Respond using APA, at least 2 scholarly references
Leadership and a Healthy Work Environment
Leadership involves the relationship between a leader and followers with the behaviors or attributes of the leader influencing whether employees consider a work environment to be healthy. Various theories exist about the way leaders and followers construct a social order in organizations leading to a healthy work environment (Vidman & Stromberg, 2020). My perception of a healthy work environment is one in which employees are satisfied with their work, work towards a common goal, and there is no conflict with managers or other employees. Leadership is the single most important factor influencing the employee’s work environment in an organization.
One insight from the literature about leadership is that managers who inspire workers to do their best contribute to a healthy work environment. Transformational leadership theory proposes that the way leaders use a positive relationship with followers can inspire others to adopt a common goal and voluntarily work towards achieving the goal (Pourbarkhordari et al., 2016). An element of transformational leadership is inspirational motivation by the leader that involves encouraging and motivating employees. The concept of transformational literature gave me insight into the way a manager at a part time job where I worked was able to motivate employees. The manager was always optimistic about the future even when the job we were assigned seemed impossible to do in the time allowed. The manager helped us understand that if the staff worked together as an efficient team, we could meet the deadline even though it seemed difficult. The manager also showed us how to perform tasks more rapidly. Because of these behaviors, we felt like a team and were always focused on helping each other. Even though the work was difficult, the work environment seemed positive and friendly.
I gained another insight about leadership from literature focusing on authentic leadership theory. The theory defines authentic leadership as altruistic and transparent behaviors, which also has an association with a healthy work environment (Giordano-Mulligan & Eckhardt, 2019). Authentic leaders consistently act on their values and beliefs and demonstrate integrity. The leadership approach also involves followers in decision-making about the best approach to perform tasks. On another part-time job that I once had, the manager was responsible for a group of employees that work her floor. A rule set by the manager was that all employees should be on time for work to avoid unfairly burdening the other employees. One of the employees, however, was always late. The manager terminated the employee and took the employees place until a replacement could be hired. The manager created a healthy work environment by fairly addressing a personnel problem consistent with stated values and beliefs while minimizing the burden of the decision on other employees.
References
Giordano-Mulligan, M., & Eckhardt, S. (2019). Authentic nurse leadership conceptual framework. Nurse Administration, 43(2), 164-174. https://doi.org/10.1097/NAQ.0000000000000344
Pourbarkhordari, A., Zhou, E., & Poukarimi, J. (2016). Role of transformational leadership in creating a healthy work environment in business setting. European Journal of Business and Management, 8(3), 57-70. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234627054.pdf
Vidman, A., & Stromberg, A. (2020). Leadership for a healthy work environment- a question of who, what, and how. Leadership in health Services, 34(1), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1108/LHS-06-2020-0041
