The leadership style employed by a manager determines employee job satisfaction, motivation, and performance. In nursing, transformational leadership (TFL) generates numerous benefits for both nursing students and patients. Leaders who utilize the TFL theory create a healthy work environment that motivates nurses, which leads to better patient outcomes (Boamah et al., 2017). Since they possess qualities such as good communication skills, respect for employees, charisma, and openness to new ideas, they empower their juniors to perform more than is required of them. Nurses respect and trust their leaders to guide them and steer the organization towards positive changes (Krepia et al., 2018). Your current manager displays the qualities of a transformational leader. She is attentive to your experiences and preferred learning styles, which demonstrates individual consideration. By encouraging you to pursue education as a family nurse practitioner, she stimulates you intellectually. Your manager embodies all the positive traits of a good leader and will definitely have a positive influence on your professional and personal life.
On the other hand, laissez-faire leadership is viewed as passive. According to Trépanier et al. (2019), it is linked to destructive leadership and poor employee health. Leaders who employ this style do not typically motivate their juniors to perform well. Instead, they are unclear about employee expectations, goals, and standards (Rahbi et al., 2017). They expect employees to identify problems and find solutions to them. Consequently, laissez-faire leadership is linked to job dissatisfaction and high turnover. In healthcare, this leadership style is detrimental to professionals such as nurses as well as patients. Your former manager employed this leadership style, which proved ineffective. It resulted in low employee morale since nurses felt as if the organization had no leaders. This is expected when leaders leave their juniors to self-manage. In healthcare, it is better to take a hands-on approach to leadership and motivate people towards desired outcomes rather than employing a passive style.
References
Boamah, S. A., Laschinger, H. K. S., Wong, C., & Clarke, S. (2017). Effect of transformational leadership on job satisfaction and patient safety outcomes. Nursing Outlook, 66(2), 180-189. Web.
Krepia, V., Katsaragakis, S., Kaitelidou, D., & Prezerakos, P. (2018). Transformational leadership and its evolution in nursing. Progress in Health Sciences, 8(1). Web.
Rahbi, D. A., Khalid, K., & Khan, M. (2017). The effects of leadership styles on team motivation. Academy of Strategic Management Journal, 16(2). Web.
Trépanier, S. G., Boudrias, V., & Peterson, C. (2019). Linking destructive forms of leadership to employee health. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 40(7), 803-814. Web.