The Riddle of Lead By Example

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The top organizations in the United States share the following qualities in common: unrivaled service, innovation, employee-centricity, meticulous organization, clear communication, bottom-line awareness, and a mission-oriented approach that makes customer service the primary goal (Amos & Weathington, 2008). Organizations that come to mind are Starbucks, Lowe's Home Improvement, Marriott, and it would be an error not to mention Disney.

Other institutions and organizations are ambassadors of their culture and brand—think of sports teams and the United States Marine Corps. According to Millar (2016), they carry the image and represent the institution with which they are affiliated. Members are sold on supporting the mission of that entity and are transformed into brand ambassadors to align with the institution's goals, whether it's winning championships or national defense.

In an ideal situation, one would hope that all organizational leaders put others' interests before their own self-interest. Still, it is not impossible to think of cases where the opposite has occurred in other industries where leadership has been exposed for mismanagement or the misuse of power.

Although leadership faces challenges, according to leaders who are in tune with their moral compass, which guides their value system and simultaneously allows them to identify with their shared community, their moral compass gives their followers the perception that they are genuinely authentic (Steffens et al., 2021). The idea of a moral compass is closely connected to leading by example.

Barriers of Ineffectuality

Leadership is hard. Striving to influence others is the call of the hour for those in positions of influence who would meet their calling as servant leaders (Savel & Munro, 2017). Thus, many bricks within an organization's culture that support employees and the leadership team, facilitating a strong team foundation, are trust. Misused authority or power is a barrier to leadership effectiveness that can make a leader ineffective, which might be missing from the brick-and-mortar foundation of trust in the workplace culture. One type of misused power is coercive influence. This type of power authority is grounded in alarmism and intimidation when personnel fail to meet a leader's performance criteria (Marquis & Huston, 2021). This approach quickly demolishes trust.   

What is Power?

A classical and long-standing explanation of power will provide the atmosphere surrounding a leader's ineffectuality. Having power is the ability to generate energy for an intentional effect (Edwards, 1967). A more scientific definition may serve a purpose, as power is the speed at which work is performed (Cullerne, 2009). However, a final explanation will still stay in mind, especially for organizational leadership. Power is neither positive nor negative; instead, it is how one wields and uses one's energies, abilities, and potential to achieve an effect (Marquis & Huston, 2021).

Empower vs. Power

Over time, teams that have developed trust can build healthy work relationships. When staff feel that their leaders are performing good work, when staff feel that their leaders foster the interest of their personnel, and when staff perceive that no one is trying to control them, it is said that the team and the leader are working in partnership (Marquis & Huston, 2021). It takes time to build trust; the fastest way to build trust is by getting to know those on a leader's team. In theory, the power struggle diminishes in the workplace when direct reports feel that their needs are being met and a genuine workplace partnership exists between staff and leadership.

The Leaders Self-Esteem

Contingent self-esteem, as defined by Gardner et al. (2005), refers to an individual who primarily derives their self-worth from external and environmental confirmation from others, situations, and/or circumstances. By contrast, idyllic self-esteem is that type of self-worth in an individual manifested to the extent that such persons navigate daily life from a position without fear or favor of the impact of favorable and unfavorable events in their life, can realistically evaluate and are settled with their current skills, abilities, shortcomings, and perceived or fundamental inadequacies and who can cope with adversity by remaining untainted by negative perceptions of themselves.

Less-than-stellar workplace environments exhibit the following characteristics of ineffectual leaders: an uncommitted demeanor, unsupportive behavior, failing to consider others' thoughts in decisions, and low visibility in rounding out to keep the workplace sound (Farokhzadian et al., 2018). Best practices, by contrast, are establishing a safe work environment both physically and mentally, departmental commitment, having an "open-door policy, listening to staff concerns, department visibility, and frequent unit rounding.

References:

Amos, E. A., & Weathington, B. L. (2008). An analysis of the relation between employee-organization value congruence and employee attitudes. The Journal of Psychology, 142(6), 615-31. http://dx.doi.org/10.3200/JRLP.142.6.615-632

Cullerne, J. (2009). Power. In J. Cullerne (Ed.), The Penguin dictionary of physics (4th ed.). Penguin. Credo Reference: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?

url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/pendphys/power/0?institutionId=5865

Edwards, P. (1967). Power. In The encyclopedia of philosophy (Vol. 6, pp. 424-427). Macmillan company & the Free Press.

Farokhzadian, J., Nahid, D. N., & Borhani, F. (2018). The long way ahead to achieve an effective patient safety culture: Challenges perceived by nurses. BMC Health Services Research, 18http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12913-018-3467-1

Gardner, W. L., Avolio, B. J., Luthans, F., May, D. R., & Walumbwa, F. (2005). "Can you see the real me?" A self-based model of authentic leader and Follower Development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 343–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.003

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2021). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (10th ed.). Wolters Kluwer. 

