Source: Marquis, Huston, Leadership Roles and Management Functions in Nursing, 2009

Leadership Roles and Management Functions Associated With Operational and Strategic Planning

Leadership Roles

1. Assesses the organization’s internal and external environment in forecasting and identifying
driving forces and barriers to strategic planning
2. Demonstrates visionary, innovative, and creative thinking in organizational and unit planning,
thus inspiring proactive rather than reactive planning
3. Influences and inspires group members to be actively involved in long-term planning
4. Periodically completes value clarification to increase self-awareness
5. Encourages subordinates toward value clarification by actively listening and providing feedback
6. Communicates and clarifies organizational goals and values to subordinates
7. Encourages subordinates to be involved in policy formation including developing, implementing
and reviewing philosophy, goals, objectives, polices, procedures, and roles
8. Is receptive to new and varied ideas
9. Role models proactive planning methods to subordinates

Management Functions

1. Is knowledgeable regarding legal, political, economic, and social factors affecting health care
planning
2. Demonstrates knowledge of and uses appropriate techniques in both personal and
organizational planning
3. Provides opportunities for subordinates, peers, competitors, regulatory agencies and the
general public to participate in planning
4. Coordinates unit-level planning to be congruent with organizational goals
5. Periodically assesses unit constraints and assets to determine available resources for planning
6. Develops and articulates a unit philosophy that is congruent with the organization’s philosophy
7. Develops and articulates unit goals and objectives that reflect unit philosophy
8. Develops and articulates unit policies, procedures and rules that put unit objectives into
operation
9. Periodically reviews unit philosophy, goals, policies, procedures, and rules and revises them to
meet the unit’s changing needs
10. Actively participates in organizational strategic planning, defining and operationalizing such
strategic plans at the unit level

Ledership Roles and Management Functions Associated With Organizational Structure

Leadership Roles
 1. Evaluates the organizational structure frequently to determine if management positions can be
eliminated to reduce the chain of command
2. Encourages and guides employees to follow the chain of command and counsels employees who
do not follow it
3. Supports personnel in advisory (staff) positions
4. Models responsibility and accountability for subordinates
5. Assists staff to see how their roles are congruent with and complement the organization’s
mission, vision and goals
6. Facilitates constructive informal group structure
7. Encourages upward communication
8. Fosters a positiveorganizational culture between work groups and subcultures that facilitates
shared values and goals
9. Promotes participatory decision making and shared governance to empower subordinates
10. Uses committees to facilitate group goals, not to delay decisions
11. Teaches group members how to avoid groupthink

Management Functions

1. Continually identifies and analyses stakeholder interests in the organization

2. Is knowledgeable about the organization’s internal structure, including personal and
department authority and responsibilities within that structure
3. Provide the staff with an accurate unit organization chart and assists with interpretation
4. When possible, maintains unity of command
5. Clarifies unity of command when there is confusion
6. Follows appropriate subordinate complaints upward through chain of command
7. Establishes an appropriate span of control
8. Is knowledgeable about the organization’s culture
9. Uses the informal organization to meet the organizational goals
10. Uses committee structure to increase the quality and quantity of work accomplished
11. Works, as appropriate, to achieve level of operational excellence appropriate to magnet status

Leadership Roles and Management Functions Associated With Preliminary Staffing Functions

Leadership Roles

1. Plans for future staffing needs proactively by knowledgeable regarding current and historical
staffing events
2. Identifies and recruits talented people to the organization
3. Seeks diversity and staffing, which reflects the diversity of the population being served
4. Is self-aware regarding personal biases during the pre-employment process
5. Seeks to find the best possible fit possible between employees’ unique talents and
organizational staffing needs
 6. Periodically reviews induction and orientation programs to ascertain that they are meeting unit
needs
7. Ensures that each new employee understand appropriate organizational policies
8. Continually aspires to create a work environment that promotes retention and worker
satisfaction

Management Functions

1. Ensures that there is an adequate skilled workforce to meet the goals of the organization
2. Shares responsibility for the recruitment of staff with organization recruiters
3. Plans and structures appropriate interview activities
4. Uses techniques that increase the validity and reliability of the interview process
5. Applies knowledge of the legal requirements of interviewing and selection to ensure that the
organization is not unfair in its hiring practices
6. Develops established criteria for selection
7. Uses knowledge organizational needs and employee strengths to make placement decision
8. Interprets information in employee handbook and provides input for handbook revisions
9. Participates actively in employee orientation

Leadership Roles and Management Functions Associated With Creating a Motivating Climate

Leadership Roles

1. Recognizes each worker as a unique individual who is motivated by different things

2. Identifies the individual and collective value system of the unit and implements a reward system
that is consistent with those values
3. Listens attentively to the individual and collective work values and attitudes to identify unmet
needs that can cause dissatisfaction
4. Encourages workers to “stretch” themselves in an effort to promote self-growth and self-
actualization
5. Maintains a positive and enthusiastic image as a role model to subordinates in the clinical
setting
6. Encourages mentoring, sponsorship, and coaching with subordinates
7. Devotes time and energy to create an environment that is supportive and encouraging to the
discouraged individual
8. Develops a unit philosophy that recognizes the unique worth of each employee and promotes
reward systems that make each employee feel like a winner
9. Demonstrates through actions and words a belief in subordinates that they desire to meet
organizational goals
10. Is self-aware regarding own enthusiasm for work and takes steps to remotivate self as necessary

