Powers and Skills of a Leader

The Powers of a Leader

1. Legitimate Power: all powers vested upon the leader along with his position or rank; power formalized and sanctioned by the institution itself.
2. Expert Power: the power of control based on the exceptional expertise a leader that is not ordinarily found in other members of the staff.
3. Referent Power: power obtained from the admiration and respect of members based on special characteristics (e.g. charisma) of the leader.
4. Connection Power: the ability to influence others based on linkages to other influential or powerful individuals.
5. Reward Power: the positive power of a leader to incentivize actions or achievements, such as with bonuses, awards, promotions, or transfers.
6. Coercive Power: the negative power of a leader to use duress to gain control, such as with reprimands, termination, and penalties.

Skills and Qualities of a Leader

Authority

Authority is the legitimate right of a leader to exact obligations from his subordinates. The abilities of a leader to delegate tasks to his subordinates for its compliance and discipline for its non-compliance.

• Accountability is the legal liability arising from any omission or improper performance of any task or responsibility.
• Responsibility is the personal or professional obligation and dependability to perform a specific task.

There are two ways of delegating authority:

1. Centralized Authority: only individuals occupying administrative or top-level positions obtain the right to authority.
   • Ex.: staffing patterns and schedules is solely given to the Office of the Nursing Director, and they issue notices to inform all subordinates and demands immediate compliance.
2. Decentralized Authority: authority itself is delegated to the operational level or even to ordinary personnel. This encourages full participation, better communication, representation, and relationship in a group.
   • Ex.: before the approval of a staff pattern or schedule, the Nursing Director requests unit managers for the type of schedules and patterns applicable for their respective units, where the unit manager then consults their subordinates. The Director then simply approves the submitted plans for each unit manager.

Behavior

Behavior affects leadership. It is required that a leader must possess a behavior that is group-centered:

1. Vision
2. Integrity
3. Patience
4. Passion
5. Direction and Purpose
6. Ability to Motivate
7. Ability to Listen
8. Trustworthy
9. Critical Thinker
10. Intelligence
11. Self-Confidence
12. Flexibility

Communication

The transfer of information with understanding from one person to another. This is used for Therapeutic Relationships, and occurs with four phases:

1. Pre-interaction: prior to any initial contact with a client, where all relevant and necessary information related to the client are collected and reviewed prior to any initial meeting. The data obtained could be either primary or secondary depending on its source.
2. Orientation: the initial meeting between the client and caregiver, where rapport and trust are established.
3. Interaction/Working: the caregiver and client communicate and work together in order to determine, plan for, and intervene with the client’s problems for the fulfillment of the client’s needs.
4. Termination: the client’s needs are met and the relationship is terminated.

Communication undergoes a cyclic process. The sender produces a message, encodes it via a means to deliver the message (verbal, nonverbal, written), and transmits it to the receiver. The receiver then decodes the message, then produces a message in return (feedback) to the initial sender.

1. Sender/Encoder: the initiator of the communication process in order to transmit information.
2. Message: the actual meaning sent.
3. Encoding: the form the meaning takes in order to be delivered. This may be verbal, non-verbal, written, etc.
4. Transmission: the actual transference of data.
5. Receiver: the recipient of the message, and the one to decode (interpretation, perception, understanding of the message).
   • Decoding a message may meet barriers (alterations in the intended message) by various environmental, social, or cultural obstacles (Noise) like language barriers, physical noise, perceptive biases, etc. Discussed later in this section.
6. Feedback: the response or alteration in behavior of the receiver as a reaction to the received message.

There are various types of communication behaviors utilized for the delivery of various kinds of data:

1. Aggressive-Type Communication: loud, inappropriate, and confronting behavior utilized by hostile, egotistic, and sarcastic individuals.
2. Passive-Type Communication: shy, quiet, uninvolved, apologetic, repressive, and easily manipulated individuals use this form of communication.
3. Assertive-Type Communication: a balance of aggression and passivity, altering the dominance of one or the other depending on the needs of the context wherein communication is necessary. They may display the following characteristics (mn. FEW RIGHTS):
   • Facial Expressions are appropriate to the scenario and people.
   • Eye Contact is proper.
   • Well-Modulated Voice, tone, and intonation.
   • Respectful in communication.
   • Ideal in all situations.
   • Gestures are used appropriately.
   • Honest
   • Truthful
   • Spontaneously responsive

Effective communication utilizes various techniques:

1. Offering Oneself
2. Focusing on the Client
3. Clarifying
4. Summarizing
5. Open-ended Questions
6. Conveying Acceptance
7. Supporting
8. Providing Information
9. Reflecting

Communication may be “blocked” by various barriers:

1. Psychological Barrier: psychological states like panic, phobias, extreme anxiety, grief, loss, intense fear, aggression, or other emotional disturbances can alter the perception or even reception of messages.
2. Environmental Barriers: noise, distance, and space, etc.
3. Disinterested Listeners: a lack of interest in the sender’s messages interrupts the meaningful transference of information, even if the message is physically heard by the receivers.
4. Semantic Barriers: multiple interpretations may be obtained from a single message due to ambiguity, lack of tone indicators, or the decoder.
5. Physical Barriers: defects in speaking, seeing, listening, or cognition of the message.
6. Others include non-legible handwriting, differences in dialect, use of jargon, etc.

Channels of Communication:

1. Downward Communication: top-level positions that transmit messages down to subordinates, e.g. imposition of a new staffing pattern for all nursing personnels.
2. Upward Communication: operational-level messages transmitted to the top-level positions, e.g. an appeal for an increment in wages and compensation from staff nurses.
3. Lateral Communication: communication between equally-positioned individuals in the hierarchy.
4. Diagonal Communication: the flow between different hierarchal levels but without a direct supervisor-subordinate relationship.

Decision Making

Decision-making is the process of providing resolutions of conflicts or problems by careful analyses of all possible information, data, or alternative solutions. This occurs in stages, almost similar to the nursing process, but where diagnosis occurs first (identify the problem and individuals affected), followed by assessment (gather all pertinent data), then PIE:

1. Identify the Problem with the group.
2. Determine the People Affected
3. Gather All Pertinent Data
4. Brainstorm All Possible Solutions
5. Choose the Best Solution
6. Implement the Chosen Solution
7. Develop a Criteria for Evaluation of the solution’s effect on the problem.
8. Evaluate the Solution Using the Criteria

Ethical

A leader is ethical. They must have good manners and the right conduct. They display appropriate behaviors, morality, and conscience in guiding and motivating other members of the team to function conscientiously.

Conflict Resolution

Conflict is the clash of ideas resulting in a potential crisis. These must be resolved by leaders as conflict hinders the achievement of common objectives. Conflict occurs in three contexts: Intrapersonal, occurring within an individual; Interpersonal, occurring between individuals; and Organizational or Interdepartmental, where conflict arises between two units, departments, or groups.

Conflict resolution utilizes different methods:

1. Avoidance: the problem is avoided by the leader.
2. Bargaining/Compromising: something is given up to gain something else; both parties gain something and lose something. They attempt to meet half-way their respective demands, and do their best to equally benefit all parties i.e. “We both win some and lose some”.
3. Competing/Unilateral Action: the side with an advantage takes the opportunity to exploit the other party, i.e. “I win, you lose”.
4. Smoothing/Accommodating: a party appeases the other party by using conscientious efforts or kindness. This may not resolve the conflict, producing a temporary result.
5. Negotiation: the most advisable solution; both parties recognize the problem and mutually look for a solution acceptable to both.