Leadership styles and work outcome in healthcare sector: Insights from bibliometric analysis

Abstract

Background

Effective leadership is crucial for delivering high-quality healthcare, optimizing employee performance, and improving patient outcomes.

Objective

This study conducts a bibliometric analysis to examine leadership styles in the healthcare sector, identifying key research trends, influential works, and their impact on work outcomes.

Methods

Using Scopus-indexed publications (2010–2024), this study analyzes eighty-three relevant documents with VOSviewer.

Results

The findings reveal that various leadership styles, such as transformational, transactional, authentic, collaborative, inclusive, servant, and paternalistic leadership, have a significant impact on both individual and organizational outcomes. Furthermore, transformational leadership is the most studied and influential style, promoting employee engagement, innovation, and better patient care. Transactional leadership ensures structure and efficiency but offers limited long-term benefits. Servant leadership fosters trust, collaboration, and ethical decision-making, while authentic leadership enhances transparency and psychological safety. Additionally, the study highlights a growing focus on healthcare leadership, with Medicine and Business, Management & Accounting as the dominant disciplines.

Conclusion

This bibliometric study highlights the critical role of leadership styles in shaping work outcomes in the healthcare sector. Transformational leadership emerges as the most influential, fostering innovation, engagement, and improved patient care.