Introduction
The success of any organization or venture depends on the person who leads the group involved in completing that mission. Leadership is defined as “the art of influencing others to their maximum performance to accomplish any task, objective or project” (Vasilescu, 2019, p. 48). However, to be an effective and ethical leader, a person should understand and implement core leadership principles, theories, and styles (Kibbe, 2019). Although multiple theories were developed in this field, the five main leadership theories are trait, behavioral, contingency, power, and emotional intelligence (Kibbe, 2019; Mango, 2018). The three major styles described in the literature are transactional, transformational, and thought leadership (Wen et al., 2019). Furthermore, there are democratic, autocratic, bureaucratic, charismatic, and Laissez-Faire styles (Kibbe, 2019). The two leaders that will be discussed in this paper are Daniel Roth and Sam Hazen, whose abilities and strategies I have always admired. Although their leadership styles and theories vary, both effectively communicate their ideas and motivate their employees.
Daniel Roth’s Professional History, Organizational Challenges, and Views
Daniel Roth is one of the most influential business journalists of modern times. He obtained his bachelor of science degree in journalism from Northwestern University (Daniel Roth, n.d.). Roth has been working first as an executive editor and now as editor-in-chief at LinkedIn for more than ten years (Daniel Roth, n.d.). Furthermore, he had experience in writing and editing for Fortune, Forbes, Conde Nast, and Wired (Daniel Roth, n.d.). Daniel started writing stories about business and entrepreneurship in the late 1990s, working as a reporter at Fortune Magazine (Daniel Roth, n.d.). While becoming an editor and gaining more influence in the sphere of business journalism, he was lucky to interview Warren Buffett and Bill Gates (Daniel Roth, n.d.). Roth’s professional journey seemed smooth, but he faced various challenges that seemed to shape his identity as a leader.
Daniel’s leadership skills started to be noticed when he worked at Fortune, but they became especially prominent and useful at LinkedIn because Roth now oversees the company’s writers and editors globally. Indeed, it is challenging to control employees who are not located in one physical place. Furthermore, they may have different cultural values; hence, the role of a leader is to study, understand, and empathize with these distinctions to increase work effectiveness. One of the significant challenges that Daniel faced initially was that employees were not well organized. Hence, he had to cultivate an environment of discipline and growth, in which his leadership style played a significant role. Moreover, Roth treats personal and organizational cultures and values with great respect. He thinks that LinkedIn’s mission to create a professional job-seeking platform became possible due to the fact that the importance of the writing staff’s creativity is always emphasized and supported (Daniel Roth, n.d.). Daniel views that the democratic nature of the organizational culture at LinkedIn is the foundation of this platform’s success.
Sam Hazen’s Professional History, Organizational Challenges, and Views
Another leader is Samuel Hazen who is the current chief executive officer (CEO) of HCA Healthcare, a leading provider of medical services in the U.S. and globally. Hazen has been working at HCA for almost forty years, and after serving at various levels, he was appointed as the company’s CEO (“Person details: Samuel N. Hazen,” n.d.). He occupied different leading positions at HCA; for instance, he was the president of operations for four years before he became the chief operating officer in 2016 (“Person details: Samuel N. Hazen,” n.d.). Furthermore, Hazen led the branches of the organization in various states at different points in his career. In addition to his duties at HCA, Samuel is a member of the board of directors at the Federation of American Hospitals. His educational background of a bachelor’s degree in finance and a master’s in business administration provided a solid foundation for Hazen to be an effective leader.
Hazen’s leadership abilities were particularly evident and essential during the COVID-19 pandemic, which struck the global community two years ago and is still ongoing. As the CEO of HCA, Samuel had to ensure that enough personal protective equipment and hospital beds were available at the organization’s healthcare facilities (Newman, 2020). In this case, the organizational challenge was not a shortage of equipment but the need to reduce the number of workers due to the economic crisis. Thus, Hazen took measures to protect employees from the financial difficulties of unemployment. Specifically, those who could not get their regular working hours during the coronavirus crisis received monetary support from HCA, in addition to financial help from the federal government. Hazen’s central view is that the success of the company depends on people because they are the central workforce that fulfills the firm’s primary mission of serving patients in need. Moreover, he believes that HCA’s most critical value is the desire to help patients with total commitment and dedication. Overall, Hazen’s leadership skills played a pivotal role in maintaining the organization’s core structure during turbulent times.
