EXECUTIVE SUMMARYLeadership and decision making style are the most important factors to ensure an effective and efficient organization. The subject of leadership has been under a lot of speculation, while philosophers focus on the determinants of leadership effectiveness. There are so many theories, styles and opinions that are associated with effective leadership. The specifics of what makes a leader effective is hard to pinpoint, however one way to evaluate an effective or ineffective leader is to take a close look at the one you work for. For two years, George Halvorson has been the CEO and President of the Kaiser Permanente organization. His leadership and ability to make sound ...view middle of the document...
, and Hospitals. With over 30 years of health care management experience, he brought along a wealth of knowledge management to the organization. Halvorson was the former President and CEO of HealthPartners and prior to joining HealthPartners in 1986, he held several senior management positions with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. He was also President of Senior Health Plan and of Health Accord International. Presently, Halvorson serves on a number of boards, including those of the American Association of Health Plans, the Alliance of Community Health Plans and the School of Healthcare Delivery Program and the Commonwealth Fund Task Force on the Uninsured. Halvorson is a frequent lecturer and writer on health care topics including his books "Strong Medicine" and "Epidemic of Care". He is currently working on two other books, one about organizational behavior and the other about racial prejudice around the world. Halvorson has lectured in a number of academic settings and has served as an advisor to the governments of Great Britain, Jamaica, Uganda and Russia on issues of health policy and financing. (http://insidekp.kp.org/halvorson_bio.html)Leadership StyleMany people believe that there is one type of leadership style that is most effective, and if they can only develop that style, they would be effective as a leader. Some leaders honestly believe that it is best to stick with what comes naturally. Goleman (2000) describes six leadership styles; coercive, authoritative, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting and coaching. "Leaders who have mastered four or more-especially the authoritative, democratic, affiliative and coaching styles-have the very best climate and business performance." (Goleman, 2000 p.87) George Halvorson demonstrates these four styles of leadership as CEO and President of Kaiser.Authoritative leaders give long-term direction and vision. They basically articulate that by asking the answering the question: where we are going and why? Then they give employees the freedom to get there. Authoritative leaders are visionaries. When George Halvorson became the CEO and President of Kaiser, he wrote a letter to the employees expressing the vision he had of Kaiser. He talked about the goals he wanted to accomplish in several areas of the organization. Visioning or strategic planning has been viewed as a key executive role. "Visionaries inspire large groups of people to go beyond their previous accomplishments." (Gordon, 2002 p.252) George Halvorson has been describes by several employees as being a Visionary Leader. He focuses on the mission of the company. "In my career, my personal approach has been to first focus on the core mission of my organization. Once the mission is clear, I believe the right thing to do is to have an equally clear vision of that we will look like and be if we accomplished our mission." (Halvorson, 2002 May) Halvorson is currently in the process of implementing an Automatic Medical Record (AMR) and physician supp...
