Leadership Theories in Practice

Discussion 1: Leadership Theories in Practice

A walk through the Business section of any bookstore or a quick Internet search on the topic will reveal a seemingly endless supply of writings on leadership. Formal research literature is also teeming with volumes on the subject.

However, your own observation and experiences may suggest these theories are not always so easily found in practice. Not that the potential isn’t there; current evidence suggests that leadership factors such as emotional intelligence and transformational leadership behaviors, for example, can be highly effective for leading nurses and organizations.

Yet, how well are these theories put to practice? In this Discussion, you will examine formal leadership theories. You will compare these theories to behaviors you have observed firsthand and discuss their effectiveness in impacting your organization.

To Prepare:

• Review the Resources and examine the leadership theories and behaviors introduced.


• Identify two to three scholarly resources, in addition to this Module’s readings, that evaluate the impact of leadership behaviors in creating healthy work environments.


• Reflect on the leadership behaviors presented in the three resources that you selected for review.

By Day 3 of Week 4

Post two key insights you had from the scholarly resources you selected. Describe a leader whom you have seen use such behaviors and skills, or a situation where you have seen these behaviors and skills used in practice. Be specific and provide examples. Then, explain to what extent these skills were effective and how their practice impacted the workplace.

Learning Resources

Required Readings

Marshall, E., & Broome, M. (2017). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.

Chapter 1, “Expert Clinician to Transformational Leader in a Complex Health Care Organization: Foundations” (pp. 7–20 ONLY)

Chapter 6, “Frameworks for Becoming a Transformational Leader” (pp. 145–170)

Chapter 7, “Becoming a Leader: It’s All About You” (pp. 171–194)

Duggan, K., Aisaka, K., Tabak, R. G., Smith, C., Erwin, P., & Brownson, R. C. (2015). Implementing administrative evidence-based practices: Lessons from the field in six local health departments across the United States. BMC Health Services Research, 15(1). doi:10.1186/s12913-015-0891-3. Retrieved from https://bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12913-015-0891-3