DPLS-700: Leadership Theory

Expected Competencies

  1. Dialogue and Interpersonal Interaction: Mastery of strategies to learn through dialogue with diverse perspectives. This entails actively engaging with individuals holding differing viewpoints, fostering effective communication, and cultivating an environment conducive to learning from others.

  2. Identifying Dysfunction and Bias: Proficiency in recognizing dysfunctional leadership patterns and organizational behaviors. Additionally, adeptness in identifying biases and prejudices in interpreting situations within an organizational context. This involves critical analysis and self-awareness to mitigate biases and promote fair decision-making.

  3. Integrated Problem Solving: Competence in comprehending organizational challenges and devising solutions using various frameworks and a holistic perspective. This includes exploring diverse leadership frameworks, evaluating their efficacy, and integrating them into a comprehensive leadership approach.

  4. Reflective Leadership Development: Skill in reflecting on personal experiences within organizations and contextualizing them within the framework of the course.

  5. Promoting Future-Oriented Leadership: Ability to foster creative thinking about the future of organizational leadership by embracing third-order thinking.

Achieved Competencies

  1. Understanding Moral Injury in Leadership Contexts: Developed an interdisciplinary understanding of moral injury experienced by healthcare providers.

  2. Philosophical and Theoretical Integration: Applied core leadership philosophies—hooks’ Will to Love, Nietzsche’s Will to Power, and Frankl’s Will to Meaning—to modern systems.

  3. Self-Assessment and Forgiveness Practices: Practiced forgiveness-asking as a personal and leadership development strategy.

  4. Critique of Structural Dysfunction: Analyzed and critiqued structural contributors to clinician burnout and disillusionment.

  5. Articulation of Personal Leadership Stance: Developed a personal leadership model rooted in Servant-Leadership, trauma theory, and systemic change.

Applied Competencies

  1. Narrative Integration: Wove together research, storytelling, and leadership theory to advocate for systemic change in healthcare.

  2. Servant-Leadership Application: Demonstrated core principles such as empathy, listening, and healing as leadership practices.

  3. Forgiveness Work: Engaged forgiveness with self and others as a path to restoring moral wholeness and leadership authenticity.

  4. Interdisciplinary Synthesis: Integrated trauma-informed care, theology, organizational behavior, and healthcare policy.

  5. Trauma-Aware Leadership: Applied insights from moral psychology and leadership to identify paths to systemic and individual renewal.

  6. Reflective Advocacy: Advocated for social and institutional reform through the lens of tempered cynicism and hope.

Artifact Inclusion

Final Paper – Moral Injury in Healthcare Providers

This paper explores the concept of moral injury in healthcare through a deeply personal and theoretical lens. It analyzes systemic dysfunction, burnout, and the erosion of meaning using interdisciplinary perspectives—philosophy, psychology, servant-leadership, and trauma theory. It features insights from Zubin Damania, Viktor Frankl, bell hooks, and Friedrich Nietzsche. The paper includes an integrated self-assessment, forgiveness-asking, and a proposed framework for healing and transformation in healthcare institutions.

References

  1. Bailey, M., & Cleveland, J. (2016, September 21). Medical students revise their Hippocratic oath to reflect modern values. Retrieved from https://www.statnews.com/2016/09/21/hippocratic-oath-medical-students-doctors/

  2. Brand, S., Thompson Coon, J., Fleming, L., Carroll, L., Bethel, A., & Wyatt, K. (2017, December 4). Whole-system approaches to improving the health and wellbeing of healthcare workers: A systematic review. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5714334/

  3. Brown, B. (2018). Dare to lead: Brave work, tough conversations, whole hearts. New York, NY: Random House.

  4. Dean, W., MD, & Talbot, S., MD. (2019). Home: The moral injury of healthcare. Retrieved from https://www.moralinjury.healthcare/

  5. Drescher, K. D., Nieuwsma, J. A., & Swales, P. J. (2013). Morality and Moral Injury: Insights from Theology and Health Science. Reflective Practice: Formation and Supervision in Ministry, 50–61.

  6. Engel, B., LMFT. (2018, June 19). Using the Practice of Self-Kindness to Cope With Stress. Retrieved from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-compassion-chronicles/201806/using-the-practice-self-kindness-cope-stress

  7. Ferch, S. R. (2012). Forgiveness and power in the age of atrocity: Servant leadership as a way of life. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

  8. Frankel, V. (1997). Man’s search for meaning. London, UK: Pocket Books.

  9. Frankl, V. (1970). The will to meaning. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

  10. Greenleaf, R. K. (n.d.). The servant as leader. Retrieved from https://www.greenleaf.org/

  11. Heston, T. (2019, September 20). Moral injury or Burnout? Retrieved from https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/917903

  12. hooks, bell. (2018). All about love: New visions. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

  13. Horsman, J. H. (2019). Servant-leaders in training: Foundations of the philosophy of servant-leadership. Palgrave Macmillan.

  14. It’s Not Burnout, It’s Moral Injury [Video file]. (2019, April 17). Retrieved from https://zdoggmd.com/moral-injury/

  15. Lawrence, M., & Spears, L. C. (2004). Practicing servant-leadership: Succeeding through trust, bravery, and forgiveness. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

  16. Marchalik, D. (2019, June 03). Why are so many doctors burning out? Tons of real and electronic paperwork. Washington Post. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/

  17. Moral Distress in Healthcare: It’s Time to Fight Back [Video file]. (2019, November 09). Retrieved from https://zdoggmd.com/moral-distress/

  18. National Academies. (2019). Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being. Washington, D.C.: National Academy of Medicine. doi:10.17226/25521

  19. Nietzsche, F. W., & Ludovici, A. M. (2019). The will to power. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications.

  20. Reith, T. (2018, December 4). Burnout in United States Healthcare Professionals: A Narrative Review. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6367114/

  21. Rose, A., Duschinsky, R., & Macnaughton, J. (2017). Cynicism as a strategic virtue. The Lancet, 389(10070), 692–693. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(17)30349-5

  22. Scharmer, O., Ph.D. (2019). Presencing Institute. Retrieved from http://www.presencing.org/

  23. Spears, L. (2010). Character and Servant Leadership: Ten Characteristics of Effective, Caring Leaders. Retrieved from https://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/jvl/vol1_iss1/Spears_Final.pdf

  24. Van Der Kolk, B. (2014). The body keeps the score. New York, NY: Penguin Group.

  25. Viktor Frankel Institut. (2019). Viktor Frankel: Biography. Retrieved from https://www.viktorfrankl.org/biography.html

  26. West, C. P., Dyrbye, L. N., Erwin, P. J., & Shanafelt, T. D. (2016). Interventions to prevent and reduce physician burnout: A systematic review and meta-analysis. The Lancet, 388(10057), 2272–2281. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0140-6736(16)31279-x

  27. Zibulewsky, J. (2001). The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA). Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 14(4), 339–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/08998280.2001.11927785


    Key Words

    Moral injury, servant-leadership, trauma-informed care, healthcare leadership, forgiveness-asking, burnout, compassion fatigue, critical theory, Viktor Frankl, bell hooks, Nietzsche, systems thinking, restorative leadership, interdisciplinary healing, reflective leadership, narrative ethics, healthcare reform