Reflection On Leadership And Followership

Decent Essays
Introduction Leadership can be defined as striving to help others reach their highest potential by influencing an individual’s attitudes and beliefs (Pullen, 2016). Followership is an integral part of leadership and without follower’s leadership would not occur. Followership can be defined as the individuals who follow the leaders and take direction well (Kean, Haycock-Stuart, Baggaley & Carson, 2011). Leadership and followership are key components not only in the nursing profession but in all group settings, which lead to successful teamwork (Miller, 2007). This reflective paper will begin by describing my experiences of being a leader/follower and then will outline the outcomes of the experiences. Next, I will describe my leadership/followership …show more content…
Formal leadership is a position assigned by an organization to an individual (Abbass Dick, 2016). In my workplace, I was assigned a formal leadership role as the head hostess. I was assigned the task of training and I was in charge of delegating their tasks while at work. I have also shown leadership while playing on my soccer team. I took a leadership role and helped new members of the team feel welcome and helped the team work together to win our games. I have also taken a follower role within my workplace at a nursing home. I was in a new environment and I decided to follow the lead of the other PSW’s and nurses until I felt comfortable. In any situation, individuals may take on a role of a leader or a follower and these roles are critical when making a team …show more content…
As an individual and a future nurse, I have experienced supports of leadership such as a positive physical environments and a positive workplace culture. The physical environment when caring for individuals can have a significant impact on the clients care and outcomes. It is important for leaders and followers to work together to achieve an environment that is safe and clean for all individuals. Also, when there is a positive workplace culture on the unit, staff will get along and provide the best care possible to help clients achieve optimal health. The leaders help to guide all staff in the right direction and the followers work with the leaders to achieve their goals. I have also experienced barriers to leadership which included a negative learning culture. Working on a unit with a negative learning culture, ultimately affects the overall client care provided. There should be an inviting environment that promotes learning and the leader should take charge in this (McCormack, Dewing & McCance, 2011). From my experience, the leader used a transactional leadership approach in which there was no area to grow and learn.. The leader could have used a transformational leadership style which could foster a positive learning environment for the staff (Odumeru & Ifeanyi,

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