• Identify leadership styles and approaches
• Identify attributes of leadership styles and approaches that facilitate quality supervision.
• Explain characteristics of quality supervision.
Leadership and Approaches
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Leadership and Approaches
Introduction
Healthcare leadership is a broad field of practice. It involves the individual’s ability to identify priorities and provide strategic direction to multiple actors within the health system. Leadership requires the commitment across the health sector to address those priorities for improved health services (Kadushin et al., 2009). Leaders work in a dynamic field characterized by a common objective, which is to deliver the safest, efficient, and high-quality care possible. Supervision is one aspect of healthcare leadership. This paper discusses leadership styles and approaches in detail.
There are several leadership styles and approaches that are applied in healthcare management or social work. They include transformational leadership, situational leadership, participatory leadership, value-based leadership, servant leadership, and participatory leadership. Servant leaders improve or enrich the lives of others by creating a caring environment (Doyle, 2019). Situational leadership styles allow leaders to match their behaviors to the current situation at hand. Situational leadership is widely applied by many organizations. Additionally, value-based leadership involves guiding the team by encouraging others to practice as per the organization’s shared core values. Rather than focusing exclusively on metrics, it emphasizes the organization’s mission and vision. Last but not least, transformational leaders and highly influential leaders serve as a role models to inspire others (Doyle, 2019). They are visionaries who inspire others and encourage critical thinking and innovation.
Supervision is an important aspect of healthcare. It helps manage employees in the process of performing their daily tasks. Supervision ensures that healthcare operations run smoothly and efficiently (Kadushin et al., 2009). There are certain attributes that these leaderships approaches must adapt to facilitate quality supervision. The first attributes are related to individual supervision, which is the most widely used model. Here, supervision is delivered in a one-on-one tutorial session scheduled weekly for at least an hour. They may also perform group supervision where a social work supervisor performs the functions of supervision, administrative, and supportive work in a group format (Kadushin et al., 2009). In some situations, supervision can be led by a peer group. In this situation, no supervisory oversight or authority exists. All participants hold equal status in terms of accountability and responsibility for their practice (Kadushin et al., 2009). All these approaches or attributes are applied based on the situation at hand, organizational structure and goals, and other organizational characteristics.
Regardless of attributes, models, or approaches of supervision applied, quality supervision is paramount in ensuring efficient healthcare delivery. Quality supervision is marked by certain characteristics, such as fairness and justice, effective communication, empathy and compassion, conflict resolution, problem-solving, time priority and management, and proper work delegation (Doyle, 2019). To achieve quality supervision, the leader must be ready to treat everyone fairly and everyone must receive justice at work. The leader must not be biased or show any behavior that suggests the same. Effective communication is a core characteristic of quality supervision. Supervisors must have excellent verbal and written communication skills to help them address others with the impact, clarity, and brevity it deserves. Employees are just humans who struggle, sometimes have bad days, and experience failure (Doyle, 2019). Therefore, supervisors need to approach those who struggle with empathy and compassion.
Conclusion
Leaders are important in any organization because they are the ones who shape directions towards achieving the mission and vision of such organizations. There are various models and approaches of leadership that can be applied in social work. Supervision approaches are often incorporated in these leadership styles to ensure quality work. Characteristics of quality supervision include fairness and justice, effective communication, empathy and compassion, and others.
References
Doyle, L. (2019). Leadership Styles: The 5 Most Common & How to Find Your Own. https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/leadership-styles/
Kadushin, G., Berger, C., Gilbert, C., & St. Aubin, M. D. (2009). Models and methods in hospital social work supervision. The Clinical Supervisor, 28(2), 180-199. https://doi.org/10.1080/07325220903324660