is a reflection of practice on an incident that I attended where I will critically evaluate and reflect on the application of leadership, coaching and mentoring styles that have been used. Hpc-uk.org. (2018) “Standard of conduct, performance and ethics” states that a paramedic should be able to designate, instruct and monitor task to other to help them expand their knowledge and understand, as well as to increase their skills to help others. I will be using the reflective cycle by Gibbs to understand and explain my understanding (Gibbs, 1988)

Description

I attended a suspected stabbing (see appendix 1) and was the attendant where I used an authoritative leadership style towards the patient (Feldman et al., 2011). I was crewed with a paramedic who took on a laissez-faire leadership style (Bass, B.M., & Riggio, R.E. 2006). Further resources attending shortly after consisted of the Operational Manager (OM) who took on a laissez-faire approach allowing the crew to deal with the patient and for the paramedic to turn to a more coaching role (Whitmore and McFarlane, 2017). The Medical Emergency Response Incident Team (MERIT) arrived shortly at the same time as the OM adopted an autocratic approach (Blaber and Harris, 2014).

Feelings

I was very nervous as this was the first stabbing I had attended but felt reassured as I had experienced staff around me if I required help.

Evaluation and analysis

Zenger, Folkman & Stinnett (2010) suggest that a leader in a situation doesn’t actively choose what style of leadership they are adopting, but instead draw on their past experiences as to how best choose a style and how to adapt it if required. Goleman, Boyatzis and McKee (2013) state that a good leader knows the different leadership styles and what style is best to use for what situation. The authors go on to state that a good leader is able to change their leadership style if they feel that their style is not working and to choose a more appropriate style to get the best out of those around them. In the situation I was faced with, the patient was intoxicated, standing in a bus stop talking to those around him. Arriving on scene we were not aware of the full extent to the emergency, as I needed to keep the patient calm and required him to cooperate with us, I took on an authoritative leadership role. Feldman et al (2011) states that an authoritative style helps to inspire others into doing what is required and often uses the phrase “come with me” when you want someone to do something. This worked well at first with the patient to gain their trust in me as a clinician so that I was able speak to