Introduction

Effective cooperation among the workers of the team is a crucial part of effective performance, but it depends on the proper leadership style, according to which the whole structure of interpersonal relations is built. The sphere of nursing is not an exception as this profession is related to team work, which means that from the proper leadership style depends whether group of the simple employees will become an effective team with positive and healthy relations. Therefore, among the total majority of the leadership styles, the Servant Leadership and Team Leadership were chosen. The reason of this choice refers to their non-violent nature, the development of affective commitment to team and formation of intrinsic motivation, which increases effectiveness of performance and ensures the interest of team members in successful team work.

Primary Concepts

Servant leadership as a theoretical concept was developed by Greenleaf as a unique form of leadership, based on placing of the good of followers and benefit of organization over leader’s own interests, empowering and encouraging self-development of their followers, and using only ethical means (Northouse, 2015). Therefore, servant leadership is based on such soft skills as empathy, listening, healing, persuasion, awareness, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people and building community. This leadership style works through the establishment of the honest and fair and long-term relationship, which is similar to the activity of counselor, whose client is the whole organization.

Team leadership is one of the developing concepts, related to the development of the team-based organizations. The leadership itself in a team can be distributed among team members in order to give the relevant response to the situation (Northouse, 2015). Therefore, team leadership is based on the simple algorithm – a leader should monitor the internal and external activity of his team, and only if there is any issue, impossible to notice or deal with, a leader can intervene acting accordingly to the situation, and after resolving it, continue monitoring.

Discussion of Results

Servant leadership can be measured by different methodic. However, regarding the scope, it was narrowed to 28-item scale and 7 dimensional Servant Leadership Questionnaire (SLQ), developed by Liden, Wayne, et al (Northouse, 2015). According to the obtained data, I have a high range in the emotional healing (25,5), creating value for the community (23), conceptual skills (23), which means that I have strong tensions for the servant leadership style. However, I have a moderate range for empowering (21,5), helping followers grow and succeed (20), putting followers first (20), and behaving ethically (21), which refers to my behavior style in relations with community. For the better understanding of the real situation, I assume that the sample of tests should be extended, which will increase the validity of the gathered data.

The assessment tool, proposed by Larson and LaFasto, measured team leadership. It suggests the evaluation of the health of team by eight criteria, according to which, it is possible to measure the team performance and areas where the correction of actions should be offered (Northouse, 2015). According to the gathered data, it is possible to conclude that the main area for corrections is in the results-driven structure (2), unified commitment (2), and standards of excellence (2), which deal with a lack of motivation among the team members. Furthermore, one may assume that this is a stage of group dynamics and everything will be overcome, but the role and position of a leader is crucial and can impact the whole situation.

Strengths, Weaknesses, and Opportunities

According to the provided data of my personal leadership assessments, my strong side is in the servant leadership style, which I can assume as the most suitable for me. In the team leadership, there is a great impact of the team members on the results, and it can be hardly possible to change under the short-term impact. Thus, the weaknesses of my leadership style refer to the long-term perspective in relations with others. However, I assume that I can overcome this obstacle with experience, which is one of the crucial things needed for the team leadership. Moreover, I assume that my leadership style is still developing along with my personality, which means that only time will help me to overcome my weak sides.

Theory Application

According to the information proposed in Chapter 24, every nurse manager can face different problems. Some can relate with absenteeism, employees’ performance and emotional maturity, their readiness for taking responsibility for their actions, professional competence, stress and issues of interpersonal relations (Yoder-Wise, 2014). My strategy in all this cases will be the same, based on the servant and team leadership styles. First, it will be monitoring the activity of organization and team in order to identify the weak areas and possible problematic employees. Second, it will be collecting information about the issues and identified dangers, which also will include the establishment of the strong and supportive relations with all personnel. Lastly, I will be coping with problems, which can be manifested either in creation of the supportive groups for the addicted professionals, or in establishment of the positive relations between group members, or in any other option. My main point is that speaking is the most important, and if one can speak and listen to the personnel, one can solve all of the issues.

Conclusion

The servant and team leadership were chosen for this work because of their positive impact on team performance in long-term perspective and their unique direction into formation of the healthy relations between group members. The data, obtained during the self-assessment of my leadership styles, has provided me with the information about weak and strong sides of my servant leadership style as a dominant one, and of a team leadership as a secondary one. Moreover, the revealed data and the application of the learned theory to the proposed information helped me to develop my own strategy to apply these two leadership styles.

References

Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.

Yoder-Wise, P. S. (2014). Leading and Managing in Nursing-E-Book. Elsevier Health Sciences.