Boldly Go Case Analysis

In order for a business to be successful, leadership is necessary to drive change in an organization. In business, a vision is a realistic depiction of where the organization wants to be in the future. A vision provides direction, sets priorities and goals and provides a marker in order for an organization to pursue what it wants to achieve. A vision cannot survive without the commitment and drive of strong leaders that believe in its purpose. Josie Walsh, the CEO of Providence Healthcare, was able to drive change due to her compelling vision which employees and stakeholders saw, felt, understood and embraced. As John C. Maxwell states that “a great leader’s courage to fulfill his vision comes from passion, not position”, and that’s exactly what Walsh pursued, therefore accomplished great success at Providence Healthcare.

Josie Walsh Leadership Style

Josie Walsh was a democratic leader since she placed a high emphasis on both performance and people. As a democratic leader, she was genuinely interested in Providence Healthcare employees and patients, but also expected a high level of performance. She took the time to establish clear objective, by planning, organizing, communicating and motivating employees to reach a high level of both productivity and personal satisfaction. During the transformation by design implementation, Walsh held multiple brainstorming sessions with key stakeholders and employees, looking for feedback and advice, which shows that she encouraged open communications and staff participation in decision making.

Additionally, Walsh’s leadership style can be categorized as servant leadership, since she made sure that the needs of the individual team members and patients were addressed. She created devoted followers in response to the positive attitude that she presented. Walsh was a good listener, she made herself available to answer any questions or concerns staff members, patients or family members had with regards to the new processes and culture she was trying to implement at Providence Healthcare facilities. She embraced the six pillars defined in Providence’s mission to the community such as sanctity of life, human dignity, compassionate service, community social justice and social responsibility.

Furthermore, Walsh was a transformational leader since she built relationships and motivated staff members thru a shared vision and mission. She had charisma to communicate the new vision and confidence to act in a way that inspired the medical staff. She made it well known that the staff was part of the change not only within Providence Healthcare, but potentially for the entire Canadian healthcare system. Walsh envisioned that the transformation by design process she proposed would shorten wait time, provide a higher quality and standards or care, offer smooth hand-offs between departments and would increase the productivity even with