If you’re a working adult, you have most likely encountered a variety of leadership styles, some that inspired you, and others that offered valuable learning experiences. From the manager who offers encouragement and support to the supervisor who criticizes your every move while micromanaging each project, practicing leadership comes in many forms.
When you find yourself on a career advancement track with growing managerial responsibilities, defining your identity as a leader can be a valuable process. Similarly, identifying a colleague’s healthcare leadership model can give you more insight into how to work together effectively.
Let’s explore the concept of different leadership models, discuss the unique application of these models in healthcare management and examine 12 common styles you may have encountered in the workplace.
Defining Leadership at Work
“The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority,” says author and motivational speaker Ken Blanchard.1 In the workplace, a leader’s influence can be reflected in employee happiness, strong financial performance, a culture of innovation, positive social change and more. In terms of leadership model examples, Gallup’s 2024 State of the Global Workplace report highlights the connection between effective leadership and team performance, showing that managers are responsible for 70% of the variation in team employee engagement.2
Leadership opportunities are not reserved for the executive suite. Leaders and managers exist at every level of an organization, and employees don’t just want to be managed, they want to feel confident in their work, have a voice in how they do it and be connected to their team. It’s smart to prepare for your next leadership opportunity by understanding the healthcare leadership model that works best for you.
What Is a Leadership Model?
Leadership models are frameworks for how a leader can motivate and guide their teams.4
Leadership models in healthcare provide a structure for defining the management methods that fit your work style and personality. Knowing your approach to leadership— where it comes from and where you want to go—creates a standard from which you can make adjustments and improvements to maximize your efficacy and impact. Leadership models in healthcare don’t exist in a vacuum; however, you may pull elements from more than one model of leadership, or you may shift among models over time or in different settings.
Although leadership models are similar to leadership styles, these are two separate concepts. While the model of leadership serves as the theoretical structure used to perform, understand, and teach leadership, often visualized through diagrams. Leadership style, on the other hand, is more behavior-focused, describing specific actions and tendencies of a leader.5
12 Types of Leadership Models in Healthcare6, 7, 8, 9
Although philosophers have long examined the concept of leadership, as the business landscape continues to change, the concept of leadership models will also evolve, shifting to address the needs and challenges of an ever-changing world.10
1. Transformational
Integrity and vision are core qualities of transformational models of leadership. As a transformational leader, you will achieve your goals through open lines of communication with staff, demonstrating your integrity and respect for your staff’s experience and knowledge. This leadership model suggests that leaders who inspire, motivate and drive positive change tend to be especially effective in complex, high-pressure settings like healthcare.6
Once you present your vision for a project, you will need to motivate others to make it a reality. However, you risk ignoring the needs of individual staff members in pursuit of fulfilling your grander mission.
2. Transactional
A transactional approach is a straightforward rewards-based model of leadership. It works off the concept that an employee’s interests, as opposed to company interests, are the principal factors motivating them to complete an assigned task or reach a performance level. In following transactional models of leadership, you set clear performance goals for staff, offer rewards for meeting them and enforce consequences when expectations aren’t met. This model of leadership can be very effective for getting work done, but it fails to allow space for building relationships at work and inspiring staff to contribute new ideas.
The transactional model of leadership is one of the most prominently utilized in the medical industry. Transactional leadership works well in high-risk healthcare settings like nursing, where mistakes can have serious consequences. It assumes experienced healthcare practitioners are capable of handling tasks independently and rewards strong performance. However, it can be challenging for less experienced staff who may need more guidance and support.11
3. Servant
In servant models of leadership, you will combine selflessness with a focus on the higher needs of others as staff work toward achieving your vision. Through self-reflection and awareness, you gain insight into your purpose in life and work, the meaning of leadership initiatives and your character. By mentoring your staff, you help them grow and succeed, improving morale and overall business performance.6
The interdisciplinary nature of healthcare requires a range of professionals to work as a team. This aligns with the servant leader’s desire to work collaboratively and elevate team members, all in service of improving patient care.
4. Autocratic
Autocratic leaders do not consult with or consider the opinions of others when making decisions. You determine a course of action and relay your ideas with full expectation that staff will complete your assigned actions without question. In terms of models of leadership, this method works well in situations requiring quick decision-making.
The ability for doctors, nurses and other high-level healthcare professionals to make snap decisions in times of emergency is critical to saving lives. Leaders who lean toward autocratic styles should ensure that employees and patients feel seen, valued and respected. Approaches that overlook individual needs can unintentionally lead to feelings of neglect or disempowerment.
