The Relationship Between Self-Esteem and Leadership Effectiveness in Nursing

Abstract

The purpose 9f this study was to determine the_relationship between self-esteem and l~adership effectiveness among selected nursing leaders. The principal research.question:was:. What is the relationship between self-esteem and 1_ eadershi p effectiveness among· selected nurse administrators? Subjects selected for inclusion in the study were a convenience sampla of 43 administ~ative personnel: Assistant Directors, Supervisors, and H_ead Nurses from three genera-l , acute care hospi ta 1 s in a southeast metropolitan area. This convenience sample was selected because data were available on their leadership effectiveness as perceived by self and one or more· subordinates.· These data were obtained· through the administration of the Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description-Self and Other {_LEAD-Self and LEAD-Other} Tool: developed by Hersey and Blanchard. The comBined self and other scores for leadership effectiveness were used as the dependent variable. To obtain self-esteem scores, the Texas Social Behavi9r Inventory (TSBI) developed by Helmreich, Stapp, and Ervin, was administered to the 43 eligible subjects. Thirty-one usable returns were obtained from respondents who thus constituted the sample population. The self-esteem scores obtained from the TSB I were used as the independent var1'ab 1 e. Analy~is of data was conducted. using Pearson product moment coefficients to compute correlations betwe~n self-esteem and leadership v effectiveness. Correlations indicated no systematic relatiqnship between self-esteem and leadership effectiveness as perceived 5y self and others . . in the study sample. Additional findings suggested tflat ther:e was no correlation between self~esteem and self-perceived leadership effect i vene.ss; that nurse 1 eaders' views of their own 1 eadershi p effectiveness did not correlate with·the views of their subordinates; and that there was no relationship between leader self-estee~ and leadership ·effectiveness as perceived by others. These findings suggest that one's rea 1 1 eadershi p effectiveness is somewhere between the 1 eaders •· perceptions of their effectiveness and the followers' perceptions of their leaders' effectiveness.