Leadership Approach : The Skills Approach

The present case study outlines the importance the leadership skill and identifies it as the most sustainable competitive edge in a progressively more competitive and boundary less business world (Hoch and Dulebohn, 2013). The case study on performance coaching with reference to the role of Darcy Gallagher gives the opportunity to comprehend the qualities and skills that need to be nourished to become an effective leader. The kingpin of the case study is the important elements of competency that affect the leadership outcomes and are influenced by the individual characteristics of the leader as well. The main purpose of the Coaching Performance to be conducted at Elmwood is to develop responsiveness to coaching facilities that are available in the daily work routine and aids the mangers to identify the problems of the members, the prompt responses to address their problems and add to the contribution made for long term career growth of the leaders as well as their subordinates.

According to the textbook, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, there are over 100 definitions of the word “leadership”, and all of them are unique in their own way (Northouse, 2015, p.1). There are so many different aspects to leadership that is it nearly impossible to have one definition that covers every area. Each and every person that is a considered a leader has his or her own way of leading because every situation, whether it be work, a team, at home, etc., calls for different and distinctive ways of leading people. Northouse states that there are six main aspects of leadership; it’s a trait, ability, skill, behavior, relationship, and an influential process (Northouse, p. 3-6). Giving a clear answer as to what leadership is defined as is very difficult, but this paper will talk about my specific leadership skills and what leadership means to me.

The skills theory of leadership is emerged as a simple and prominent theory in 1955, though Robert Katz had published his paper "Skills of an Effective Administrator" in the "Harvard Business Review." The

Throughout the entire course of this class, I have been asked to fill out different self-assessments related to whatever topic or approach to leadership Peter Northouse (2013) was discussing in his book Leadership Theory and Practice. Each one of these self-assessments were intended to help me in discovering who I was as a person and a leader. Some of the leadership self-assessments included the Least Preferred Coworker Measure from the Contingency Theory chapter, the Leader-Member Exchange Questionnaire from the Leader-Member Exchange Theory chapter, and the Servant Leadership Questionnaire from the chapter that discussed Servant Leadership. Many of these questionnaires I found to be very effective in helping me discover more about my personality traits and leadership style.

Communication skills sometimes take a backseat to matters of finance and business they are in fact essential to producing desired business results—from achieving physician buy-in for technologies, to convincing staff to embrace change, to building community support for hospital initiatives. Today, more healthcare organizations are recognizing the importance of effective communication and are using innovative methods for improvement—such as "lock-ins," where leaders, managers, and staff employees, work together to plan budgets, and "jamming" or "workouts," which are

Effective leaders opt to implement a specific type of leadership style as a result of their personalities and job experiences, and apply it to their organizational structure. However, that particular type of leadership style a leader utilizes may not apply to every job situation (Peak et al., 2010). In order to be an effective leader, an individual must acquire the three basic leadership skills and they are as follows: (1) human relations; (2) conceptual skills; and (3) technical skills (Haberfeld, 2013). Additionally, a skillful leader must also be proficient in motivating, communicating, and problem solving (Hess & Orthmann, 2012).

As a charge nurse I could utilize my interpersonal and leadership skills to delegate tasks to other nurses within the scope of practice. My previous experience scheduling, overseeing nursing staff, among other managerial duties and responsibilities could assist me in the transitional role between floor nurse to charge nurse. As a charge nurse, I would be able to provide guidance to floor nurses for patient care given by my three years of experience. Evaluating other health care team members’ performance will be one of my key responsibilities, and I may assist in developing and implementing new educational programs for staff members to be up to date in new medical advances and current medical information. I am confident of my success as a charge nurse given proper training and because of my past leadership roles and experience as a floor nurse.

Hughes and Kring (2005) stated that charge nurses should have basic leadership skills, which include the ability to communicate, delegate, troubleshoot, think critically, address issues proactively, and organize effectively. Behavioral skills that can be used to foster cooperation and trust are fairness, consistency, support, recognition, and communication with staff throughout the shift. Additionally, the charge nurse role requires multitasking as well as critical thinking (Connelly et al., 2003).

