It's hard to view leadership as a collaborative process with others that you work with. Many leadership theories involve a hierarchy of members that come to a head where one true leader of the group resides. The idea of shared leadership is different in the fact that leadership responsibilities are shared by a group of individuals. This is a unique style that looks to succeed by progressing towards a common goal. As with all forms of leadership, there are strengths and weaknesses to this theory.
If common leadership styles aren't working for an organization, then this is a great avenue to try. There have been multiple studies that have observed in healthcare organizations and school systems that have adopted this form of leadership to improve outcomes. It is important that we can relate a certain leadership theory to the profession of pharmacy which means I will be exploring the studies seen in healthcare. A study done by Dr. T. Steinert that was published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing showed that a shared leadership model involving physicians, nurses and other medical team members was an overall beneficial process. It resulted in improved communication between healthcare personnel, higher levels of trust, decreased misunderstanding between members, and better ways to resolve conflict.
As we have learned in LEADERs track, there are many different types of leaders. That being said, it is in the organization's best interest to be able to highlight different leaders' strengths. It opens a pathway that allows for a more diverse decision making process. It can also reduce the stress load on leaders by allowing them to share responsibilities instead of taking it on by themselves. With healthcare evolving constantly, it is important to be open to different leadership processes that can increase patient health outcomes which this theory shows potential for doing that.
There are some criticisms that can accompany this theory of leadership. Like I mentioned earlier in the blog, this is a unique form of leadership that differs from leadership norms that have been ingrained in societies for centuries. It is difficult for current leaders to be open to sharing responsibilities when they have been in a position of power for most of their career. This resistance to change seems to be the biggest limitation to this form of leadership. Longer decision making can be expected due to multiple leaders being responsible and not wanting to budge on their ideals. This can be troublesome especially in healthcare when quick decisions are needed for patient care.
Based on this information, I believe that shared leadership has potential to be a good option for hospitals where collaborative practice is an important aspect. Shared leadership responsibilities can make for better teamwork between healthcare professionals which can result in better outcomes for patients. The few criticisms that are involved can be overcome by practice and being open-minded to change.
