Leadership in Healthcare: Reflecting on Commitments and Practices

This essay reflects on effective leadership within a healthcare organization, specifically focusing on the author's experience as an assistant manager during a health crisis. The author recounts a situation involving an outbreak of an unknown disease, detailing their spontaneous actions to address the emergency, including mobilizing staff, contacting researchers and statutory bodies, and organizing a public awareness campaign. The reflection analyzes these actions through the lens of Kouzes and Posner's five exemplary leadership practices—Modeling the Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Challenging the Process, Enabling Others to Act, and Encouraging the Heart—and their ten commitments. The author discusses how these principles guided their decision-making, fostered teamwork, and ultimately contributed to the successful management of the crisis and the recovery of the affected patients, highlighting the importance of ethical leadership, continuous improvement, and valuing team contributions in a high-pressure healthcare environment.

Running head: EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP IN HEALTH
Reflection on leadership
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Table of contents
Insight into the example.............................................................................................................2
Analysis of the example through five exemplary leadership practices......................................3
Analysis of the example through ten Commitments..................................................................5
Applicability of the analysis in developing self-leadership abilities..........................................8
References................................................................................................................................11

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Insight into the example
I feel myself priviledged for working in a healthcare organization, catering to the
wellbeing of the people. I am employed in the post of assistant manager in the gynaecological
department. Every day, the organization undergoes several operations for providing quality
care and treatment to the clients and the customers. We, the managers attempt try our best to
look after the needs, demands and requirements of the client. Our skills and expertise helps in
approaching the tasks in a strategic manner. However, sometimes crisis stalls our
productivity, compelling us to encounter severe loss. I can mention an example, which tested
my leadership skills, abilities and competencies.
Once, there was an emergence of an unknown disease, which took a toll on the health
of the people. The symptoms of the disease were skin irritation, red eyes, headaches. There
were numerous patients, who had to be admitted in the hospital. Coincidentally, at that time, I
only had some file work to complete. From my office window, I can see the reception of the
gynaecological department. I saw many people coming to admit their relatives. I saw the
receptionist was trying to tackle the crowd. At that time, I experienced an eagerness and
willingness to extend support. At once, I rushed to the department and ordered the staffs to
prepare the beds. They informed me that the vacant beds are not enough to accommodate all
of the patients. I was about to express my anger, when I realized that I have to handled all the
things tactfully for earning respect from the patients.
Immediately, I called the research team for experimenting the symptoms and finding
the precautionary measures. However, I succeeded in getting only few of the researchers.
Apart from this, I also informed the statutory bodies for deciding the matter with them. They
investigated the fast food sellers. Meanwhile, the researchers tested the quality of the foods.
Without wasting time, I called in the experts and healthcare professionals from foreign. A

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conference was held for making the public aware of the harmful effects of eating fast foods.
Along with this, campaigns were conducted for enhancing the awareness of the public
regarding the diseases, which they can suffer. In all of these activities, my focus was on
ensuring the speedy recovery of the people, who have been the victim of such a disease.
After two months, the researchers discovered large amount of calcium silicate in the
foods. This was specifically found in the pasta and spaghetti noodles. The report regarding
the number of persons affected alarmed me. I immediately ordered the doctors and the nurses
to start the treatment of the patients. They were to be on the duty 24 hours with breaks. After
few weeks, there were noticeable improvements in the patients. I feel my spontaneous action
resulted in the improvements in the health of these patients. Rationality and planning helped
me in achieving positive results.
Analysis of the example through five exemplary leadership practices
In order to enhance the leadership skills, abilities and competencies, one needs to
follow the five practices specified in the LPI statements. These practices are- Modelling the
Way, Inspiring a Shared Vision, Challenging the process, Enabling others to act and
Encouraging the Heart.
Modelling the way can be related with the statement, “Where there is a will, there is a
way”. Eagerness and willingness to fulfil the targeted goals and objectives automatically
opens avenues before the individuals (Leithwood and Azah 2016). Only need is to select the
right path to achieve success. I think extending support towards the distressed people opened
a prospective way towards earning respect and enhancing my professionalism. This humanity
justifies my position, skills, expertise, abilities and competencies.

