pursue individual growth through self-correction and self-correction. When leading the evidence based practice team, I encouraged each member to develop a sense of worthiness and take their positions as instruments of change in this firm. As a consequence, all members proceeded with their roles while appreciating the fact that optimal standards were expected from their endeavors. Similarly, I encouraged the facility’s management to reward the members that performed exemplarily as a way of challenging other stakeholders towards taking up their roles with the desired levels of seriousness. A part from setting attainable goals, I built my members’ team spirit by holding joint meals to celebrate the success achieved.

Enabling other to act

Effective leaders in healthcare settings are highly influential in fostering the delivery of high quality services. According to Lin et al. (2015), the leadership of a medical institution upholds the desired operational visions of what the organizations need to attain then communicate it to other players in order to evolve the ways and means through which they can be achieved. Kouzes and Posner (2017) explain that transformational leaders must have the ability of imparting the visions they hold for their institutions to other players. As a consequence, superiors need to ensure that the desired institutional goals and objectives are attained by adopting strategic plans aimed at fostering the provision of the desired amenities, acquisition and allocation of the necessary supplies to attain the visions set and putting in place the priorities aimed at improving performance.

Effective leaders in healthcare have the obligation of establishing institutional relationships. Kouzes and Posner (2017) explain that superiors need to enable others to act by fostering an operational environment that thrives on empowerment and collaborations. Similarly, Herman et al. (2015) reveal that the leadership of a healthcare institution needs to foster collaborations by inculcating effective value systems aimed at instilling shared understanding. For instance, Giddens (2018) reveals that the leadership of a healthcare organization is faced with the obligation of creating professional relationships aimed at fostering safety and high quality services. This could be achieved through proper development of an organizational culture that upholds teamwork and is patient centered. According to Brewer et al. (2016), hospitals do not only operate with the aim of availing patients with services that uphold higher degrees of safety and quality but also strive to attain financial stability and offer beneficial services to the immediate society. Therefore, leaders in these facilities have the obligation of ensuring that they advance functional relationships by instilling teamwork.

Leaders in health are faced with the obligation of creating safety in their institutions. According to Weng et al. (2015), the kind of leadership depicted by an organization acts as a critical determinant of its effectiveness in advancing safety among patients. On the other hand, Kouzes and Posner (2017) demystify that transformational leaders foster commitments in their day to day activities by creating programs of excellence then acting as role models for their followers. As a consequence, these superiors act as advocates for improvement of their clinical environments while maintaining higher levels of accountability for the systems put in place.  

The five exemplary leadership practices and ten commitments depicted by effective leaders have been highly influential in fostering the development of my personal abilities. For instance, the model has played a crucial role in effecting my personal interactions when leading other institutional stakeholders. In particular, the framework made me uphold the belief that I must build my leadership based on what I believe. Similarly, the framework made me realize that superiors need to inculcate a clear vision of what they require from their organizations as well as the possible results of their engagements. According to Ross et al. (2018), staff feel motivated in instances where their environments of work present both intrinsic and extrinsic impetus. I would apply the framework established by Kouzes and Posner (2017) in my leadership practices by ensuring that I appreciate the members of my organization and professional teams for any small achievements they make. Similarly, the framework has challenged me to ensure that I question my deeds in a constant way as an aspect of ensuring that I model my operations in ways that are both appropriate and highly desirable. Therefore, I will strive towards ensuring that my team players are encouraged to deliver their feedbacks through multiple channels such as suggestion boxes, emails and text messages in order to express their disappointments and appraisals. I believe that it is through the ideas they put forth, the flaws they identify and the areas of weakness they identify that I will correct and make my leadership better.

Modeling the way

Conclusion

Kouzes and Posner’s transformational leadership model plays a significant role in presenting a systematic overview of the leadership trends taking place across global societies. The model identifies the practices of leadership as: challenging the process; inspiring a shared vision; enabling other to act; modeling the way; and encouraging the heart. The success I achieved in the professional project would not be realized had I not applied each of the exemplary leadership practices and ten commitments as highlighted by Kouzes and Posner’s model.    

References

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