Daniel Roth’s Leadership Theories and Styles
As the evaluation of Roth’s career path showed, he used a combination of leadership styles and theories in his practice. Indeed, he utilizes both trait theory and emotional intelligence in his work with employees. According to the trait theory, a leader must possess such characteristics as honesty, integrity, motivation, decisiveness, assertiveness, persuasion, and intelligence (Kibbe, 2019). Emotional intelligence is the capability to understand and acknowledge other people’s feelings, thoughts, and ideas (Kibbe, 2019). Roth’s style of leading people in organizations is primarily charismatic, which resembles transformational leadership. The latter is defined as a person’s capacity to guide and direct other people in a way to facilitates their personal evolution and professional development (Wen et al., 2019). Notably, Roth had to heavily implement his organizational skills to improve employee culture when he joined LinkedIn. He needed to show that for individuals and companies to be successful, one must read other people’s and firms’ stories of successes and failures. As the history of LinkedIn shows, Roth’s strategies enabled this platform to gain an enormous number of readers and followers.
Sam Hazen’s Leadership Theories and Styles
Sam Hazen is, if not a born leader, at least he is a well-trained professional with a 40-year of experience coordinating, guiding, and motivating HCA Healthcare’s workers. In his case, it appears that situational leadership theory is more applicable because of the changing nature of hospital circumstances and the healthcare field in general. According to Demirtas and Karaca (2020), in this type of leadership, “characteristics and behaviors should act together with situational varieties to assume results” (p. 14). For example, the fact that Hazen had to rearrange resources and alter employees’ schedules showed his and hence HCA’s adaptability to external and internal problems. The leadership styles that Samuel employs are bureaucratic and charismatic. In fact, it is impossible not to follow established written rules when it comes to patients’ health; thus, the former style is necessary. At the same time, the latter type of leadership helps to inspire workers to higher productivity and greater commitment, both of which are vital in the medical field. Indeed, his approach and strategies were proven effective amid the pandemic.
Implementation of Personal and Team Concepts by the Leaders
The three essential social needs are to get along, get ahead, and create value. Firstly, a group demands respect, sharing and cooperation, conflict management, interpersonal connection, and servant leadership (Dye, 2010). Secondly, work requires commitment, a desire to make a change, and ethics (Dye, 2010). Thirdly, the order in teams is created through the integrity, trust, collaboration, and emotional intelligence of its leaders (Dye, 2010). In fact, team dynamics and productivity can be improved by applying leadership principles and giving individuals the abovementioned needs.
Sam Hazen and Daniel Roth mastered the aspects of social values, which allowed them to be influential leaders. Both leaders strive to show respect to their staff, cooperate with them, and share ideas. Hazen and Roth can be considered servant leaders since they realize the importance of people for their organizations. Furthermore, both are dedicated to their duties, which sets an example for their employees to follow their standards. Lastly, Hazen and Roth follow professional integrity and moral principles in their interaction with workers, which is vital for effective team management. An example of Hazen’s real-life implementation of his leadership skills is the fact that he was able to create a connected and collaborative culture at HCA with 285,000 workers (Newman, 2020, para. 20). Roth was able to connect more than 200 LinkedIn editors across the globe, making their work cooperative (Daniel Roth, n.d.). Although the leaders try to give teams a sense of connection, it is not always possible because of the size of their organizations. Still, they may try to organize more virtual events to ensure that all employees have the opportunity to interact with them directly.