“We all have competencies. They are the sum of our experiences and the knowledge, skills, values, and attitudes we have acquired during our lifetime” (Pickett, 1998, p. 103). A successful organization will have a set of competencies defined. Having competencies identified outlines the framework of standards that a company and employees should follow. There is a tendency to list a large number of competencies when creating the standards for an organization. Companies should focus on five to seven key core competencies that are needed in order to be successful. The core competencies should encompass the growth of the company, staff, and public perception.

The ability and strength of an individual to achieve goals by supervising processes, guiding initiatives and employees is defined as Leadership skills. Valuable leadership skills include taking thoughtful decisions, allocation of resources, and the ability to delegate, inspire and communicate effectively. Other leadership traits include honesty, confidence, commitment and creativity. Leadership competencies can be used to effectively select, develop and promote leaders in an organization .The difference between Leadership Skill and leadership competency can explained as the required level of efficiency to perform a task assigned is known as skill whereas the quality to accomplish the same is called as competency. When creating leadership competencies certain factors are considered such as business strategies and future trends. To drive the use of competencies in selecting and developing leaders HR practitioners should use the business strategies. To effectively build a unique set of skills for the organization 's leaders, the firm will sustain competitive advantage. The role of a project manager has always been my interest. The position which I have always desired is a role of project manager.

A leader can help the staffing ratio issue by creating a vision. With this vision, they are able to create a plan that incorporates new ideas to find solutions. Leaders are risk takers and like to challenge others to formulate ways of doing things better. Leaders like to build relationships and promote those around them and help them develop so they as well as the company can grow. (Coonan 2007) Since leaders are not always in manager roles, they often are the ones who are working at the bedside and can help staffing ratios because they can base them on the individual needs while taking into account the training and experience of the nurse taking care of those patients. They are trying to look out for the best solution for everyone involved. Leaders act as guides to those around them rather than try and control others. Leaders are the ones who stand up for others. These kinds of leaders are able to inspire and motivate people to achieve solutions to problems.

A leadership approach to staffing issues may focus on how the current staff can work together to provide quality care that is necessary for patient satisfaction, without experiencing burnout. While a leader should keep budget and costs in mind, their focus should be using the available resources and staff to attain the same goal as management. A leadership approach would be “optimizing nursing intensity based on actual patient needs to address the perceived nursing shortage by creating a better fit between patient demands and the available nursing resources used in the clinical setting.” (Welton, 2007).

This Leadership Theory and Practice class was not at all what I expected it to be, which is great. I had heard of other people who had taken this class previously with different professors and how all they did was write papers and honestly, hardly learned anything about leadership. This class thankfully had an easy work load which helped with my senioritus, but still challenged me to think about different leadership styles, concepts, and what it truly means to be a leader. I was able to hear the views of many other people especially those who were also in the class, but also from the different people we had interviewed for the assignment we had to present on. I learned a lot about leadership and I learned a lot about myself in a leadership

It’s weaknesses are: 1) the extensiveness of the Skills Approach seem to expand further than the boundaries of leadership, 2) it can not explain in specifics how skills lead to the effective performance of a leader, 3) although it claims not be a trait approach model, a huge component of it does in fact include individual attributes, 4) it may need to be proven in generalized organizations and populations because findings were constructed using only military personnel in the armed services. (Northouse, 2010).

First of all as pertaining to the trait theory I am a born leader with all the relevant leadership qualities that will enable me to be the best team leader. I posses a personality as well as cognitive ability which are qualities that underlie an effective leader. When it comes to skills I will apply the skills and knowledge that I acquired in my two year management course that I took. Therefore with my learned skills, the styles that I have developed as well as the knowledge that I acquired will act as key factors that will be applicable in my position as a team leader (VectorStudy ,2013).There are various styles of leadership that I