5. Democratic
The opposite of autocratic leadership is the next approach in our models of leadership. Democratic leadership, also known as participative leadership, seeks the input and perspectives of your staff, although the final decision is yours. Your use of collaboration and discussion can spark creativity and innovation. However, you may feel challenged in situations where you need to navigate or balance diverse perspectives and ideas.
Some leadership decisions in healthcare require staff input and brainstorming to develop a creative solution to an ongoing challenge. The democratic healthcare leadership model encourages employee participation in thinking outside the box.
6. Laissez-Faire
The phrase laissez-faire translates from French as “allow to do.”12 It represents a political, economic and healthcare leadership model that involves passivity. If you are a laissez-faire leader, you provide the tools your employees need and step back to allow the staff to work it out. This hands-off approach represents a deep level of trust.
By abdicating responsibility for the decision-making process, laissez-faire leaders risk chaos without proper organizational structures to guide the company’s direction. In healthcare environments, laissez-faire is usually a poor approach, given the potential for negativity and discord brought on by the lack of structured models of leadership.
7. Bureaucratic
Following the rules is the secret to bureaucratic leadership success. In this most formulaic of leadership models in healthcare, you have a defined job title, a set of responsibilities and a pre-existing method for responding to urgent needs. Requiring strict adherence to established rules and protocols can create a rigid and tense workplace for employees.
Bureaucratic leaders can be effective in some arenas, especially those involving finance and data security. In healthcare, a minor deviation from protocol can lead to serious repercussions from regulators or government oversight agencies, making the detail-oriented nature of bureaucratic leaders an asset.
8. Charismatic
Do you have the charm and vision to grow a company and inspire staff to achieve your company goals? Conviction and a magnetic personality can create a charismatic leader. Inspiring your team to share your passion for your vision takes skill, but it can bring rewards in higher employee engagement and financial success.
In terms of models of leadership, charismatic healthcare leaders can have a positive impact, leading staff to participate more frequently in initiatives. With an intense focus on goals, however, you may develop tunnel vision, forgetting the big picture or becoming self-absorbed. Distracted focus can cause major issues in organizational efforts.
9. Pacesetting
Pacesetting leaders are driven to achieve results. You set the bar high and push your staff to meet goal after goal. In terms of models of leadership, you can be effective in getting things done, but your constant, hard-driving pace will wear down some employees. It’s a difficult style to sustain successfully over an extended period.
A healthcare environment is probably not the best fit for pacesetting leadership, although there may be exceptions. Consider a medical research lab racing to create the COVID-19 vaccine. The drive and passion of a leader who has assembled a team of skilled professionals can manifest success. As in any industry, the pacesetting leader may burn themselves out and take their team with them.13
10. Ethical
The concept of fairness is vital to ethical leaders. This model of leadership brings a balance of logic and a sense of justice, with deep respect for the rights of everyone involved. By prioritizing ethics, you treat your staff with respect and honesty that is mutually returned, benefiting everyone.
Ethics is a key topic for healthcare organizations as they strive to deliver equitable patient care. To be an effective community resource, the institution must maintain trust and goodwill with patients and the public. Ethical leaders in business and public relations can be impactful as they work to showcase the organization’s strengths.14
11. Affiliative
Affiliative leadership requires a people-first mindset. As far as models of leadership go, this approach is about creating collaborative relationships and becoming an emotional support system for your team. Connecting on a direct and personal level with your employees positions you to quickly resolve staff conflicts.
Many medical and other organizations can benefit from this healthcare leadership model. The baseline emotion for affiliative leaders is compassion, an essential quality when working with staff and patients.15
12. Coaching
Much like a sports coach, a coaching leader works with individual staff members to develop their strengths to improve the overall success of the organization. If you’re a coaching leader, you are goal-oriented rather than task-focused. You look at the big picture rather than getting lost in the details.
The coaching leadership model applies well to the world of healthcare, and studies are often available in a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) degree program like the one offered at the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS). You can provide tools and support for staff who want to strengthen their skills to improve performance, benefiting the company and patients.16
Healthcare administrators face challenges unique to the industry. They must effectively and ethically direct their staff to operate in ways that benefit patients, the organization and the public. The list above details how each traditional leadership model applies to the healthcare industry.17 No matter which leadership model you resonate with, it’s smart to learn them all to better understand your identity as a leader within the healthcare workforce and how it impacts your staff. Take inspiration from some of the greatest leaders of our time and use their stories to find the model of leadership that suits you best. At USAHS, our future-focused graduate programs prepare you to lead as a competent, confident and compassionate healthcare practitioner. USAHS offers graduate health sciences programs designed to prepare you for the future of healthcare. 
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Applying Leadership Models in Healthcare Management
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