Question

Describe the fundamental principles of servant leadership. Present two qualities of servant leadership and explain how they support interprofessional communication in providing patient care.

Answer 1

Ans)

Fundamental Principle of Servant Leadership:

1. Listening:
- Communication is a two way process and many leaders will be very good at doing the talking and less so at listening. Effective servant leaders are able to listen intently and respectfully to their staff and act on the information they receive.

2. Empathy:
- Servant leaders are able to deeply understand and empathise with others. It is important to recognise and accept people for their uniqueness and understand their point of view.

3. Healing:
- This does not mean physically healing but rather healing on a more holistic level. This can be achieved through discussion, coaching, mentoring and relationship-orientated leadership styles.

4. Awareness:
- Having a wider awareness of yourself and others is a common trait of effective servant leaders. Understanding strengths, weaknesses and areas for development and support is crucial for maximising performance.

5. Persuasion:
- A key difference between servant leadership and other styles of leadership is that servant leaders rely largely on persuasion and cooperation rather than authority and delegation. Servant leaders have an ability to convince others as opposed to coercing them into compliance.

6. Conceptualisation:
- Servant leaders have the ability to look at a problem from a conceptualising perspective, meaning they are able to think beyond the day-to-day realities of their work. While conceptualisation is important servant leaders also have the ability to delicately balance conceptualisation and day-to-day focus.

7. Foresight:
- Foresight is a characteristic which enables servant leaders to understand lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely outcomes of any future decisions.

8. Stewardship:
- Greenleaf’s view of all institutions was that all leaders (CEOs, staff, directors, trustees, etc.) should play a significance role in establishing their institution in trust for the greater good of society.

9. Commitment to the Growth of People:
- Servant leaders believe that people have an intrinsic value beyond that of the work they do. They lead with a deep committed to both the personal and professional growth of each and every individual within their organization. Ensuring staff welfare and well-being is also a big considerations for servant leaders.

10. Building Community:
- Developing and maintaining an effective community is fundamental to servant leadership. Servant leaders seek to identify ways in which social and task orientated communities can be built amongst those who work within their organisation.

Two qualities of Servant Leadership which supports interprofessional communications in patient care:

1) Develops other leaders:

- The replication factor is so important. It means teaching others to lead, providing opportunities for growth and demonstrating by example. That means the leader is not always leading, but instead giving up power and deputizing others to lead.

- It keeps motivating the leaders & supports interprofessional communication thus enhancing the patient care.

2) Thinks long-term:

- A servant leader is thinking about the next generation, the next leader, the next opportunity. That means a tradeoff between what’s important today versus tomorrow, and making choices to benefit the future.

- This definitely is important for patient care.