Abstract
The use of participative leadership guided many public health workers to deal with Ebola in West Africa. New resources, ideas, and disease management practices were embraced by all participants. Local teams were also empowered to support every affected community. This discussion examines how servant leadership was effective in dealing with the epidemic.
Introduction
Different organizations such as the Samaritan’s Purse, World Health Organization (WHO), and Serving In Mission (SIM) embraced the power of servant leadership to tackle the Ebola epidemic in West Africa (Liberia succeeds in fighting Ebola with local, sector response, 2015). The public health workers empowered different local communities and volunteers to have a sense of ownership. The leadership style encouraged the clinicians to support many individuals, families, and communities.
Applying Another Leadership Theory
Participative leadership could have been used to produce similar goals. This leadership theory encourages individuals to empower their followers (Bortoluzzi, Caporale, & Palese, 2014). Such followers will be involved in every decision-making process. The leadership process also focuses on common goals and objectives (Ilgen, Hollenbeck, Johnson, & Jundt, 2005). It is therefore agreed that the theory could have produced positive results in West Africa.
How the Outcomes Might Have Changed
Every leadership approach has its unique values and attributes. Such values dictate the performance of different followers. A different leadership theory could have produced different results. For instance, authoritative leadership could have discouraged more volunteers and public health workers (Parsons & Cornett, 2011). Such individuals would have ignored the health needs of the targeted populations. Individualistic leadership approaches could have also produced negative results (Sherman, Bishop, Eggenberger, & Karden, 2007).
Description of the Event
The infamous Ebola epidemic affected many communities in West Africa from 2014 to 2015. The Ebola outbreak experienced in Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone was the largest in the world’s history. Many foreign agencies, local communities, and public health workers used the best practices to deal with the epidemic. So far the epidemic has led to over 11,000 deaths (Liberia succeeds in fighting Ebola with local, sector response, 2015). New disease management strategies are being identified to deal with the epidemic.
Application of Servant Leadership
I strongly believe that servant leadership was the most approached perspective in this public health event. To begin with, the leadership approach encouraged many volunteers, nurses, and caregivers to be part of the campaign (Cohen et al., 2008). This “leadership perspective creates a sense of subordinate autonomy” (van Dierendonck, 2011, p. 1246). The individuals felt empowered and motivated to produce the best results. Different groups and caregivers collaborated to obtain positive results (Curtis, Vries, & Sheerin, 2011). This leadership style encouraged more individuals from different backgrounds to focus on the needs of the different populations.
Using Different Leadership Outcomes
The outcomes of this public health event depended entirely on the leadership models embraced by different groups (Reinhard & Hassmiller, 2014). Transformational, participative, and charismatic leadership models could have produced similar results (Nahavandi, 2014). The individuals could have been empowered to deal with the epidemic. However, authoritative and autocratic leadership perspectives could have affected the fight against Ebola.
Conclusion
The Ebola outbreak experienced in West Africa forced many national officials, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), and public health workers to combine their efforts. Different community members and leaders used the best models to treat more patients and control new outbreaks (Anonson et al., 2009). The use of servant leadership, therefore, played a critical role in winning the war against this epidemic.
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