The case study describes S. M., a young and ambitious mid-level administrator in one of the US medical homes. The woman was elected for volunteering a two-year term in the president’s office. She intended to improve herself and her leadership traits and help the medical home, patients, and the state’s population. She was inspired by her mentor and concentrated on the concept of transformational leadership (Gokenbach & Thomas, 2020). However, the CEO discouraged her drastically, telling her to focus on her main job and overlooking volunteer activities.
In the case study described above, the CEO is mistaken; in their opinion, a real leader is the one who is paid. They ignore volunteering and see it as something unnecessary and irrelevant. One of the most fundamental leadership theories is the SLT, a situational leadership theory. It includes supporting relationships in a group, guiding it, adjusting to new circumstances, focusing on people’s needs, and being ready to act (Jenkinson, 2018). The theory does not emphasize any importance of money or the necessity of the leader to be paid and concentrates on the traits S. M. already has.
The leader is the one who is able to guide a group of people, unite them and help them achieve success. Dr. Hersey states that leadership is the ability to influence others with one’s behavior (The Center for Leadership Studies, 2015). Another prominent leader’s characteristic is motivation: achieving anything is almost impossible if they do not have it. High salaries are a way to motivate people and make them want to perform their duties more effectively. In the case study, S. M. is inherently motivated by her desire for self-development and to help others. She does not need to have money as a source of motivation. Thus, a leader is a leader when they have knowledge, motivation, purpose, personal leadership traits, and the ability and desire to guide and help others.
References
Gokenbach, V., & Thomas, P. L. (2020). Maximizing human capital. In L. Roussel, P. L. Thomas, & J. L. Harris (Eds.), Management and leadership for nurse administrators (8th ed., 189–226). Burlington, MA: Jones & Bartlett Learning
Jenkinson, P. (2018). Hersey Blanchard situational leadership [Video file]. Web.
The Center for Leadership Studies. (2015). Situational leadership overview with Dr. Paul Hersey [Video file]. Web.