Leadership and the Graduate Nursing Role

Introduction

Leadership plays a significant role in shaping the development of every individual in the workplace. While some individuals are capable of leading other, others are better at following others in order to enhance productivity. However, it is obvious that everyone has a specific leadership style fitting their personal characteristics. In fact, it means that everyone decides whether to continue improving personal leadership attributes or not. In general, it is impossible to ignore the fact that leadership position defines the interaction with other employees. The following discussion is a reflection of the results of a quiz on the leadership style and leadership skills of a graduate level nurse.

Leadership Style

According to the results of the quiz, the author’s personal leadership style is democratic leadership. Democratic leadership means that the leader is capable of guiding a team by involving each member in the decision-making process, which makes the results of the collective thinking agreeable for every team member. A democratic leadership style considers that every team member plays a significant role in shaping the decisions. A democratic leader values everyone participating in brainstorming, which makes it easier to make the most appropriate decision. Democratic leadership means free access to power, which means that every team member is capable of controlling the performance of the team and influencing its productivity (Zydziunaite, 2012). It is a participative leadership style, which captures the ideas due to the involvement and knowledge of every group member. Equality, respect, freedom of speech, and encouragement to participate in the decision-making process are the common traits of a democratic leader. In fact, the involvement and engagement help a democratic leader to be the primary source of equality in a team, which welcomes others to share their ideas and suggest new solutions to problems.

There are many benefits of the democratic leadership style. First, it builds a consensus within a team by meeting needs of every team member and including all points of view in the decision-making process. It is an appropriate style for the reduction of conflicts and quick resolution of problems (Zydziunaite, 2012). In fact, it helps create a shared vision, goals, and aspirations, which make separate people a team. As a result, team members feel dedicated to the performances of each other and feel the dependence on the discussion of difficult situations in a team. Finally, a democratic leadership style helps to expand the boundaries of creativity of every team member, which helps find the most unusual and creative solutions.

Ideally, democratic leadership should not be an excuse for procrastination or any other hindrances to the decision-making process. It is a style, which is built on the leader’s encouragement and motivation. In this way, it becomes possible to encourage others to offer fresh ideas to reach the team’s performance goals.

The Connection to Personal Beliefs about Leadership Style

The results of the quiz perfectly fit the author’s personal beliefs regarding the leadership style. It is necessary to learn how to engage others in the decision-making process in order to reach the goals of a project or solve a problem. Speaking from personal experience, the author has always been looking for partners or advisors in order to handle difficult situations. In fact, it helped to expect an appropriate outcome of any problematic issue in the light of sharing experience and knowledge.

It is impossible to apply autocratic style in the decision-making process from the perspective of nursing. It is obvious that there is a need to discuss the problem with others and consult various sources of information in order to take the right step in a difficult situation. It is important to consider different points of view in order to maintain responsibility for the outcomes of the decisions. The results of the quiz proved that a democratic leadership style is the most suitable approach for resolving routine complex tasks and duties, which require high attention and concentration from a team of employees.

In addition, it is necessary to have an ability to use creativity for the benefit of routine activities. It is a significant part of the establishment of high quality performance, which can be achieved through mutual support, collaboration, and encouragement of employees (Lefebre, DeCicco, & Ray, 2012). In particular, a democratic leadership style became the answer to the question of personal application of creativity in developing plans and achieving success.

In general, a democratic leadership style is expected to help understand further development of skills in order to accommodate in the workplace quickly. It should become a key to the development of effective relations with colleagues based on mutual respect, support, understanding, and willingness to contribute to the success of the team. In general, the quiz supported personal beliefs regarding further development and evolution in the leadership sphere. It is important to consider the following passages in order to understand how to continue personal improvement in order to successfully graduate and accommodate to the working environment.