Millar, R. (2016). Turning employees into brand champions: Leadership style makes a difference. In R. Millar (Ed.), Ideas for Leaders collection. IEDP Ideas for Leaders Ltd. Credo Reference: https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=https://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/idealideas/turning_employees_into_brand_champions_leadership_style_makes_a_difference/0?institutionId=5865

Savel, R. H., & Munro, C. L. (2017). Servant leadership: The primacy of service. American Journal of Critical Care, 26(2), 97–99. https://doi-org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.4037/ajcc2017356

Steffens, N. K., Wolyniec, N., Okimoto, T., Mols, F., Haslam, S. A., & Kay, A. (2021). Knowing me, knowing us: Personal and collective self-awareness enhances authentic leadership and leader endorsement. The Leadership Quarterly, 32(6). https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/z2r7f

Rules, Examples and Principles

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Any student can reflect on their training and agree that they will not be content with just ingesting the teacher's theories, taking diligent notes, and devouring textbooks to learn a subject in the course of study. The same student will be unable to be content with lab practicums, experiments, and the rigors of the physical and biological sciences laboratory. When clinical learning is encountered, the same student will not be content. However, it is necessary for validation and guidance, and will need to move past the mentor who is closely monitoring nearby as patients are seen, assessed, and cared for. No, by all means, the final stage in the learning process comes from the most outstanding teacher called life experience (Temple, 1860, p. 22). Until then, the learning is incomplete, and expertise must be grasped and balanced so that the nurse is complete and able to mature and grow in delivering the best therapies, helping patients restore and recover during the healing process.

The exact process nursing students navigate to become competent professionals through schooling, clinical experience, and licensed practitioners is the same for those navigating leadership roles. It's not enough to read leadership articles, attend leadership courses, or sit at the feet of one's mentor or coach, although it is helpful. Until the person in the role, when left to their own devices, must navigate through trial and error, with success and failure, in the laboratory of life experience, does the person of leadership finally learn how to influence, make a difference, and serve others? However, the role of leadership and the daily practicum never ends in a capstone; the continuous improvement process guides the leader. It is a source of encouragement to remind them to maintain the course.

Reference:

Temple, F. (1860). The Education of the World. In J. W. Parker, Essays and Reviews: The Education of the World, Bunsen's Biblical Researches, On the Study of the Evidences of Christianity; Seances Historiques de Genève; On the Mosaic Cosmogony; Tendencies of Religious Thought in England, 1688-1750; On the Interpretation of Scripture (pp. 1–31). Retrieved from https://ccel.org/.

Be "authentic "but how?

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In her outstanding book Mindset, Carol Dweck vividly describes that we are either in an area of amplification and expansion of our attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors or not (Dweck, 2008). Some leaders choose to be a statue, unwilling to bend. However, a closer observation of human functioning reveals that we are moving and alive even at the cellular level. From birth to death, we are growing and maturing and are not rooted to the spot. Leaders who continuously learn and update their operating systems are set up for opportunities to make the most remarkable change in the environments they steward. 

Authentic leadership's key component is self-awareness (Gardner et al., 2005). The literature describes self-awareness as a personal understanding and acknowledgment of how one is currently acting, behaving, and impacting others in their immediate circle of influence (Marquis & Huston, 2021). Additionally, Gardner et al. (2005) give a broader definition, such that the authentic leader takes ownership, takes on the responsibility of their personal life story that includes the way he or she thinks, feels, addresses their desires and goals, and acting in such ways that correspond with the true self that others experience.

References:

Dweck, C. S. (2008). Mindset the new psychology of success. Ballantine. 

Gardner, W. L., Avolio, B. J., Luthans, F., May, D. R., & Walumbwa, F. (2005). "Can you see the real me?" A self-based model of authentic leader and Follower Development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 343–372. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.003

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2021). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (10th ed.). Wolters Kluwer. 

Teamwork and Hope

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Most people understand that leadership must accept and confront challenging realities. Leaders should be comfortable working in environments where not everyone fully accepts their role and influence (Bass, 2008). It is unrealistic to expect to be liked by everyone; instead, leaders must be prepared to handle conflicts. According to Avolio et al. (2004), a key distinction in leadership style is openness with others, which separates authentic leaders—who seek to influence and empower others—from those who lead through transactional methods meant to coerce. Avolio et al. (2004) suggest that a leader can still influence follower actions when perceived incentives are lacking. Where leaders remain true to their internal value compass, they foster natural follower behaviors, even without social rewards.

