The mean value of perceived leadership behaviour
was lower than the preferred in all three dimensions.
There is a lack in mean values between the leadership
behaviour that the subordinates prefer and the managers
can perform. Although it seems to be possible to
reach the preferred levels as there are 12 nurse managers
who are rated near the preferred mean values in
all three dimensions.
The two highest valued dimensions by the subordinates
in our study (employee and change), both in preferred
and in perceived leadership, represent the basis of
transformational leadership style. In some earlier leadership
theories a leader that was high performing in
both task and relation orientation was supposed to be
the most effective in all kind of situations (Blake &
Mouton 1982). The advocates for transformational
leadership prefer high performance in relation and
change to garden the followers (Bass & Avolio 1985,
Prenkert & Ehnfors 1997). Boumans and Landeweerd
(1993) found that the Netherlands nurses were most
satisfied if the nurse manager had a combination of
high-social/high-instrumental (task and production)
leadership. In that research only two dimensions of
leadership were studied and the dimension change orientation
was not included.
It was not possible in our study to identify all of the
10 leadership profiles that have been identified in the
other studies carried out with the CPE instrument
(Ekvall & Arvonen 1994, Ekvall 2002). These studies
comprised large samples of managers from different
organizations (industry, trade, transportation, service,
care, education, media and consultancy). Both male and
female managers were included. In our study only five
managers had values that were unequal in the three
dimensions according to standard deviation for the
mean value. All the others had equal values in all three
dimensions. This could depend on the fact that the
nurse managers are mostly fostered in the nursing
profession and this pattern becomes a part of their
behaviour. Their way to promote leadership is also as a
role model, which influences others to behave in a
similar way (Eagly & Johannesen-Schmidt 2003).
Fanslow (1984) described that leadership style was
related to a personal value system that has been formulated
by culture, society and life experience. Cook
(2001) identified five different types of effective nursing
leaders. In our study we have not investigated how
effective the different identified styles are.
Nursing is also a woman-dominated profession and it
is therefore natural that nurse managers are mostly