Trait Theory and Skills Development Approaches in Healthcare Leadership

This post discusses the trait theory and skills development approaches in healthcare leadership, highlighting the importance of leadership traits and abilities in the healthcare industry. It explores the differences and similarities between these two approaches and emphasizes the need for healthcare professionals to possess the necessary skills and attributes to provide effective and quality care. The post also discusses the systematic issues in healthcare leadership and the importance of skill-based training to overcome these challenges.

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Discussion post
Trait theory and skills development approaches are the most important aspects that
determine leadership and personality traits. Both these aspects have different and critical
approaches due to which under these leadership, people are provided with different
approaches and attributes (Northouse, 2017). In this case study of Rofecobix, a complication
related to drug recall from the Food and Drug Administration, as healthcare professionals
were facing concerns due to the drug and its effects which Merck launched in year 1999
(Topol, 2004). As per the case study, the drug was taken back from the market in 2004 and
on monetary basis, more than 2.5 Million dollars were spent on the development and
production of the drug that exposed it to 80 million people. The primary aspects that could be
identified from this aspect is the trait and skills approach related leadership.
As per the skills approach of leadership, skills and abilities are among the primary
aspects that should be present in any leader so that they can fulfil their responsibilities
effectively. On the other hand, the trait theory discusses about the inborn talents that every
individual possesses by birth and hence, as per this theory, leadership traits and qualities are
possessed by each individual (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). However, there are several similarities
and differences among these two leadership aspects that makes an effective comparison of
these aspects.
1. Subjectivity is the first aspect that helps in the development of comparison among
skills development and trait theory. Where skilled approach depends on the skills
and talent of the person and has the capability to improve the team performance,
the trait theory believes that leadership is in the personal traits of individuals and it
cannot be developed through practice (Tal & Gordon, 2016).

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2. Inconsistency is the second aspect that helps to develop differences among these
two important leadership theories and in this aspect, it should be mentioned that
trait theory believes that people would not be able to understand the effective
means of leadership. Whereas, the skills approach mentions that with proper
guidance and learning it is possible to develop leadership abilities among people
(Tal & Gordon, 2016).
3. On the other hand, there are similarities among these leadership therapies as both
of them help to influence the employees so that they can work to achieve the
objectives of the organisation. This attribute helps the people to understand that it
is important for the employees to listen to the leaders and develop coping skills so
that they can overcome critical health conditions (Nawaz & Khan, 2016). On the
other hand, both of these theories discusses about the leader centered approach,
both of these discusses about the skill and attributes of the leaders. As per Tal and
Gordon, (2016), skills and attributes help the leaders to develop effective learning
abilities that would help them to develop effective abilities.
Systematic issues in healthcare leadership has increased the concerns of the healthcare
management systems around the world and the primary reason behind this concern is the
increased advancements and subsequent enhancement in the life expectancy of the patients.
This has added excess pressure on the healthcare professionals and they should be equipped
with skills and abilities so that people could be patients with effective interventions and
quality care in healthcare facilities (Northouse, 2017). On the other hand, increased scope of
evidence based practice, culturally competent and diverse care requires the professionals to
be more skilled and open for new attributes so that people could be provided with effective
and quality healthcare (Tal & Gordon, 2016).

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Hence, in such condition to improve the system, application of skill based training
should be conducted so that development and implement of skills to overcome the critical
systematic complications could be effectively achieved. In such condition, the professionals
should be provided with the coping skill abilities and they should be provided with models
and relationships so that while undergoing critical conditions, professionals can handle the
critical condition and manages the workflow of the organisation effectively (Tal & Gordon,
2016).
In the provided case study, it was clearly mentioned that due to the conflicts and
difference between the leadership and their abilities, the discovery and production of the drug
Rofecobix, that costs more than 2.5 million dollars and reached to 80 million people were
rolled back as the trail of the medication was not performed and without that it was launched
in the market (Topol, 2004). Hence, it affected the market reputation of the organization and
increased the risk of the consumers.
Response 1: response to Iheako Ike
This post discusses about the trait theory and the type of traits which is required for
the development and identification of abilities to understand the aspects required for effective
and progressive discussion. This post mentions of the leadership traits such as self-
confidence, intelligence, sociability and determination that is achieved by the personal traits
of the leaders, however, it did not mention the skills approach which could be acquired by the
leaders through the growth and development of the aspects. As mentioned by Good et al.
(2016), determination and intelligence are aspects that could be improved and developed by
the leaders while working in their organisations. Further, while discussing the difference and
similarity between skills and traits, no research evidences has been provided that decreases
the reliability of the discussed section and made the section general without critical analysis.
The final section namely personal public health philosophy included effective aspects such as

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drive, leadership motivation, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, cognitive ability and
knowledge of the business that are important for the leadership and improvement of the
organisations.
Response 2: Sue Ballato
This discussion post included discussion about the trait theory of the leaders and
mentioned that innate attributes and characteristics that are possessed by the leaders and
mentioned that these traits are developed and implemented by the leaders through their
learnings in the organisation. Further, it was mentioned in the discussion post that majority of
the people that worked in the organisations that leadership is the trait which requires
experience and time to develop and through the application of desire to lead,
honesty/integrity, cognitive ability, and knowledge helps to develop decision making,
problem-solving, and performance appraisals. The final section mentioned that the three
aspects that are important for the growth and develop of leadership qualities in organisation.
These are integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness and hence, this responses discussed the
critical aspects and connected the research findings effectively.
 Communication skill is one such aspect that should be acquired by every leader in
organisations as it would help them to communicate to each of the important
stakeholders present in the organizational process. As mentioned by Boies, Fiset and
Gill (2015), communication skills helps the leaders to communicate to majority of the
processes so that they can understand the complications their employees or their
clients are suffering from and then implement or propose strategies that would help
them to overcome their complications and contribute in the growth and development
of the organisation as well as client and organisation relationship. Besides this,
Mikkelson, York and Arritola (2015) also mentioned that communication skills also
helps to develop a rapport among the three primary stakeholders of organizational

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development such as management, employees and clients and hence, ensures the
success of the organizational process and strategies. This is the reason the
communication skill is important to be possessed by every leadership.
References
Boies, K., Fiset, J., & Gill, H. (2015). Communication and trust are key: Unlocking the
relationship between leadership and team performance and creativity. The Leadership
Quarterly, 26(6), 1080-1094.
Good, D. J., Lyddy, C. J., Glomb, T. M., Bono, J. E., Brown, K. W., Duffy, M. K., ... &
Lazar, S. W. (2016). Contemplating mindfulness at work: An integrative
review. Journal of management, 42(1), 114-142.
Mikkelson, A. C., York, J. A., & Arritola, J. (2015). Communication competence, leadership
behaviors, and employee outcomes in supervisor-employee relationships. Business
and Professional Communication Quarterly, 78(3), 336-354.
Nawaz, Z. A. K. D. A., & Khan_ PhD, I. (2016). Leadership theories and styles: A literature
review. Leadership, 16, 1-7.
Northouse, P. G. (2017). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. Sage
Publications. Retrieved from: https://books.google.co.in/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=akoSDgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=skills+approach+and+trait+
theory+of+leadership&ots=vxTIuT1eql&sig=ClAcqwsTpfr-6v_lED-uUNG0eBc
Tal, D., & Gordon, A. (2016). Leadership of the present, current theories of multiple
involvements: A bibliometric analysis. Scientometrics, 107(1), 259-269.
Topol, E. J. (2004). Failing the public health—rofecoxib, Merck, and the FDA. New England
Journal of Medicine, 351(17), 1707-1709.

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