Democratic Leadership Style

Democratic Leadership Style

J.P. is a nursing leader who has been working for the medical firm X. J.P. has served his leadership tenure for the last four years, confirming his grasp for a perfect implementation of the democratic leadership style within the nursing field. J.P believes in the Democratic leadership style being the most effective leadership style within the nursing profession. Democratic leadership is a leadership style in which the members have a role in decision-making. Democratic leadership style applies in any organization from the private entities, businesses, health systems, and even the governments (Allafchi, 2017). In the democratic leadership style, every member within the organization is given a chance to participate in idea exchange. Democratic leadership style is found on three significant characteristics; collaboration, engagement, and creativity. The group members embrace collaboration and sharing ideas, even considering the leader to have the final say over everything. The paper below seeks to identify the acceptable characteristics for effective leadership and techniques used to empower the staff in a democratic leadership style.

Essential Characteristics for Effective Leadership

Proper Communication

J.P believes that effective communication is vital for effective leadership. Good leadership mainly focuses on the connection of different members at different levels. Connection is correctly identifying with people and properly relating to them. The leaders obtain a common ground by capturing different people’s interests through ideas and innovativeness. J.P believes that effective communication between subordinates and the leaders promotes transparency and accountability and recognizes and celebrates other people’s success. To achieve the organizational objectives and the personal good, J.P believes that the leaders need to be present in the interaction with the subordinates. J.P adds that implementing proper communication strategies can lead to effective leadership.

Effective Conflict and Problem-Solving Skills

J.P also believes that proper conflict resolution skills are significant for effective leadership. No man is an island. Every office or group often has conflicts at the organizational and personal levels. In most instances, conflicts are stressful and very draining. According to J.P, the issue of concern in leadership is not the conflict but the modes upon which we can solve the conflicts. An effective produces positive outcomes through the implementation of proper conflict resolution skills. Diplomacy should be keenly implemented to resolve conflicts within the organization. The leaders should focus on avoiding instances leading to leader-employee conflict. Conflict can lead to poor patient outcomes, as the focus on the patients will be limited. For effective leadership, J.P believes leaders should have ethical conflict and problem-solving skills.

Techniques Used to Empower Staff

Motivation

From the Laws of nature, humans are generally happy when their efforts in issues are recognized and applauded. Leaders need to see the achievement of the individual team members and applaud them. The applaud instills confidence and self-worth while working within the different organizations. Motivated individuals produce better job satisfaction, present a greater drive for higher performance, and are often determined to succeed (Lupinacci, 2019). Additionally, motivation creates trust between the employees and the organizations as the employees feel valued, resulting in increased productivity and achievement of the desired objectives. Motivations can be through the token of gifts or campouts, or even verbal seminars. Motivation can therefore foster and drive the employees to work effectively.

Designation of responsibilities and roles.

In leadership, trust is one of the critical determinants of whether we can or cannot achieve the organizational objectives. Therefore, leaders can also empower their subordinates by designation of special responsibilities. The designation of the responsibilities insinuates the leader’s self-belief for the employees and the subordinates. For the subordinates, the designation of particular roles improves their confidence and is an insinuation of the trust the leaders have in them (Lupinacci, 2019). Additionally, the delegation of responsibilities can be in the form of promotions which is an insinuation that the employees and subordinates are recognized. For example, in the medical setting, promotions to higher roles can prove an effective empowerment strategy for the leader to the employees.

Interview finding on the Leadership Characteristics and the type of power used

Being a Team-Player

In the democratic leadership style, the leaders are team players in the cycle. The leadership style is very integrative and needs the effort of all the employees and leaders to arrive at the final decision. As team players, the leaders also take part in several organizational responsibilities. Appreciation of other people’s achievements and open-mindedness are some of the traits of a team player (Cherry, 2020). The leaders implementing a democratic leadership style recognize the progress of their subordinates. Open-mindedness makes it easier for leaders to implement new strategies within their systems effectively. Therefore, the team player perspective is a leadership characteristic of the democratic leadership style.

Expert power

Expert power is the most common type of power among leaders in the democratic leadership style. The power is mainly obtained through a better grasp of technical and extensive expertise experience. Expert power presents the ability to have a positive effect on the coworkers within the organization and the systems (Eatough, 2021). Expert power is also a symbol of authority. The employees and subordinates will therefore be submissive to the instructions due to the difference in expertise level between the leader and the subordinates. Experts power has often translated to more advantages than disadvantages, proving effective.

Conclusion

The influence the assignment has on future nursing practice.

The assignment has increased grasp of understanding that proper communication is effective for achieving the organizational objectives. Communication improves the connection between the employees and the leaders, which proves effective in instilling trust between the employees and employers, and the long-term result is the achievement of the desired objectives. In future involvement in nursing, the assignment instills that nurses must-see and communicate properly. Communication is also effective for the nurse’s engagement with the patients, which can increase the patient’s recovery. 

References

Allafchi, N. (2017). International Journal of Cultural and Social Studies (IntJCSS) Effect of Democratic leadership Style on Management of Communication with Customers in Melli Banks of Hamedan. 3(2), 168–179. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/download/article-file/395622

Cherry, K. (2020, January 6). Is Democratic Leadership the Best Style of Leadership? Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-democratic-leadership-2795315#:~:text=Democratic%20leadership%2C%20also%20known%20as

Eatough, E. (2021, August 3). The five types of power effective leaders use. Www.betterup.com. https://www.betterup.com/blog/types-of-power

Lupinacci, T. M. (2019, August 13). Key Characteristics of Effective Leadership. Www.bakerdonelson.com. https://www.bakerdonelson.com/key-characteristics-of-effective-leadership