Theodore Roosevelt once said, as quoted by White (2010), “the best executive is one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it.” This great wisdom is too frequently ignored, and at great cost to morale and productivity. In essence, Roosevelt was describing the leader’s fundamental role, leverage the strengths of the team, facilitate their success, and get out of the way of their productivity. Unfortunately in my experience, I have seen several young professional leaders who, due to insecurity in their leadership abilities, or simply inexperience, develop into micromanagers.
Today, taking the advice of a later mentor of mine, I count myself lucky to have been subjected to a severe micromanager; in so much as it has given me perspective on the issue, and has allowed me to avoid projecting the same behavior onto my team. “Micromanagement usually refers to inappropriately close observation and control of a subordinate's work by a manager” (Davenport, 2010). And so, detail by detail, my micromanager would comb over my work; eager, it seemed, to find the minutest infraction. To this day I don’t know for sure why he behaved that way, but it had the common effect of dampening my productivity and lowering my morale. I became disenfranchised with my organization due to the constant scrutiny and negative feedback, and consequently, my expectations of promotion diminished. I knew I would be continue to be unsuccessful; I was miserable and wanted nothing more than to resign from an organization that just a few months ago I dreamed of running. While my supervisor might have thought he was being meticulous and thorough, “subordinate staff ...
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...kind of mentoring relationship that I, and my team, benefit from today.
Works Cited
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Expect the best, prepare for the worst and capitalize on what comes (Zig Ziglar). The demand for talented, educated and experienced nursing home administrators is increasing, and filling this demand is becoming more challenging. In this paper, the qualifications, responsibilities, and duties of a nursing home administrator, professional staff, nonlicensed staff, and consultants will be identified. We will explore trends that are likely to affect assisted living in the future. We also will explore new changes in regulation related to the F490, the Facility assessment and how it will impact the role of the administrator.
Working in long-term care can be overwhelming. Imagine you are a new graduate nurse putting your new found knowledge and skills to practice for the first time. Your orientation lasted three days which is standard for nurse home orientation compared to hospital orientation that last approximately six to eight weeks for new grads. The shift has just begun and already you have a new admit, new found pressure ulcer to assess, a possible medication reaction, several new orders to take off and eight patients to document on for varying reasons. Feelings of frustration and confusion take over as you are the only nurse on the unit along with a Certified Medication Technician (CMT) and three Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) taking care of 47 patients. Ideal nurse-to-patient ratio continues to be a national issue in both the hospital and long-term care setting (LTC). In the LTC setting there is no official nurse-to-patient ratio; there is a suggested staff-to-patient ratio. This issue not only affects the new licensed nurses but the seasoned nurse as well. Recently, there has been controversial debates as to whether heavy workloads are detrimental to patients. The federal, state, and local government regulates many aspects of healthcare. However, it is the physicians, nurses and other healthcare professional that provide care directly to patients. Consequently, does insufficient staffing, heavy workloads, and unsupportive work environment directly contribute to poor patient satisfaction, nurse burnout, high turnover and job dissatisfaction?
In any discussion of leadership, thoughts immediately begin to turn to examples of leadership gone wrong. These may include leaders who bully, threaten, or allow their mood to affect the environment of the agency (Reed, 2004, p. 67). The reason we focus upon these examples is the destructive impact they have upon the agency as a whole, as well as the individual officers unfortunate enough to serve under that type of leader. Leaders such as these foster an environment of backbiting and belittling as a method of control, resulting in an untenable environment for those officers who choose not to engage in such behavior and, as often as not, promotion of those that do. This kind of management gives way to:
Most facilities that hire workers such as nurses and nursing assistants to take care of dementia patients don’t train their employees for the disease specifically. Without the knowledge of how to properly take care of these types of patients, employees become easily overwhelmed and stressed without the ability to cope. Some other reasons include poor work conditions, to many responsibilities, and lack of appreciation. Eriksson and Saveman (2002) discuss how burnout is a common problem for the nursing staff. Burnout then can lead to the staff member losing interest in as well as not showing consideration and/or despising the patient, leading to abuse and/or neglect. This is an issue that needs to be addressed by the human resources department. They need to make sure they are providing all the knowledgeable information needed starting on the first day of orientation and making sure they continue that education at mandatory in-services throughout the
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Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge is an organizational management book written by Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus for those who aim to become better leaders. The authors emphasize that having executive positions or being a manager does not automatically make one a leader. A leader is one who inspires his staff, help them find purpose in their work, and effectively implement their plans. They separate the book not quite into chapters on different topics, but rather by four strategies that they have determined are vital for any leader to take on. The strategies are effectively concluded as attention through vision, meaning through communication, trust through positioning, and the deployment of self. A prominent feature of Leaders is the various
Have you ever had a leader that inspired you to develop your own leadership traits? “A leader is someone who demonstrates what’s possible” (Mark Yarnell, 2015). There are numerous leadership styles. Each of the numerous leadership styles can be beneficial if utilized in an appropriate means. I have chosen three leaders and their unique leadership styles to discuss in this paper. The unique styles that will be discussed are situational leadership, transformational leadership, and laissez-faire leadership. I will also discuss each leader’s approaches, their fundamental leadership principles, and how each leader used their style within their profession.
Almost everyone has had the misfortune of having a leader that should not be in the position of leading others. Unfortunately, I have been in that position. I have had bad managers and supervisors in not just one job, but in two entirely different jobs. One of the jobs was a nutrition associate in a hospital kitchen. The other job was at the restaurant, Cracker Barrel, as a hostess. I will be pulling my experience from both jobs to explain why these leaders were not fit for the position that they held and what they could have done different to be a more effective leader.
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Being a micromanager is instituting a belief that all decisions must be made through them as they have a lack of faith in their employees completing the job. When you micromanage, you rarely develop people but instead exploit them, preferring to control results rather than inspire creativity. Jim’s management technique is seen as a practice where he “bosses” his employees and lacks confidence in their work. As a result of micromanagement, the employee is left with a negative feeling and a stifled work environment.
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When considering the term management, there has always been a common miss conception that this automatically makes an individual a leader. Leadership is only a single element of the management role. Many times managers are more comfortable utilizing a particular leadership style. While this may work well the majority of the time, certain employees or situations may require a different approach. Good leadership requires that the individual recognize the need for change to motivate their employees to accomplish the task at hand or to reach common goals. Understanding the importance of leadership is essential. However, the key element to focus on is what steps can be taken to improve one’s leadership capabilities. For many individuals this may be a difficult question to answer and may only be possible through self-assessment and reflection.