Behavioral Leadership And Conflict Resolution In Healthcare Organizations

Behavioral Leadership and Conflict Resolution

Jasmeet Kaur

West Coast University

LDR 432 Principles of Leadership for Healthcare Organizations

Lisa Parenti

June 02, 2018

Abstract

Conflict is a fundamental part of life. In healthcare systems, where it is imperative to work in interdisciplinary teams in order to deliver quality patient care, it is inherent there will be conflict. Different members of an interdisciplinary team will bring various sets of morals, ideals and opinions, which ultimately will result in the overall team having a hard time working together. A lack of proper leadership, stress among team members and interpersonal relationships all contribute to issues within integrative healthcare teams. When not effectively

The environment of care is one of broken unity and does not allow for a cohesive team. “Within health care organizations, unsuccessful conflict management is a prime cause of stressful work environments…patient and employee dissatisfaction, poor quality of care” (Iglesias & Vallejo, 2012). The patient may receive conflicting data from various members of the interdisciplinary team, which has the potential to lead to noncompliance with treatment and/or medication regimens. Conflict between individuals will lead to patient mistrust: if team members cannot get along, the patient will be unable to have faith in his/her care team. “Improving communication and collaboration between nurses and physicians can improve their morale, and can improve patients’ satisfaction and quality of care” (Leever, Hulst, Berendsen, Boendmaker, Roodenburg & Pols, 2010). Communication is key in building a positive care environment in which the patient is the priority. An effective leader is able to facilitate that communication among team members and allow for unity in achieving the priority goal: safe patient

The behavioral approach to leadership is one such style that is one of the most crucial approaches in understanding the various leadership styles. “The behavioral approach provides a framework for assessing leadership in a broad way, as behavior with a task and relationship dimension. The behavioral approach works not by telling leaders how to behave, but by describing the major components of their behavior” (Northouse, 2016). The behavioral approach is broken down into two general kinds of behaviors: task behaviors, which are directed towards goal accomplishment, and relationship behaviors, which are directed towards helping subordinates feel comfortable within their workplace. The Blake Mouton Managerial Grid is a very well known model of managerial behavior; it “was designed to explain how leaders help organizations to reach their purposes through two factors: concern for production [task behaviors] and concern for people [relationship behaviors]” (Northouse, 2016). Team management is one of the management styles described by the managerial grid. A team manager is passionate about their work, and attempts to do the best for coworkers. According to the Blake Mouton model, team management is the most effective leadership style. “The effectiveness of the grid training program is demonstrated when supervisors show a shift in their attitudes from their own managerial style to the direction of the