Leadership issues and challenges

Student`s Name Name of University Date Leadership Issues and Challenges Introduction There are many leadership issues and challenges that face leaders today. This is especially the case for people working in the health and medicine sector. Some of the challenges that face leaders in the healthcare sector include leadership gap and an aging population (Collins-Nakai, 2006). Leaders in the healthcare sector address these challenges in a number of ways. These include developing a leadership strategy that would address the leadership gap. A leadership strategy requires the adoption of the most appropriate leadership model. Several leadership models are at their disposal: servant leadership, situational leadership, spiritual leadership and competency-based leadership, among others. The Need for Servant Leadership In an organization facing a leadership gap and an aging population, servant leadership may provide a long-term panacea. The theory of servant leadership was Robert K. Greenleaf`s brain-child. The term servant leader is in itself oxymoronic because it has two contradictory words. However, it is possible for a servant to operate as a leader. According to Greenleaf (1996), servant leadership puts service to others above all else. Consequently, the leader becomes ready to serve others; hence, being a servant leader. In organizations with leadership gaps, especially the healthcare sector, servant leadership provides a long-term solution. This is because leadership gaps exist when there are few persons to take up leadership roles. Servant leadership can bridge the leadership gap by having everybody as a leader. This means that each medical personnel takes up a responsibility towards others and each other; thus, snuffing out the leadership gap. According to Greenleaf (1996), work exists because a person is there, and that the reverse is also true. Therefore, clinical practitioners have had ...