Investing in Psychological Capital

free AI image from www.gemini.google.com

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?

"purpose in life" free ai image from www.gemini.google.com

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.

Free AI image created "authentic leadership" from www.gemini.google.com/

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

Does leadership style influence staff?

 

free ai image "crossroads" https://gemini.google.com/

According to the Old Testament, the author describes a faith concept in the Book of Psalms, seventy-eighth chapter, verse seven; however, today, people have the same struggles typical for most Westerners, and that is trusting in God. At the intersection of faith and life, there is a test of whether to believe that God will take care of us or trust that he will do whatever situation or circumstance we find ourselves in: provide. Does a leadership style influence staff such that they feel provided for?

According to Akoo et al. (2023), the energy required to care for others, such as patients in the hospital, describes the experiences nurses feel regarding emotional caring. Often, nurses put on an appearance when taking care of patients when, in fact, they don't think that way, which contributes to what scholars explain as emotional labor. For example, nurses display a calm approach outwardly or externally but may internally feel an overwhelming sense of distress inwardly. When there is an increase in emotional demand, for instance, when caring for the ill, nurses can experience adverse emotional exhaustion, leading to burnout.

According to Akoo et al. (2023), leadership style can protect against staff burnout. What roles do leaders play in mediating the effects on staff to help alleviate burnout, improve mental health, and reduce emotional labor and fatigue in the caring profession? How do those caring for others find the motivation to continue their work when overwhelmed? These questions are challenging to answer; however, this blog's author believes that faith and leadership style are essential factors to consider.

Reference:

Akoo, C., McMillan, K., Price, S., Ingraham, K., Ayoub, A., Rolle Sands, S., Shankland, M., & Bourgeault, I. (2023). "I feel broken": Chronicling Burnout, mental health, and the limits of individual resilience in nursing. Nursing Inquiry, 31(2). https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12609

Is being a healthcare provider immunoprotective?

"helping others who help others" free ai image from www.craiyon.com

Consider what George Fitchett, a professor at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, a chaplain specializing in the academic study of spiritual assessment, expresses and articulates in his work Assessing Spiritual Needs: A Guide for Caregivers.

We must be wise in our care for ourselves and others and especially discerning in the face of any problems. When something seems to be wrong, we must take care to discover what it is and find a remedy for it. When there are opportunities for enriching others' lives, we must respect who they are and work in partnership with them. (Fitchett, 2002, p. 22-23)

With spiritual awareness at the forefront of the following essay as a guidepost to the helping professions, most people understand arguably that most nurses, if not all, who entered the healthcare profession during the Vietnam era did so as a response to feeling the need to serve or the felt sense of being called to help (Hood, 2018, pp. 52-53). Successfully navigating an accredited university and training program or obtaining the career track of an associate degree in nursing and passing the national licensure examination requires an undaunted constitution even today. As the profession seeks ways to meet the demand of nursing staff shortages as those same individuals who entered some four to five decades ago (Hood, 2018, p. 80) are now retiring.

In addition to the rigor and unforgiving nature inherent to passing the licensure requirements and persevering and enduring applying for and interviewing for professional career opportunities, most nurses, even today, willingly choose to follow their calling that does not nullify the lived experiences of those nurses who have cared for the most critically ill in our nation's hospitals contributing to the phenomena of professional burn out.

Nevertheless, as other professional academics have written, burning out is not a new concept. According to Kelly et al. (2021), nurses, in general, those involved in direct patient care, not including, for instance, case managers or leaders or hospital education staff nurses, experience professional lassitude, commonly known as burning out.

Nurses experience such descriptions as professional fatigue, mental dysfunction, and sometimes intent to leave the profession, with a jaundiced eye toward the work. It is essential that those who care for others also have resources and can perform self-care.

According to European scholars Callaghan & Waldock (2009), the Oxford Handbook of Mental Health Nursing editors explain the diverse definition of culture. What is known is that people come from many backgrounds that structure their way of living, including but not limited to their personal beliefs and values, the traditions and practices they were taught or learned, including ways of acting and behaving, and their social interactions with people like themselves and of different backgrounds and how to interpret the world around them. As such, one's culture is considered when engaging with those seeking mental health services. Suffice it to state that healthcare providers are not undifferentiated regarding the influence of their cultural background, and the crossroads of culture and mental health in healthcare providers is a topic of increasing visibility.

As a cue and urging for those interacting with mental health service seekers, providers, laypersons, and even leaders can and should be cognizant of and appreciate the diversity of others and work towards achieving faculty and competency in serving them because others have fundamental needs, longings, and hopes for their well-being. In addition, being aware of one's biases can be a barrier to helping those seeking mental health services (Callaghan & Waldock, 2009). Nurses are not immune to the effects of living that others experience, and being a nurse does not automatically ensure immunity from the ailments that affect us all.

Consider the self-care applications and strategies available for nurses who care for those patients who enter the stream needing mental health services. Can those same strategies be applicable, fitting, and relevant to nurses, doctors, and other allied health professionals, or does the profession of helping others give those providers immunity and resistance or embody them impervious to the challenges of life that all encounter?

References:

Callaghan, P., & Waldock, H. (2009). Oxford Handbook of Mental Health Nursing. Oxford University Press.

Fitchett, G. (2002). Assessing spiritual needs: A guide for caregivers. Academic Renewal Press.

Hood, L. J. (2018). Leddy & Pepper's professional nursing (9th ed.). Wolters Kluwer. 

Kelly, L. A., Gee, P. M., & Butler, R. J. (2021). Impact of nurse burnout on organizational and position turnover. Nursing Outlook, 69(1), 96–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.outlook.2020.06.008