Management Functions
 1. Uses legitimate authority to provide formal reward systems
2. Uses positive feedback to reward the individual employee
3. Develops unit goals that integrate organizational and subordinate needs
4. Maintains a unit environment that eliminates or reduces job dissatisfiers
5. Promotes a unit environment that focuses on employee motivators
6. Creates tension necessary to maintain productivity while encouraging job satisfaction
7. Clearly communicates expectations to subordinates
8. Demonstrates and communicates sincere respect, concern, trust and a sense of belonging to
subordinates
9. Assigns work duties commensurate with employee abilities and past performance to foster a
sense of accomplishment in subordinates
10. Identifies achievement, affiliation, or power needs of subordinates and develops appropriate
motivational strategies to meet those needs

Leadership Roles and Management Functions Associated With Delegation

Leadership Roles

1. Functions as a role model, supporter, and resource person in delegating tasks to subordinates
2. Encourages followers to use delegation as a time management in strategy and team-building
tool
3. Assists followers in identifying situations appropriate for delegation
4. Communicates clearly and assertively in delegating tasks
5. Maintains patient safety as a minimum criterion in determining the most appropriate person to
carry out the delegated task
6. Is an informed and active participant in the development of local, state, and national guidelines
for scope of practice
7. Is sensitive to how cultural phenomena affect transcultural delegation

Management Functions

1. Creates job descriptions and scope of practice statements for all personnel that conform to
national, state, and professional recommendations for ensuring patient care
2. Is knowledgeable regarding legal liabilities of subordinate supervision
3. Accurately assesses subordinates’ capabilities and motivation when delegating
4. Delegates a level of authority necessary to complete delegated tasks
5. Develops and implements a periodic review process for all delegated task
6. Provides recognition or reward for the completion of delegated tasks

Leadership Roles and Management Functions Associated With Conflict Resolution

Leadership Roles

1. Is self-aware and conscientiously works to resolve intrapersonal conflict

2. Addresses conflict as soon as it is perceived and before it becomes felt or manifest
3. Seeks a win-win solution to conflict whenever feasible
4. Lessens the perceptual differences that exist between conflicting parties and broadens the
parties’ understanding about the problem
5. Assists subordinates in identifying alternative conflict resolutions
6. Recognizes and accepts the individual differences of staff
7. Uses assertive communication skills to increase persuasiveness and foster open communication
8. Role models honest and collaborative negotiation efforts

Management Functions

1. Creates a work environment the minimizes the antecedent conditions for conflict
2. Appropriately uses legitimate authority in a competing approach when a quick or unpopular
decision needs to be made
3. When appropriate, formally facilitates conflict resolution involving subordinates
4. Accepts mutual responsibility for reaching predetermined supraordinate goals
5. Obtains needed unit resources through effective negotiation strategies
6. Compromises unit needs only when the need is not critical to unit functioning and when ghigher
management gives up something of equal value
7. Is adequately prepared to negotiate for unit resources, including the advance determination of a
bottom line and possible trade-offs
8. Addresses the need for closure and follow-up to negotiation
9. Pursues alternative dispute resolution when conflicts cannot be resolved by using traditional
conflict management strategies

Leadership Roles and Management Functions Associated with Quality Control

Leadership Roles

1. Encourages followers to be actively involved in the quality control process

2. Clearly communicates expected standards of care to subordinates
3. Encourages the setting of high standards to maximize quality instead of setting minimum safety
standards
4. Embraces and champions quality improvement as an ongoing process
5. Uses control as a method of determining why goals were not met
6. Is active in communicating quality control findings and their implications to other health
professionals and consumers
7. Acts as a role model for followers in accepting responsibility and accountability for nursing
actions
8. Distinguishes between clinical standards and resource utilization standards, ensuring that
patients receive at least minimally acceptable levels of quality care
 9. Supports/actively participates in research efforts to identify and measure nursing-sensitive
patient outcomes

Management Functions

1. In conjunction with other personnel in the organization, establishes clear-cut, measurable

standards of care and determines the most appropriate method for measuring if those
standards have been met
2. Selects and uses process, outcome, ad structure audits appropriately as quality control tools
3. Accesses appropriate sources of information in data gathering for quality control
4. Determines discrepancies between care provided and unit standards and seek s further
information regarding why standards were not met
5. Uses quality control findings in determining needed areas of staff education or coaching
6. Keeps abreast of current government, accrediting body, and licensing regulation that affect
quality control
7. Actively participates in state and national benchmarking and “best practices” initiatives
8. Continually assesses the unit or organizational environment to identify and categorize errors
that are occurring and proactively reworks the processes that led to the errors