The Leaders’ Ability to Guide Teams Effectively
Roth and Hazen were able to maintain their leadership roles not only due to their expertise in the field but also because they guided teams effectively. If the evaluation form in Appendix C of the textbook is applied to both leaders’ styles, it reveals that they are not afraid to be fully involved in projects and processes (Dye, 2010). Although they could not organize social events for their employees due to the company scale, the number of workers, and separation in space, Hazen, and Roth created a culture of cooperation, openness, and commitment to a common goal. However, decision-making is rarely team-based since the leaders often must consider various external and internal factors, which the staff may be unaware of, to ensure the best outcome for the organization. Nevertheless, Roth and Hazen should learn to trust their employees more to cultivate a leadership spirit because problem-solving and decision-making abilities are essential on all organizational levels.
Whole Person Leadership Model
The whole-person model evaluates leaders in terms of five domains. These domains are positive traits, negative characteristics, judgment, experience, and values (Dye, 2010). Roth’s positive characteristics are integrity and initiative, while the negative feature is dependence on outside circumstances. Indeed, Roth is a respected journalist and editor who is not known to have any issues like plagiarism or theft of intellectual property. Furthermore, he is a good problem solver and decision-maker with proper education, training, and skills.
An assessment of Hazen’s leadership characteristics showed that he is a person with diligence, integrity, and initiative. Indeed, his decision to reorganize HCA’s infrastructure at the early stages of the pandemic was not only a timely initiative but also a farsighted step (Newman, 2020). It became possible due to his enormous knowledge, experience, and skills in the healthcare field, as well as his problem-solving, critical thinking, and decision-making abilities. However, like Roth, Hazen has a tendency for external dependence. Lastly, Roth’s and Hazen’s central values are integrity, respect, and commitment to work. As can be seen from LinkedIn’s and HCA’s progress over the years, these two leaders are honest in their intentions and results.
Future Healthcare Leaders
Based on the information analyzed in this paper, Sam Hazen and Daniel Roth are effective leaders. Considering the experience, the former can be appointed a future healthcare leader. In fact, Hazen has the knowledge and four decades of experience in this area. It means that his expertise became somewhat intuitive, which is essential, particularly when society faces such public health emergencies as the COVID-19 pandemic. Indeed, Hazen’s strategy to reorganize HCA’s structure and resources to ensure patient and employee safety is proof of his competence (Newman, 2020). Roth may find it challenging to change his path in the medical field, but it does not mean he cannot lead healthcare-related projects in writing and editing guidance and supervision.
Conclusion
In summary, Sam Hazen and Daniel Roth, evaluated in this paper, possess the essential characteristics of leaders with their unique leadership styles and theories. Roth follows the principles of trait theory, emotional intelligence, and charismatic style when interacting with other employees at LinkedIn. Hazen uses bureaucratic and charismatic styles since working in the healthcare field often requires not only the encouragement of employees but also adherence to the established rules and standards. Additionally, his primary leadership theory is situational because the diverse nature of emergencies and issues that may arise in hospitals demands flexibility in different instances. Overall, the two leaders are capable of effective team management.
References
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Demirtas, O., & Karaca, M. (Eds.). (2020). A handbook of leadership styles. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Dye, C. F. (2010). Leadership in healthcare: Essential values and skills. Health Administration Press.
Kibbe, M. R. (2019). Leadership theories and styles. In Leadership in surgery (pp. 27-36). Springer.
Mango, E. (2018). Rethinking leadership theories. Open Journal of Leadership, 7(1), 57-88. Web.
Newman, E. (Ed.) (2020). ‘Making a big company feel small’: An interview with HCA Healthcare CEO Sam Hazen. McKinsey & Company. Web.
Person details: Samuel N. Hazen. (n.d.). HCA Healthcare. Web.
Vasilescu, M. (2019). Leadership styles and theories in an effective management activity. Annals-Economy Series, 4, 47-52.
Wen, T. B., Ho, T. C., Kelana, B. W. Y., Othman, R., & Syed, O. R. (2019). Leadership styles in influencing employees’ job performances. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 9(9), 55-65. Web.