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comment 1 After watching the videos about Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Loretta Ford, it made me think about what kind of leader I will be in my future practice as a Nurse Practitioner. The Fiedler Contingency Theory of Leadership is one that allows me to determine my leadership style. This theory focuses around the idea of the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale to identify styles of leadership. The scale determines the score to be a high or low LPC. The high LPC “tends to be a relationship-oriented and considerate about the feelings of coworkers” (McEwen & Wills, 2019, p.382). While the low LPC is considered to be more task oriented. Then Fiedler explains ‘Situation Control’ as a classification for the leader. “Leader-member relations can be classified as good or poor, task structure as high or low, and position power as strong or weak” (McEwen & Wills, 2019, p.383). Having only been involved in a few leadership roles throughout my professional career as a nurse, the majority of my leadership style as evolved around being task oriented. I have worked in the ICU and held the role as ‘Team Leader’ while on these units. While the charge nurse handled the majority of clinical issues, I had the responsibility of helping others with nursing tasks such as admissions, medication administration, repositioning, and questions that involved critical thinking. In this role I was required to be timely and efficient. Not only was I helping my fellow co-workers, I also had to continue taking care of my patients. The ‘Task Oriented’ style is considered to be low on the LPC scale. However, the situation control would have been described as a good leader-member relation and high task structure. Fiedler notes that “the Low LPC leader (task-oriented) has been found to be most effective in very favorable situations” (McEwen & Wills, 2019, p.383). I find this interesting because I personally was not in a role of power as the team leader, but in a role that provided task-oriented assistance to my coworkers. I can understand why the low LPC was more favorable. This position worked closely with other coworkers lending help and assistance creating a more efficient work environment. In my future practice as a Nurse Practitioner, I hope to evolve my position on the LPC scale to having a strong position of power while still maintaining my task-oriented abilities. I believe that the nurse practitioner holds a variety of leadership qualities depending on which direction they choose to take. The role of a NP in the hospital will focus on being task-oriented while developing good relationship with nurses that may work in conjunction. While a clinic NP will focus on leadership qualities to patient and coworker satisfaction and trustworthiness. The NP in both settings have intertwining leadership qualities. Overall, as a NP I hope to be able to utilize the leadership abilities that I have already obtained while striving to develop other qualities that will make me an effective leader in my future practice. Reference McEwen, M. & Wills, E.M. (2019). Theoretical Basis for Nursing (5th ed.). Wolter Kluwer. comment 2 Q: What leader do you most admire? What is it about her or him that you believe demonstrates leadership? A: I chose not to speak about any of the provided videos on this topic, however, chose my own role model instead. I personally believe you can be a leader without formally being in a leadership position. The person I chose as a leader and mentor to me is a fellow floor RN. She is the same rank as me (RN II) and has been a RN for the same period of time, however, she shows vast leadership skills and is a very well-rounded individual. I can see her being a charge nurse within a matter of months. She demonstrates leadership by being a team player and by thinking outside the box to get the job done. She is willing to sacrifice for her patients and she uses her brain on the job. She is not lazy, and she is willing to help others who need help. She knows what she is talking about and educates herself to ensure she can provide the correct care. She is kind, compassionate and again, just willing to help. She gets her hands dirty, but she does not complain about the workload that we are currently experiencing. She does not add to the misery, she builds up others versus being negative. Q: What leadership style do you have or want to have? A: I feel right now that I am using the Motivation-Hygiene Theory, but I am also a lazy leader. I motivate others, but I am not really interested in my patients anymore. I am only motivated when I see another motivated person on the unit, and with everything that is going on in the world, no one is motivated any longer. We all have 10-15 patients each and we are too worn down or too busy to be happy. So, I am lazy, but I still encourage others to do a good job and I also volunteer to help others when they request help. But I do not go above and beyond anymore, because I have not seen any benefits from doing that on my unit. I used to try hard to please everyone, complete my charting on time and help everyone else on the unit, but again, with no thanks given, it just made me realize that if they aren’t thankful for the help I am providing, then why should I go above and beyond (besides it being the right thing to do). I want to be a transformational leader versus a transactional leader. Q: As you were reading about leadership theory, did you think of someone you know who may lead using one of those theories? A: I am a transactional leader. I get things done for the day, but I am not looking at the big picture. I am not looking at what I do or say today affects not only my future but the future of my coworkers and patients. I need to be acting for tomorrow, not for the heat of the moment. “A transactional leader is viewed as the traditional manager, a manager who is concerned with day-to-day operations. The transformational leader is a long-term visionary who can inspire and empower others with his or her vision” (McEwen & Wills, 2019, p.385)My vision is to make a unit that is more motivated and inspired to work hard to get the mission completed. However, my actions are simply, “just get it done”. I need to strive to do better, this post is a great way to get motivated to do better. Q: Consider your current or future work. What leadership style do you think is best suited for that work? A: I believe the Motivation-Hygiene Theory would be an excellent theory to use when the FNP program is completed and I am in a more serious leader role in a healthcare setting. I will need to keep my “employees” (RNs, charge nurses, unit secretaries etc.) happy and this would be a great tool to use. The theory is summarized as; the theorist wanted to figure out what motivated people/workers to do a good job. It was decided that motivators should be emphasized. These motivators were opportunities for promotions or an advancement in their career, rewarding work and additional salary with good working conditions and excellent leaders. If I can recognize a hardworking, quick thinking RN or a healthcare worker to their leaders/supervisors and help them get promoted or just let leadership know that they are doing a good job, perhaps this will keep them motivated to continue to provide excellent care. Citations: McEwen, M. & Wills, E.M. (2019). Theoretical Basis for Nursing (5th ed.). Wolter Kluwer.
