Leading an Empowered Organization

Paper

Sunday, November 4, 2007

316

This presentation is part of : Global Leadership Models

Susan Wessel, RN, MS, MBA, CNAA, Consulting, Creative Health Care Management, Minneapolis, MN, USA

Learning Objective #1: explain the conceptual framework for Leading an Empowered Organization: articulated expectations, responsibility + authority + accountability, relationship management, risk taking and problem solving.
Learning Objective #2: describe how the LEO model can be used in a cultural transformational process.

Leading An Empowered Organization (LEO) has provided healthcare leaders an effective model for improving their own organizational effectiveness and for empowering their staff. LEO has been presented to staff and leaders in several countries including China, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United States, and the United Kingdom. Over 100,000 nurses in the United Kingdom have completed LEO training and it is credited as a major element in the modernization of the National Health Service, preparing nurses to take ownership of their practice and lead change on their wards. In the US, hospitals of all sizes have used LEO to change the leadership culture and enhance the professional practice of nurses.

The LEO model builds competence in essential leadership skills including: articulating expectations, accepting responsibility, authority and accountability, relationship management, risk taking, and problem solving. The outcome is an environment in which:

Collaborative leadership establishes a climate that is relatively free of power-based constraints and all members feel they share equally in opportunities for influencing the direction of group effort
Communication is flexible so that all members participate equally and minority opinions are encouraged and can be voiced
A cooperative problem solving approach avoids ‘win-loose’ so that people become more sensitive to the ideas and reactions of others
Staff learn to deal openly and candidly with one another so that personal needs do not distort the situation and issues can be discussed and resolved as they surface
Decision techniques favor sharing responsibility among all involved to that all members feel a sense of responsibility for group success

This session will introduce the LEO model and how it can be used to improve leadership effectiveness and to prepare hospitals and schools of nursing for shared governance and staff autonomy.

See more of Global Leadership Models
See more of The 39th Biennial Convention (November 3 -- 7, 2007)