References:

Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Walumbwa, F. O., Luthans, F., & May, D. R. (2004). Unlocking the mask: How authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 801–823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.09.003

Bass, B. M. (2008). Resolution of Conflict. In The Bass Handbook of Leadership: Theory, Research, & Managerial Applications (4th ed., p. 319). essay, Simon & Schuster.

Investing in Psychological Capital

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As a transcendental approach to the spectrum of the life narrative, others agree that, as humans, we try to mold the environment around us, but at the same time, we are molded by it.

The creator of Palate and Pabulum applies an admixture of authentic, servant, and spiritual influence, although imperfectly, through example setting or instead attempting to align what is said with what is done (Avolio & Gardner, 2005), looking after the well-being of others and trying to reflect the Christian walk in daily life as an aspiring author and blogger.

Angels are said to have peace of conscience with God because of their innocence. In contrast, Christians find peace with God through the grace of Christ’s obedience and the sacrifice he made for us (Plummer, 1979). The Christian journey is a testament to perseverance, even amidst the trials of spiritual warfare, which can be extensive and challenging both in work and personal life. Although some argue they are inseparable, the blog author believes his walk sometimes has a variance.

While we may stumble and face shortcomings, pursuing righteousness inspires us to rise and strive ever onward. Struggling onward stands out for leaders with an authentic approach as they influence others. As such, a person who earnestly seeks to influence others is in a constant state of person/role fusion (Avolio & Gardner, 2005).

Contributing to an idea that extends beyond the reach of other healthcare researchers is how leadership styles impact work cultures, employee outcomes, and patient health. According to Alilyyani et al. (2018), scholars reiterate that a leader with a genuine approach to influence can positively affect and promote an invigorating work culture where employees report increased job gratification and improved interpersonal relationships that include trust, patience, and generosity.

Whereas Avolio and Gardner (2005), leadership scholars, have extensively published literature on the authentic style of influence, which has far-reaching implications in healthcare governance, these writers expound on the theory of genuine leadership, what it is and what it is not, and compare it to other adaptations of influence, namely transformational, charismatic, servant-style, and spiritual leadership.

Counterfeit Leadership

By inverse relationship, an inauthentic leadership style, according to Avolio & Gardner (2005), is a style of influence that first and foremost shows up artificially or is a cookie-cutter sample of some other leadership style. Secondly, those who adopt inauthentic influencing approaches do so for prestige, position, or power. Finally, an inauthentic leadership style manifests as unbearably complacent and law-abiding, and those who adopt this approach try to fit themselves into a preconceived mold of a leader based on expectations related to the position or role.

Genuine Leadership

Avolio & Gardner (2005) recognize that the authentic attempt at leadership involves the person who is personally conscious and sentient of their being, practices to the extent that they can with decision-making that sees both sides of an issue without taking sides, promotes relationships with transparency, and lastly encompasses genuine behavior of authenticity.

Avolio & Gardner (2005) additionally bring to the front of mind that address an element of genuineness that for a person to be wholly suited to purpose; they must be an individual that ultimately is unburdened by the expectations of other people, which is not the same as being transparent and open-minded to ideas and sharing what others have to say or think, meaning at the end of the day, the authentic person of influence knows who they are, understands their strengths and is intimately aware of their weaknesses. However, they also guard themselves against the overtly expressed approval of others.

References:

Alilyyani, B., Wong, C. A., & Cummings, G. (2018). Antecedents, mediators, and outcomes of Authentic Leadership in Healthcare: A systematic review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 83, 34–64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2018.04.001

Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 315–338. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2005.03.001

Plummer, W. S. (1979). Romans 8. In Commentary on Romans (p. 194). essay, Kregel Publications.

Is hardiness a perishable trait?

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Most adults during the period of their life have gone through some circumstance of losing a loved one or have experienced profound psychological disturbance and mental dysfunction as a response to an event that disrupted their life, for instance, in response to the attacks of 9-11 (Bonanno, 2008). This blog's author identifies correlations between lived experiences of loss or adversity and applies the resilience traits of being hardy to current practice in organizational influence. How does being hardy support a leader in everyday life?

According to social psychologist Bonanno (2008), loss, trauma, and adverse life events can be understood by individuals who have experienced them and their relationship to being resilient. Furthermore, resilience is more common in people than one would believe. Resilient individuals are not people with some extraordinary power, ability, or coping method, but there are some mechanisms that people have that help them maintain a balanced life response to those situations of loss, trauma, and adversity.

One mechanism or function of individuals with resilience traits is being inured, tested, or tempered, which results in being seasoned and conditioned to stressful situations that promote sturdiness in response to those above. According to Bonnano (2008), sturdiness or being hardy comprises three elemental paradigms in an individual's experienced life.

