Healthcare leadership quiz: what style of healthcare leader are you?

Leadership skills are important in healthcare. There are many effective types of leadership styles you can adopt as a healthcare professional depending on your specific role, sector and patient and client demands. If you’re wondering what your leadership style is and how it can impact your healthcare career, this quiz is for you.

Whether you’re a results-driven manager, collaborative guide or a dynamic change-maker, there’s a leadership style to match your strengths and healthcare role. Take our healthcare leadership quiz to understand your unique style and how to make the most of it for your team, your patients or clients and your own professional growth as a healthcare leader.

Healthcare leadership style quiz

For each of the following questions, choose the response that best reflects how you would typically lead or would respond in a healthcare leadership scenario.

1. Consider yourself in a leadership role, what motivates you?

A. Building a consensus and making comprehensive decisions

B. Fostering strong personal and team relationships

C. Driving change and making a bigger difference

D. Empowering others to work independently

E. Adhering to protocols and achieving goals

2. How would you describe your communication style?

A. Open, inclusive and collaborative

B. Warm, empathetic and personal

C. Passionate, conscientious and motivating

D. Flexible, trusting and minimal

E. Direct, firm and influential

3. When making an important clinical or procedural decision, you usually:

A. Gather input from team members before making the final decision

B. Focus on how this choice will affect team morale and relationships

C. Use the opportunity to inspire others with a shared vision

D. Trust your team to handle the details while you provide broad direction

E. Make the decision quickly and expect your team to implement it

4. What’s your approach to delegating tasks?

A. Assign tasks based on strengths after consulting the team

B. Share tasks in a way that strengthens team bonds

C. Delegate while empowering team members to see the value in their roles

D. Give full ownership of tasks with minimal oversight

E. Allocate tasks with clear instructions and expect full compliance

5. How would you describe your ideal team environment?

A. Supportive with bi-directional dialogue and shared responsibility

B. People-focused, where everyone feels valued and cared for

C. Driven, where everyone is motivated by purpose and alignment

D. Independent, with people working autonomously and efficiently

E. Structured, with defined rules, order and hierarchy

6. How do you respond when a team member brings to you a new idea?

A. Evaluate it together as a team and see what potential it has

B. Praise their initiative and take the time to celebrate their contribution

C. Encourage them to refine it and connect it to broader, long-term goals

D. Let them try it out independently to see how it works

E. Decide quickly whether it’s useful and give direct feedback accordingly

7. How do you handle conflict among your healthcare team?

A. Contribute to a round-table conversation to find a fair resolution

B. Prioritise maintaining harmony and easing tension

C. Use the situation to encourage growth and transformation

D. Encourage team members to work it out themselves

E. Step in immediately with a firm resolution to maintain order

8. What is your approach regarding developing your team members?

A. Encourage collaboration among the group to develop skills collectively

B. Support individual members’ wellbeing and listen to their concerns

C. Inspire them to set their own goals while leading by example

D. Give them freedom to learn through experience at a pace that suits them

E. Provide clear instructions, monitoring closely over a set timeline

9. During a situational crisis (for example, staff shortages or sudden increased patient/client load), what do you do?

A. Participate in a quick team huddle and help out where needed without hesitation

B. Check in emotionally with the team and support them through it

C. Motivate the team and remind them they have the resources to handle it

D. Let the team take ownership of their roles and trust things will go smoothly

E. Take charge, give orders and maintain strict control to ensure things work efficiently

10. How do you handle a team member who confides in you about feeling burnt out from high workload demands?

A. Determine whether others are feeling similarly and open discussions to explore workflow improvements

B. Offer emotional support and adjust their schedule if possible

C. Encourage them to see the challenge as part of their growth

D. Don’t intrude on their process, instead give them space to self-manage their stress

E. Let them know this is the nature of the work and focus on maintaining patient/client care

11. A team member goes above and beyond during a patient/client emergency. How do you respond afterwards?

A. Recognise their effort in a team meeting and highlight teamwork

B. Offer sincere personal thanks and emotional support afterwards

C. Praise them while connecting it to your organisation’s vision

D. Let them know you trust their judgment and appreciate their expertise

E. Formally commend them and reinforce the importance of preparedness

12. How do you respond to someone underperforming in your healthcare team?

A. Provide an opportunity for the team member to express their concerns while delivering valuable and constructive feedback

B. Approach them with empathy and curiosity with an aim to improve their job satisfaction

C. Frame it as a challenge to overcome and an opportunity to grow

D. Let the individual take responsibility and self-correct

E. Address it directly and enforce consequences if needed

Quiz results: what does your leadership style say about you?

