Leadership in Healthcare: Transitioning From Clinical Professional to Healthcare Leader

Abstract

Clinical professionals may not have the necessary evidence-based knowledge regarding specific leadership styles to succeed in a leadership role. This article examines the various leadership styles that can be adopted by a clinical professional who transitions into a leadership role. The Path-Goal theory developed by Robert House in 1971 was used as the theoretical lens for this study. Twenty scholarly, peer-reviewed articles written in English and published between 2015 and 2020 were analyzed and synthesized to develop the findings. The findings showed that employee retention was positively associated with transformational and authentic leadership styles; organizational commitment was positively associated with transformational, transactional, and authentic leadership styles; and job satisfaction was positively associated with transformational and authentic leadership styles. In particular, a transformational leadership style demonstrated higher rates of employee retention and job satisfaction than did transactional and laissez-faire leadership styles. The authentic and transformational leadership styles each saw increased job satisfaction and commitment, but a correlation between the authentic leadership style and those benefits was less evident. Clinical professionals should apply the transformational leadership style to become effective leaders.