The hallmarks of hardy individuals manifest first by a person's ability to assign significance to their life; second, individuals possess the ability and firm belief that they can affect change and influence those around them and their sphere of influence; and lastly, when encountering either favorable or adverse situations, they believe a lesson can be learned to improve, adapt, and augment their capabilities (Bonanno, 2008), and to the extent that an individual encounters situations to become hardy and sturdy are correlated to such events as loss, trauma and adverse life events promote resilience in individuals.

As a healthcare leader, situations of loss are often standard and not rare, and the daily challenges of operational efficiency, patient care, provider relationships, meetings, responsibilities, and the never-ending competing task management can make daily work distressing.

A component of leadership and currency of influence is the necessary ability to maintain resilience despite surrounding events. Although the blog author's life course has provided opportunities to test the character, such as military service and critical care personal life stories, resilience in all life segments is constantly being challenged, tested, and upgraded.

References:

Bonanno, G. A. (2008). Loss, Trauma, and Human Resilience. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, & Policy, S (1), 101-113. doi: 10.1037/1942-9681.S.1.101.

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In their audiobook, The High Impact Leader, Avolio and Luthans (2021) explore the effectiveness of authentic leadership in contrast to the influence of motivational speakers and the many self-proclaimed experts of our time. The overwhelming availability of podcasts, best-selling books authored by former military veterans, and many self-help guides penned by successful business figures raises an important question: Do these icons' backgrounds, experiences, and circumstances impact the healthcare sector?

Maybe yes, and maybe no. As a military veteran, the author of this blog post may have biases toward the most appropriate leadership theory style for healthcare leadership. As such, which style is best suitable for direct reports and patients?

The environment matters.

Consider the following PICOT question formatted to help a researcher, for instance, discover the best literature available to get answers to questions as outlined by Melnyk & Fineout-Overholt (2019). In healthcare settings, clinics, or hospital units (population), how would or does exposure to military leadership resources and content by former service personnel through motivational presentations, lectures, or other audiovisual aids (intervention) versus traditional healthcare leadership development resources (comparison) affect healthcare staff employee behaviors, attitudes, and overall workplace culture (outcome) for a period of three to six months (time frame to evaluate)?

This question, again phrased as a research inquiry, is an example of how to test whether a military style of leadership is better than a traditional style of leadership. The two leadership styles that the author of this blog post is most familiar with from firsthand experience are the authoritative style, native to military-style leadership (Marquis & Huston, 2021). A blend of transformational, servant, and authentic leadership (Raso, 2019) is commonly found in the healthcare literature as relevant to healthcare professions and the workplace for improving healthy work environments.

Unless metrics and surveys are available and performed to evaluate the effectiveness of leaders on their direct reports and constituents, it is primarily a fool's paradise without benchmarks to test and assess leader influence on follower well-being and patient outcomes if what they are doing makes a difference.

For that matter, when motivational gurus or speakers print books for a broad range of consumers, context matters, as does the environment of the leader and the organization. From firsthand experience, the militant leadership style has not always been the ideal choice in the healthcare leadership sector; instead, a leadership style that seeks to empower others and build others up has been favorable.

It is essential to consider what Avolio and Luthans (2021) have pointed out regarding podcast masters and our military personalities when giving thought and attention to their opinions, ideas, and viewpoints on the subject of leadership and influence if their methods are not rooted in any known research or theory and whether or not any validity or stop gaps are present and in the context of the leadership area of healthcare administration have not demonstrated an outcome or performance on the environment in question.

The literature on healthy workforces, especially for those in the helping profession, such as nurses, is abundant on which leadership styles can improve workplace environments and reduce exhaustion. According to one nurse author, Rasso (2019), this contributes to workplace satisfaction and nurse career endurance.

How do leaders today show up in the world to make a difference?

It begins with the leaders being themselves.

References:

Avolio, B. J. & Luthans, F. (2021). The High Impact Leader. (C. Ryan, Narr.) [Audiobook]. McGraw Hill-Ascent Audio. https://www.audible.com/

Marquis, B. L., & Huston, C. J. (2021). Leadership roles and management functions in nursing: Theory and application (10th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Health.

Melnyk, B. M. & Fineout-Overholt, E. (2019). Making the case for evidence-based practice and cultivating a spirit of inquiry. In Melnyk, B. M., & Fineout-Overholt, E. (4th Eds.), Evidence-based practice in nursing and healthcare (pp. 17). Wolters Kluwer.

Raso, R. (2019). Be you! Authentic leadership. Nursing Management, 50(5), 1–1. https://doi.org/10.1097/01.numa.0000558693.16472.5b