LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Vadovavimas; Lyderiavimas; Vadovavimo stilius; Žmonių išteklių valdymas; Leadership; Leadership style; Human resource management.
ENLeadership in a healthcare organization requires specific skills (Hartley, Benington, 2010). A leader has a challenge to manage highly competent and highly educated personnel, and satisfy varying needs of personnel from different fields (doctors, nurses, administration). Healthcare industry is very much influenced by the culture of the nation, therefore, when researching leadership, practices of other countries not always can be applied as it does not directly lead to better service and positive organizational outcomes (Shamir, 2013). The role of effective leadership can be crucial for the effective functioning of dynamic healthcare industry. However, what constitutes effective leadership in healthcare industry still has not been defined (Stelmokienė, Endriulaitienė, 2015). Therefore, there is a relevant scientific and practical problem – how to define an effective leader working in the healthcare sector. The newest leadership theories emphasize the importance of followers’ role when evaluating effectiveness of leadership (Uhl-Bien et al., 2014; Snaebjornsson et al., 2015). Literature suggests, that leadership would be more effective, if managers are aware about followers’ attitudes regarding an ideal/ preferred leader (Andreescu, Vito, 2010; Lord, Maher, 1991). Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to define followers’ preferences towards the ideal leader in Lithuanian health care organizations. In order to achieve the research goal the quantitative empirical research was employed. During the online survey 158 respondents answered questions: the main instrument was LBDQXII (Leadership Behaviour Description Questionnaire). 107 employees finished all the survey and their responses were analysed further. The results show that Representation and Integration are the most preferred behaviours of a leader in Lithuanian healthcare institutions. Meanwhile Tolerance of Uncertainty was the least significant factor for a picture of an ideal leader in th.Meanwhile Tolerance of Uncertainty was the least significant factor for a picture of an ideal leader in the followers’ view. Representation is typically preferred characteristic of an ideal leader in hierarchical cultures (e.g. in Hofstede, high Power Distance) (Littrell, Valentin, 2004). Collectivistic cultures expect an ideal leader to take "loving father’s role" (Littrell, 2002), what is partially reflected by Integration factor. Healthcare sector organizations in Lithuania are quite often described as hierarchical and collectivistic. The results indicate that employees in Lithuanian healthcare industry prefer "hard leadership": focus on task performance, work flow, and clear division of roles. This contradicts literature suggesting that most often employees prefer relationship oriented leadership (Aldoory, Toth, 2009). However, the results can be explained by the bureaucratic structure of healthcare sector organizations, where a task oriented leader can be perceived as more effective. The research reveals rather homogeneous preferences towards the ideal leader behaviour: there is no difference in perception of an ideal leader among subordinates from different levels of medical services. An exception is job level of administration staff giving significantly higher preference to task orientation and only secondary to "hard leadership" factor. In conclusion, the results confirm that the healthcare sector in Lithuania is unique and requires specific leadership practices preferred by employees. [From the publication]