Attributes of Leadership for Graduate Level Nurses

It is necessary to discuss many attributes of leadership, which should complement the performance of graduate level nurses. In terms of democratic leadership, a successful leader should have a clear vision of the future performance and outstanding communication skills. It is important to see the targets of the performance and know how to communicate with others in order to achieve strategic goals. In particular, the strategic plan should involve not only personal goals, but also goals of the whole team. Nursing involves continuous interaction with colleagues, which means that it is impossible to have a selfish approach towards career development. In nursing democratic leadership can help to meet interests of other employees. In fact, it means that it is necessary to have appropriate planning skills. Without planning, it would be impossible to achieve any success because the steps will not have any systematic approach (Lefebre, DeCicco, & Ray, 2012). Chaotic decision-making without support of colleagues can lead to unexpected consequences, which may destroy the career of a nurse.

Self-reflection is another important attribute, which should be helpful in the establishment of an effective leadership position. A graduate level nurse should be capable of gaining knowledge from personal experience in order to avoid mistakes and strive for continuous improvement. Self-reflection is a remarkable tool for acquiring new skills and characteristic traits from performance in the workplace (Jurek & Scime, 2013). It can help build trust among employees due to the ability to avoid conflicts, which resulted from mistakes of the past. Learning from personal experience also helps establish appropriate tolerance and loyalty in the communication with colleagues and patients, representing the multicultural diversity. This way, it becomes possible to avoid discrimination and encourage others to be loyal.

Finally, one of the most necessary skills for a graduate level nurse is maintaining a work-life balance. It is the core of a regulated performance, which should help a democratic leader teach others how to manage the implementation of plans. In this way, a nurse becomes capable of fulfilling her routine duties and satisfying personal needs (Bhatti, Maitlo, Shaikh, Hashmi, & Shaikh, 2012). Otherwise, it will be impossible to learn how to succeed and lead others towards effective performance in a team.

Personal Leadership Attributes

Some of the author’s personal leadership attributes include outstanding communication skills combined with cultural competence as a significant part of performance. It should be helpful in the establishment of culturally friendly relations in the workplace. In addition, personal communication experience helped to establish an appropriate communication style, which helps to avoid conflicts and resolve difficult situations with alternative solutions. It is a significant trait, which helps to relate to the principles and cultural values of other people. In fact, it is supposed to help establish friendly and reliable workplace relations aiming to benefit a nursing career.

In addition, it is possible to include outstanding time management skills, which should be helpful in the creation of plans. It should be easier to build routine schedules and optimize the performance of other employees. As soon as there is an opportunity to lead others towards success, time management skills will help to define tasks for others and support their involvement in various activities. Personal ability to manage schedules and complete tasks according to their urgency is a significant advantage in the democratic leadership style. Democracy, loyalty, and tolerance have an obvious connection, which is supposed to benefit not only the leader, but also other employees.

However, there are skills, which require improvement in order to fit the working environment of an experienced nurse. Self-confidence should be additionally developed in order to play its role in the development of a career in nursing. Although, there is a lack of self-confidence, it does not interfere with communication or other performance aspects. In addition, it is necessary to improve the ability to take risks. It should be obvious that risk-taking relates to confidence and requires additional training. It is impossible to develop without taking actual risks, which has its advantages in the optimization of democratic leadership. Democracy considers freedom of choice and the ability to come up with the most unexpected solutions. In fact, a democratic leader should be ready to apply the most unusual creative approaches in order to risk and see the effects of the new approach. However, it is also necessary to have enough experience in order to predict the outcomes of risk-taking initiatives.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the paper has successfully reflected on the essence of the democratic leadership style, its peculiarities, skills required for a graduate level nurse, and personal leadership skills. It is clear that there are still many problems in personal leadership skills, which require additional attention in order to make them suitable for the position of a nurse. Moreover, a highly qualified nurse should be capable of adjusting to their working environment. The paper showed that there should be no difficulties in integration in the working environment thanks to the outstanding communication skills. The following quotation from a journal article concludes the discussion raised in the paper. According to Zydziunaite (2012), “Nursing has a responsibility to encourage and support new members of the profession, as they become competent clinicians.”

Related Free Nursing Essays