Leadership and organisational effectiveness – lessons to be drawn from education?

Aim  The aim of this paper is to present findings of a case study on organisational effectiveness in an education setting and draw similarities with a healthcare setting, focusing on the school principal and nurse leader.

Background  The study was carried out in a primary school setting and focuses on a principal (as leader). The school, which will be named St Senan’s for the case study, is a typical tall structure has a staff of 30 (teachers and special needs’ assistants) and a student number of 117.

Methods  A case study methodology was used. Data was collected by interviewing the principal, two teachers, two students and a parent, in this order. In addition, a Parents’ Council meeting was observed and document analysis was carried out on measurements which reflected some critical success factors for the school.

Results  Interviews from students and teachers in addition to observation notes indicate that the principal’s leadership impacts on organisational effectiveness in the school.

Conclusions  The findings are located in the context of education with similarities being drawn from nursing. It is how the leader leads in the context of the organisation setting which is paramount. In other words it is not possible to take a set of general critical success factors for a school or healthcare setting and apply these widely. The paper concludes by proposing the use of a quality framework to contextualise the findings of the case and promote further discussion in the context of nurse leaders.

Implications  The paper suggests that comparisons can be made between school principals and nurse leaders.