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Leadership Styles: Examining Transformational Leadership Styles in Hospital Management

Hoang Nam Vo

School of Health and Public Safety, Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT)

MNGT-408: Project and People Management

Assignment: Leadership Self-Reflection

September 25, 2023

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Leadership Styles: Examining Transformational Leadership Styles in Hospital Management

In health care, there is a continuous demand for improvement of safety, reliability, and

effectiveness, where leadership plays a vital role in organizational behavior and culture to deliver the

best care to patients. Malik and Azmat (2019, p. 25) defined leadership as “a process in which a

person or persons inspire(s) and motivate(s) the people to meet the shared goals or objectives which

may be changed or added as per the needs and challenges.” Many studies have agreed that the

influence of leadership style on patient outcomes is apparent, stating that proficient leadership creates

a high-quality workplace leading to a positive safety climate, whereas adverse effects were shown on

patient outcomes in cases where effective leadership is absent (Vance & Larson, 2002). Various

leadership styles have been identified by scholars, but five particular types seem to be more

commonly seen: transactional, servant, transformational, task-oriented, and situational leadership

(Frandsen, 2014). Sfantou et al. (2017) have characterized transformational leadership styles as

inspiring and creating relationships among staff, the ability to promote confidence, respect, and

sharing a vision, which leads to higher productivity, employee morale, and job satisfaction. In

hospital management, transformational leaders center their efforts on relationships and collaboration

as key means to improve health outcomes. They focus on active listening, displaying empathy,

engaging communications with stakeholders, and ensuring staff and partners all feel inclusive

represented, and committed to a shared vision (Blackburn, 2021).

Many reports in hospitals and other healthcare settings have shown that transformational

leadership styles are linked with lower patient mortality, increased patient satisfaction, and overall

better quality of care (Vance & Larson, 2002). According to Frankel et al. (2017), the Institute for

Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has identified new leadership mental models, behaviors, and a high-

impact leadership framework that can help healthcare organizations transition from volume-based to

value-based care. According to the IHI, effective leaders should focus their efforts on shaping a

culture of creating visions and wills, developing capability, and delivering results; and all is driven by

persons and community. The roles of transformational leadership styles are demonstrated clearly by
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not just crafting visions and cultures, but also involving staff, stakeholders, and even patients in the

process. Person-centeredness, which according to the IHI is the sine qua non of professionalism,

consists of consistent engagement with staff, patients, and their families, whether in discussion rounds

within the organization or board, leadership, and improvement team meetings. Healthcare leaders are

not defined by title or rank but can be found within all organizational levels, even including patients

and their social networks (Frankel et al., 2017).

Hospitals, or healthcare in general, should aim to be highly reliability, which requires

effective communication and systematic improvements based on the knowledge and experience

gained from expressed concerns. However, this is not always the case. An article by Allan et al.

(2006) provided an example that is frequently observed in operating rooms. Operating staff from

different departments, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, and technicians, walk into

surgery with an underlying belief, derived from experience and habit, that everyone in the room is

skillfully trained and capable of managing their roles without error. Meetings before each procedure

should, although in reality, they are not always constructed, provide a space for voiced concerns to be

openly discussed, and for everyone to take accountability. The article also addressed the manner in

which hospitals strategically approach accountability and implement the systems put in place to bring

that approach to life will have a significant impact on the willingness of care providers to voice their

concerns, which, in turn, plays a vital role in how quick and effective problems are identified.

Organizations should encourage a culture of “mindfulness”, which is defined by Weick and Sutcliffe

(2001) to have constant concerns about the potential for failure, adaptability when the unexpected

arrives, and willingness to defer to expertise despite position or status. Transformational leaders can

foster “mindfulness” mindsets within the organization by fostering inter-professional collaboration

and building highly reliable systems based on the shared goals of shaping a culture of patient and

provider safety.
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References

Malik, M. A., & Azmat, S. (2019). Leader and Leadership: Historical development of the terms and

critical review of literature. Annals of the University of Craiova for Journalism, Communication

and Management, 5, 16-32.

Vance, C., & Larson, E. (2002). Leadership research in business and health care. Journal of Nursing

Scholarship, 34(2), 165–171.

Frandsen, B. (2014). Nursing Leadership Management & Leadership Styles. American Association of

Nurse Assessment Coordination (AANAC).

Sfantou, D. F, Laliotis, A., Patelarou, A. E., Sifaki-Pistolla, D., Matalliotakis, M., & Patelarou, E. (2017).

Importance of Leadership Style towards Quality of Care Measures in Healthcare Settings: A

Systematic Review. Healthcare (Basel), 5(4), 73. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare5040073

Blackburn, K. (2021). Using Transformational Leadership to Move Health Care Upstream. Moving

Health Care Upstream (MHCU). https://www.movinghealthcareupstream.org/using-

transformational-leadership-to-move-health-care-upstream/

Frankel, A., Haraden, C., Federico, F., & Lenoci-Edwards, J. (2017). A Framework for Safe, Reliable, and

Effective Care [White paper]. Institute for Healthcare Improvement and Safe & Reliable

Healthcare. https://www.ihi.org/resources/Pages/IHIWhitePapers/Framework-Safe-Reliable-

Effective-Care.aspx

Frankel, A. S., Leonard, M. W., & Denham, C. R. (2006). Fair and just culture, team behavior, and

leadership engagement: The tools to achieve high reliability. Health Services Research, 41(4),

1690-709. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6773.2006.00572.x

Weick, K. E., & Sutcliffe, K. M. (2001). Managing the unexpected. Jossey-Bass, 9.