NURS FPX 5007 Assessment 1 Leadership Styles Application
Student Name
Capella University
NURS-FPX 5007 Leadership for Nursing Practice
Prof. Name
Date
Leadership Styles Application
Effectively managing workplace challenges in healthcare environments requires the deliberate application of leadership approaches that support employee well-being, reinforce accountability, and maintain high standards of patient care. In the presented scenario, a seasoned nurse, Marty, is experiencing ongoing personal difficulties that have negatively influenced her professional conduct, including frequent lateness, absenteeism, and disengagement during work hours. These behaviors have increased the workload for her colleagues and triggered dissatisfaction across departments. Despite awareness of the situation, leadership has not intervened adequately, resulting in a strained and unproductive work climate.
What leadership approach can best address Marty’s situation while maintaining team performance?
A structured evaluation of Transformational, Democratic, and Transactional leadership styles provides insight into how different approaches can be used individually or in combination to resolve this issue effectively (Gashaye et al., 2023).
Major Tenets of Leadership Styles
Leadership theories offer diverse frameworks for addressing organizational challenges. Each style provides a distinct mechanism for influencing staff behavior, managing performance issues, and sustaining operational efficiency.
Transformational Leadership
Transformational leadership centers on inspiring employees, fostering professional growth, and cultivating a supportive workplace culture. Leaders adopting this style prioritize understanding employees’ individual circumstances and aligning their needs with organizational goals.
How can transformational leadership help Marty improve her performance?
A transformational leader would engage Marty in meaningful dialogue to understand the root causes of her struggles. By offering emotional support, flexible scheduling (if feasible), or access to institutional resources, the leader can help her regain stability. Additionally, this approach promotes motivation, strengthens interpersonal relationships, and reduces workplace resentment by demonstrating fairness and empathy (Tsapnidou et al., 2024).
Democratic Leadership
Democratic leadership emphasizes participative decision-making, collaboration, and shared responsibility. Employees are encouraged to voice concerns and contribute to problem-solving processes.
How does democratic leadership address team tension caused by Marty’s behavior?
Through structured discussions, a democratic leader would involve both Marty and her colleagues in identifying practical solutions. This could include workload redistribution strategies or mutually agreed performance expectations. Such inclusivity fosters transparency, enhances trust, and mitigates interpersonal conflict, ensuring that all team members feel acknowledged and respected (Qtait, 2023).
Transactional Leadership
Transactional leadership is grounded in clearly defined roles, expectations, and performance-based rewards or consequences. It focuses on maintaining organizational order and adherence to policies.
What role does transactional leadership play in correcting Marty’s conduct?
A transactional leader would establish explicit attendance and performance benchmarks for Marty, along with corresponding consequences for non-compliance. This ensures accountability and fairness within the team. However, while effective in enforcing discipline, this approach may overlook the personal factors contributing to her behavior, limiting its long-term effectiveness if used in isolation (Mekonnen & Bayissa, 2023).
Effectiveness of Leadership Styles
Each leadership style contributes uniquely to resolving the situation, but their effectiveness varies depending on the context and implementation.
Which leadership style is most effective for balancing empathy and accountability?
Transformational leadership is particularly valuable in rebuilding Marty’s motivation and restoring team cohesion through empathy and individualized support. Democratic leadership enhances team engagement by involving all members in decision-making, thereby reducing conflict and promoting fairness. Transactional leadership, while less personalized, is essential for reinforcing standards and ensuring consistent performance expectations.
An integrated leadership approach that combines emotional intelligence, participative strategies, and structured accountability is most likely to produce sustainable outcomes in this scenario (Tsapnidou et al., 2024; Qtait, 2023).
NURS FPX 5007 Assessment 1 Leadership Styles Application
Table: Leadership Styles and Their Implications
| Leadership Style | Positive Implications | Negative Implications |
|---|---|---|
| Transformational Leadership | • Promotes a supportive and motivating environment • Encourages professional growth and development • Strengthens team cohesion and morale | • May be perceived as favoritism • Resistance to change among staff • Requires significant time and emotional investment (Lin et al., 2020) |
| Democratic Leadership | • Enhances teamwork and inclusivity • Encourages open communication • Builds shared accountability | • Decision-making can be slow • Risk of unresolved disagreements • Potential discomfort for Marty during group discussions (Qtait, 2023) |
| Transactional Leadership | • Establishes clear expectations • Reinforces accountability and discipline • Maintains operational consistency | • Limited emotional support • Does not address root causes • May create a rigid work environment (Richards, 2020) |
Conclusion
Managing Marty’s performance issues requires a balanced leadership strategy that integrates empathy, collaboration, and structure.
What is the most appropriate leadership strategy for this scenario?
A hybrid approach that combines transformational, democratic, and transactional elements is the most effective solution. Transformational leadership addresses Marty’s personal challenges and rebuilds motivation, democratic leadership ensures team involvement and fairness, and transactional leadership enforces accountability and performance standards.
By applying these complementary strategies, healthcare leaders can restore workplace harmony, distribute workload equitably, and uphold high-quality patient care standards.
References
Gashaye, M., Tilahun, D., Belay, A., & Bereka, B. (2023). Perceived utilization of leadership styles among nurses. Risk Management and Healthcare Policy, 16(1), 215–224. https://doi.org/10.2147/rmhp.s388966
Lin, C. P., Xian, J., Li, B., & Huang, H. (2020). Transformational leadership and employees’ thriving at work: The mediating roles of challenge-hindrance stressors. Frontiers in Psychology, 11(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01400
NURS FPX 5007 Assessment 1 Leadership Styles Application
Mekonnen, M., & Bayissa, Z. (2023). The effect of transformational and transactional leadership styles on organizational readiness for change among health professionals. SAGE Open Nursing, 9(9). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10336755/
Qtait, M. (2023). Head nurses’ leadership styles and nurses’ performance systematic review. International Journal of Africa Nursing Sciences, 18(1), 100564. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijans.2023.100564
Richards, A. (2020). Exploring the benefits and limitations of transactional leadership in healthcare. Nursing Standard, 35(12), 46–50. https://doi.org/10.7748/ns.2020.e11593
NURS FPX 5007 Assessment 1 Leadership Styles Application
Tsapnidou, E., Kelesi, M., Rovithis, M., Katharakis, G., Gerogianni, G., Dafogianni, C., Toylia, G., Fasoi, G., & Stavropoulou, A. (2024). Transformational leadership—quality achievements and benefits for healthcare organizations: A scoping review. Hospitals, 1(1), 87–103. https://doi.org/10.3390/hospitals1010008