Managing organizational change: strategies for the female health care supervisor.

In responding to resistance to change in the current health care organization, the new female supervisor can learn to support her staff in encountering and accepting these changes. The strategies and skills discussed above are characteristic of a supervisory style that may naturally occur for women, but also can be incorporated into the leadership style of men in health care management today. Health care leaders of tomorrow must work from an androgynous framework in which the behavior patterns and responses of each gender are learned and used appropriately by both men and women. Sargent suggests that the best managers are androgynous and that this is the inevitable wave of the future. Whether man or woman, a supervisor should learn, accept, and use methods that are characteristic of both sexes to be successful in managing people. Women and men must learn from each other's strengths and share these diverse skills. Given that women now outnumber men in health care management positions and organizations are changing to a more nurturing environment, the androgynous supervisor will be the successful leader of the future. Finally, women in health care supervisory positions have the potential to bring change where it is badly needed. Women in these roles often have a system wide view of health care policy issues that recognizes less federal commitment to social programs. Many women in health care positions believe that the issues of children, women, the elderly, the poor, and the homeless need focused attention. The growing number of women in health care supervisory and leadership roles is an important factor in changing national health policy for the benefit of these groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)