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I agree with the fact that within an organization, the employees share a common goal
and vision, that is, the achievement of success. However, when there are numerous
employees in an organization, conflicts, discriminations and harassments are bound to occur.
This destroys the unity and coordination between the team members (Hargett et al. 2017).
Including the staffs within the decision making process helped me to value their viewpoints.
Along with this, the approach assured them that I was approachable in times of difficulty. I
tested their skills by assigning them challenging and enduring tasks. Here, my main focus
was to test the spontaneity of the staffs regarding the allocated duties and responsibilities. I
provided training to the staffs about the basic managerial activities. Provision of motivation
and encouragement assured them of my capabilities. I particularly remember about one of
staff, who asked several questions before performing the tasks. This delayed the process;
however, it reduced the chance of mistakes. Inquisitive nature of the staffs justified me as a
leader.
I encouraged the staffs to follow an ethical approach towards the needs of the
patients. Whenever, there was a conflict, I felt like expressing my anger. However, I was
conscious of representing myself as a leader. Therefore, I took the help of statutory bodies for
the achieving negotiations in the time of conflicts. I also organized open forums for giving
equal chance to the staffs regarding voicing out their opinions about the issues, which they
are facing. Herein lays the appropriateness of enabling the others to take part in the
mainstream activities (McSherry and Pearce 2016).
Encouraging by heart refers to the individual praises and recognition of the efforts put
in by the employees. This generates confidence within the staffs regarding the exposure of
better performance. Rewards and recognitions are an efficient way for luring the staffs
towards the services of the companies and organizations (Barr and Dowding 2015). I think
the Thanksgiving day proved appropriate in terms of thanking the staffs for their hardwork. I

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specially took the initiative to rewards the staffs for their spontaneous approach towards
ensuring proper care and treatment of the affected patients. This was in the presence of the
patients, which enhances their awareness towards the activities, which took place in the
organization. I proposed other managers to arrange for media coverage of the whole incident.
This acted as an example of celebrating the achievements. I took special initiatives towards
presenting mementos and certificates to the staffs for their memorable contribution.
Analysis of the example through ten Commitments
Kousez and Posner proposed ten commitments, which the leaders need to make
towards the enhancement of professionalism. The first commitment inspires the individuals to
find their voice through the clarification of the values. This commitment relates with the
evaluation, which helps the individuals to assess the effectiveness of their workplace
behaviour (Northouse 2018). The helpless condition of the receptionist to handle such
adverse situation invoked my inner voice towards extending support. Here, I can relate value
with that of humanity. The second commitment needs the individuals to set an example
before the others by performing the actions according to the core values (Kelloway,
Nielsen and Dimoff 2017). I feel my spontaneous reaction towards the helping and
supporting the patients would act as an example for those who shred off their responsibilities
saying that the manager of that department will look into the issue.
The third commitment is related with the undertaking challenging and enduring
tasks, which add spice into the lives of the people. Achieving success in these tasks is
assistance in terms of estimating the future conditions (Bharwani et al. 2017). After the
Thanksgiving Day, I evaluated my performance and could envision myself as a trainer in the
future. This was through the consideration of my performance throughout the period of crisis.
It was a thrilling experience for me to move forward in my life. The fourth commitment is

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enlisting the others by appealing and inspiring them towards a common vision of success. I
included all the staffs, healthcare professionals and others in meetings, conferences,
discussions and open forums. This brought out positive results in terms of gaining an insight
into the issues, which they are facing towards executing the allocated duties and
responsibilities (Delmatoff and Lazarus 2014). I also provided them with training programs
for upgrading their knowledge, skills and expertise on managerial issues. Here, I encouraged
them about the capability to do the tasks in an efficient and effective manner. I think this
encouragement inspired the staffs to envision success.
Seeking innovative ways for achieving growth and development is the fifth
commitment, which the leaders are to follow. For this, the individuals need to consider the
experiences of the past. This consideration is assistance towards gaining an insight into the
ways and means towards achieving prospective avenues, which they can avail for achieving
success (Montano et al. 2017). Herein I can relate the meetings, conferences, discussions and
open forums. This is where I involved all the staffs for evaluating the effectiveness,
appropriateness and feasibility of the steps taken towards curing the patients affected from
food poisoning. Feedbacks from the staffs helped me to gain an insight into their approaches.
This insight, in turn, enabled me to think about innovative changes, which would alter the
workplace scenario of the healthcare organization.
Risks are an inevitable part within the business and are the sixth commitment for the
individuals to emerge as leaders. Experimenting with the preconceived knowledge helps the
individuals in testing the feasibility of their skills in terms of the workplace operations.
Undertaking challenging tasks is bound to achieve losses in the initial stages. However, with
practice, the type of performance improves, lessening the occurrence of mistakes (Spurgeon,
Clark and Ham 2017). Therefore, setting short-term goals would improve the focus of the
individuals towards the allocated duties and responsibilities. Constantly evaluating the

