What are the similarities and the difference between Porter O’Grady “10 spiritual rules of
the road and O’Brien “Nurse servant leader behavioral themes.” Are the tenets mutually exclusive,
or is there an opportunity to integrate both perspectives into a leadership approach that positively
influences healthcare?
Spiritual Philosophies
Porters ten rues of the road entail the behaviors that successful leader should adhere to foster the
social interaction between individuals. O’ Brien’s servant leadership themes are guidelines to leaders so
that they can create an impact in influencing the performance of other workers within the organization
(Porter-O’Grady, 2015). This essay is a comparative analysis of the ten rules of the road and servant
leadership themes.
One of the similarities is that both the theories aim at describing the appropriate attributes of an
effective leader. The philosophy of ten rules of the road emphasizes on the impact of the interaction
between the leader and the people they lead and the benefits of such an interaction on the success of the
leadership. The philosophy of servant leadership themes describes the effective attributes that a leader
should possess with the aim of influencing the staff working under their supervision towards a certain
direction; usually, in pursuing the goals and objectives of the organization (O’brien, 2017; O’Grady,
Porter, & Malloch, 2014).
SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHIES 2
In addition, both the philosophies describe attributes of an effective leader in the universal
context. The theories describe how successful leaders should handle their junior employees regardless of
the nature of the organization. The philosophies prescribe for specific attributes of a leader. However,
they do not specify the contexts within which the leader should exercise such characteristics. For instance,
bot the philosophies attribute successful leadership to qualities such as integrity. The quality is treated as
a universal attribute that every leader should have, and not an attribute that should be demonstrated by
specific leaders in specific positions of leadership (O’brien, 2017; O’Grady, Porter, & Malloch, 2014).
On the contrary, several differences are observable between the philosophies. The philosophy ten
rules of the rad entail the social interaction attribute that a leader should exhibit. The theory describes
desirable attributes such as empathy for others, and loves to the subjects that the leader serves. On the
other hand, the servant leadership themes concern the organizational qualities that a leader should pose in
order to have a positive impact in an organization. The attributes are derived from studies analyzing the
qualities that leaders in the past have posed to create a positive impact on an organization (O’brien, 2017;
O’Grady, Porter, & Malloch, 2014).
Additionally, the ten rules of the road are theoretical, whereas the servant leadership themes are
an empirical approach toward describing an effective leader. The philosophy of ten rules of the road is
based on generally accepted behaviors which the theory explain the effectiveness of proper leadership. On
the contrast, servant leadership themes are based on collected data on the effectiveness of a leader who
practices service to others as means of setting an example to emulate while exercising effective
leadership. In other words, the philosophy is based on evidence that has been collected regarding effective
leadership. The philosophy on ten rules of the roads based on previous scholars’ views and perspectives
on the appropriate attributes to the leader (O’brien, 2017; O’Grady, Porter, & Malloch, 2014).
The two philosophies can be integrated. Employees within an organization form groups with
certain code of conduct and employees’ preferences within an organization. Therefore, the philosophy of
SPIRITUAL PHILOSOPHIES 3
the ten rules of the road assists the leaders for such groups of employees in understanding the dynamics of
the employee social group. The servant leadership themes prescribed are required by the same leaders in
order have an empirical basis for exercising certain leadership strategies (O’brien, 2017; O’Grady, Porter,
& Malloch, 2014).
In conclusion, the two philosophies of leadership are applicable to leadership in place. However,
the philosophies were prescribed for the general leadership purpose without specifying the type of the
organization. There are similarities between and differences between the two philosophies. The
philosophies can be integrated to positively impact healthcare organizations and systems.
References
O’brien, M. E. (2017). Spirituality in nursing. Jones & Bartlett Learning.
Porter-O’Grady, T. (2015). Leadership in nursing practice. Jones & Bartlett Publishers.
Porter-O’Grady, T., Porter-O’grady, S. P. T., & Malloch, K. (2014). Quantum leadership. Jonen&
Bartlett Publishers.