Introduction
This analysis will discuss how two leadership theories, trait and transformational,
although suggested as being very different, are comparative and overlap. When
attempting to apply leadership theory to practice, utilising leadership tools can
support and guide the process. In the past two decades there has been a great deal
of literature proposing and suggesting ideas on how to support students in the
process of reflective writing (Pierson 1998, Jasper 2005, Peden-McAlpine,
Tomlinson, Forneris, Genck and Meiers 2005). For the purpose of this leadership
assignment the reflective cycle by Gibbs (1988) (Appendix 1) will be used as a guide
to add structure. There is a plethora of literature suggesting that leadership is
important, particularly within the community setting, however there is a paucity of
evidence to show how this should be applied (Cameron, Harbison, Lambert and
Dickinson 2011 p1470). Perhaps this is about to change, with the implementation of
the new ‘Compassion in Practice’ framework in March 2013, developed by the NHS
commissioning board (DOH 2012). The document encompasses the 6c’s (Appendix
2), and suggests building and strengthening leadership as one of the 6 core actions
(DOH 2012 p28), with emphasis on the notion that ‘we all have a role to play in
providing leadership’. Researching the concept of leadership has been a process of
discovery and has helped to show where I, as a prospective leader ‘fit’ along a trait
to transformational continuum, leading to the conclusion that emotional intelligence is
key to becoming an effective leader.
A number of resources were utilised in the development of this essay including,
literature searches using the databases EBSCO (including Cinahl), Cochrane,
EMBASE, Books and online searches.
Theories of Leadership
There are numerous theories and styles of leadership, but for the purpose of this
analysis I will focus on two, ‘Trait’ and...