Functional Leadership Model in Healthcare Essay

The traditional leadership model focuses on three main areas which are looked at to be the core areas of leadership; task, individual, and team (Al-Touby, 1). Our text does not cover the traditional leadership model but, it does cover the path-goal leadership theory which in some sense relates to both the traditional leadership model and the functional result-oriented healthcare model. The path-goal theory focuses on the effectiveness for a leader to create high productivity and morale in a given situation (DuBrin, 147). In the path-goal theory it is important that the manager pick a style of leadership that focuses on the characteristics of the team and the demand for the task. In the traditional leadership style there is more emphasis on one core area over another; where in the path-goal leadership theory there is no emphasis on either. The path-goal theory lays the objective out in black and white. The path-goal theory is/ would be an effective leadership model for healthcare, how ever adapting it more closely to any organization would make it more effective and efficient. The main objective that can never be forgotten with healthcare is the patient’s outcome; if the outcome is lost, the leader, the team, and the task have failed. The Oman Medical Journal has perfected a leadership model specifically for healthcare facilities. The journal only compares the new healthcare model to the traditional leadership model however; it could also be compared with the characteristics of the path-goal leadership theory. If a healthcare facility focuses primarily on their individual staff characteristics, the facility will risk the possibility of losing sight of the patient’s needs (Al-Touby, 1). In any medical profession all employees are there for one reason, the patient’s service. With that being said, individual characteristics are not exactly the main concern in the healthcare leadership model. Moving on to having the task be the priority of the functional model; the task by itself remains incomplete until the patient recovers from the medical condition or the disease is managed (Al-Touby, 1-2). One patient is a task for too many people, but each employee contributes to the outcome of the patient. Lastly, healthcare leaders cannot only focus on the team, because the team has not completed the task until the patient recovers or the disease is managed. The team is combined of the individuals and the task but, in healthcare none of those elements need priority over another. Healthcare teams can work hard and be efficient and still be ineffective (Al-Touby, 2). In healthcare effectiveness must always be the goal over efficient teamwork. These examples and reasons are why the Oman Medical Journal decided to add the fourth element results or patient outcomes; and they refer to the modification as the â€Å"functional results-oriented leadership model†(Al-Touby, 3). No matter how perfect the healthcare team is; no matter how motivated the care staff is; no matter how well the care procedures are articulated and practiced, the yardstick of good healthcare leadership is patient outcomes, the results of care. (Al-Touby, 4) The functional leadership model is based on three core areas in leadership; task, individuals, and teams. All of these are important in effective leadership, however, the modified theory; functional-orientated leadership fits my lifestyle more precise. Working in healthcare and pursuing a profession in healthcare administration I can see how the typical functional leadership model does not fit the healthcare world. Patient care is the main focal point of every move made in the medical field; focusing more precisely on one of the three elements in the typical model could easily distract a leader in losing focal point on the patient’s result/outcome. Making the result the center of the three elements works. The organization I work at now uses the functional-orientated leadership model, and all our policies are based around this model. Patient’s safety and wellbeing is always priority. References Al-Touby, S. (2012). Functional Results-Oriented Healthcare Leadership: A Novel Leadership Model. Oman Medical Journal, 27(2), 104-107. doi:10. 5001/omj.2012.22 DuBrin, Andrew J. (2013). Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills. Mason: South-Western.