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performance upgrades the standards and quality. I feel that planning process seemed
beneficial for me and the other staffs in approaching the treatment in a strategic manner. At
the initial stages, I received losses in the form of staffs expressing disinterest towards obeying
the orders. However, I took trainings, where I showed them the intensity to which the people
are getting affected from consuming poisonous foods. Seeing the results, they were ready to
extend their support and help to these people.
Teamwork is the seventh commitment towards invoking the leadership. Rationality in
the process of team building helps the managers to achieve trust, loyalty and dependence
from the staffs (Boyatzis, Rochford and Taylor 2015). I think consideration of Tuckman’s
stage development proved beneficial towards formation of a team possessing flexibility
towards acting under intense pressure. Fostering collaboration helped me to encourage
teamwork, inspiring them to envision success. Here, conflicts, discrimination and
harassments were the outcomes, which I received. However, I took the help of statutory
bodies for achieving effective negotiation. I feel this kind of attitude is ethical in terms of
ensuring the wellbeing of the staffs.
Eighth commitment involves strengthening others, which mitigates the instance of
knowledge gaps. Herein lays the importance of the role played by the senior and the
experienced staffs towards transferring the essential skills to the employees (Ginter 2018). I
think hiring experts for giving training to the staffs, proved beneficial in upgrading their
knowledge regarding handling tasks in crisis period. This upgradation is needed in terms of
making the staffs acquainted with the societal conditions affecting the lifestyle of the people.
Some of the staffs expressed their incapability towards performing the allocated tasks. I
encouraged them to try the acts, which would result in failure. I further instigated them to
continue performing the tasks, once they would definitely succeed. I motivated them not to
give up at any circumstance.

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Appreciation is the ninth commitment, which the leaders need to follow. This
appreciation enhances their personality, making them approachable towards the staffs
(Guerrero et al. 2015). I individually appreciated the efforts of the staffs towards providing
cure and treatment to the patients. Thanksgiving Day was the platform for recognizing the
individual efforts of the staffs. This appreciation generated satisfaction in the employees,
which reflected my satisfaction. Their satisfaction justified my path towards leadership,
simultaneously justifying in position within the workplace. This appreciation added to my
professional excellence, adding value to my efforts.
The penultimate commitment relates to the celebration of success with due
consideration of the values. Exposure of community feeling adds value to the humanitarian
aspect of the individuals (Zulueta 2016). I think the establishment of communities proved
beneficial in terms of catering to the specific needs, demands and requirements of the
patients. I ordered the staffs to build a community for accommodating the patients. This was
possible because of the strategic planning towards executing the activities. I felt happy to
celebrate my victory along with the team members.
Applicability of the analysis in developing self-leadership abilities
Pre-conceived skills and abilities act as a cornerstone in terms of upgrading them.
Herein lays the appropriateness of the templates and checklists, which enhances the
awareness of the individuals about improvements (Kranabetter and Niessen 2017). This
upgradation is important for enhancement of the leadership skills and abilities. Along with
this, consideration of the five practices and ten commitments helps in exposing appropriate
attitude towards embracing leadership.
The word “commitment” relates to the behavioural approach needed for emerging as a
leader. Commitment towards the activities results in the achievement of positive results.

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“Practices” can be considered as the initiatives towards adding value to the commitments.
Countering this, “commitments” can be considered as the determination towards abiding by
the practices. The numbers five is double of ten; therefore, it can be considered that practices
are the agents in terms of enhancing the determinant approach towards embracing leadership
(Frankel and PGCMS 2018).
If the individuals are to become leaders, they need to undertake challenging and
enduring tasks. Within this, involving the team members generates the feeling of teamwork,
which is effective in extracting the labor from the staffs. Herein, lays the effectiveness of the
motivation and encouragement, which assists the staffs in executing the tasks in an efficient
and effective manner (Jaques 2017). I can relate all these activities with my attitude in curing
the patients of their ailments. My spontaneous approach proved effective for the patients
extending timely help and support to the patients in distress. Rationality in dealing with the
tasks enabled me to achieve positive outcomes. This rationality was also assistance in terms
of gaining trust, loyalty and dependence from the customers.
Spontaneously extending help and support towards the distressed patients was the first
step towards leadership. Here, my humanity urged me to extend helping hand towards the
patients, who are desperately searching for an escape from the ailments and sufferings. I think
undertaking this challenging task helped me to prove my capabilities. Achieving failures in
the initial stages was inevitable, which sometimes became difficult for me to accept. In these
circumstances, my only strength was meditation, which generated positive vibes within me. It
improved my concentration, providing me with fresh energy and vigor. During motivation, I
became acquainted with myself, which enabled me to know myself better. This introspection
was necessary in terms of assessing the effectiveness, appropriateness and feasibility of the
steps, which I have planned for providing cure and treatment to the patients. Maintaining
consistency in the execution of evaluation proved beneficial for me in terms of upgrading the

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standards and quality of performance. This upgradation, in turn, enabled me to progress on
the path towards enhancing my personality and professionalism.

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