Mostly A’s: The democratic leader

You believe in collaboration, respect, shared decision-making and hearing every voice. This style of leadership helps people feel valued, boosts morale, encourages innovative thinking and promotes a more coherent workplace. Importantly, democratic leaders see themselves as an integral part of the team. In healthcare settings, this means jumping in to help out where needed, using your clinical skills or expertise to support your team members. You enjoy participating in discussions, troubleshooting and working holistically to implement processes.

Top tips for democratic leaders

You’ll need to balance your ideals of inclusiveness with being a decisive leader when a consensus isn’t practical. This ensures you remain flexible yet reliable in your role to get the most out of your team, meet organisational goals and provide care for patients and clients. Learn when to open the floor for discussion and when to lead with conviction.

Mostly B’s: The affiliative leader

Your focus is on harmony, emotional wellbeing and fostering strong team relationships. You have a ‘people-first’ ethos, thrive in nurturing environments and are often the glue that holds teams together. In high-stress healthcare settings, your supportiveness is essential for staff retention and to reduce the risks of burnout. You’re especially good at guiding teams through challenges and have strong negotiation and conflict-resolution skills. Your approach prioritises good work-life balance, high job satisfaction and helps create a positive workplace culture.

Top tips for affiliative leaders

While emotional connection is vital, it’s important you don’t avoid holding people accountable or course-correcting team members when it’s needed. This helps ensure you combine your naturally compassionate personality with clear expectations of your team. Learn when to lead with the heart and when to enforce the rules for optimal clarity for staff, patients and clients.

Mostly C’s: The transformational leader

You are a dynamic change-maker who inspires others to reach their full potential while working together toward a collective goal. You have the unique ability to motivate others to help them ‘get on board’ with your ideas. In healthcare, this leadership style is thought of as the most beneficial style to adopt. This is because you see the value in improving processes and developing your team’s skills and expertise, all in an effort to improve the quality of patient and client care. Your leadership is purpose-led and you welcome new ways to do things more effectively.

Top tips for transformational leaders

How can you keep one foot where you are, while taking a meaningful step forward? Your vision, passion and ideas will attract talented and skilled healthcare professionals. It’s important to make sure you don’t lose touch with the everyday tasks that keep the wheels of your organisation turning. Learn the value of detail-oriented team members who can bring your big ideas to life.

Mostly D’s: The delegative leader

You trust your team and give them space to own their role and work autonomously. You take a non-intrusive, hands-off approach as you ultimately believe your team is qualified to make the right decision, grow professionally and serve patients and clients to the best of their ability. In healthcare, this style empowers competent and qualified professionals and works well in experienced, self-directed or multidisciplinary teams. The trust you offer to your team is a strong confidence-builder that can help each person to reach their full potential.

Top tips for delegative leaders

Ensuring your team knows you’re still available to them is important for this leadership style to be successful. In complex, sensitive or high-risk healthcare scenarios, your team may still need a guiding lighthouse. Keep open lines of communication with your team to ensure everyone has what they need to carry out their role. Learn how to be hands-off without disappearing completely.

Mostly E’s: The authoritative leader

You are decisive, organised and results-oriented. Your leadership shines in crisis situations or where structure is needed. In healthcare, your clarity and control help ensure patient and client safety is maintained and tasks are done efficiently. You have a high standard for yourself, your team and the organisation, which makes people trusting of your confidence and competence.

Top tips for authoritative leaders

Taking charge to make sure systems are followed perfectly is your bread and butter as an authoritative leader. You thrive in fast-paced work environments or in settings where rule-following is essential. In healthcare, you provide certainty when your team needs to see you can stay calm under pressure. Learn how to blend empathy with authority to ensure you can adapt when you need it.

Why it helps to know your leadership style

Understanding your leadership style is beneficial to your role in healthcare, where teamwork, decision-making and a clear vision impact your immediate work environment, dynamics and patient and client outcomes. Your approach may be firm and authoritative or it may be encouraging and affiliative. Perhaps you’re a mix of styles, depending on the situation. Knowing your leadership style can help you respond effectively to the complex challenges relevant to your unique role, patient and client needs and healthcare setting.

Postgraduate leadership courses are designed to build your confidence and enhance your leadership skills, no matter your role or sector within healthcare. These interdisciplinary qualifications can deepen your understanding of management and organisational demands while giving you the tools to drive innovation and develop your professional network. You’ll be better placed to pursue senior roles and advance your career as an impactful leader.

Get started with a leadership course today

Whether you’re a registered nurse, a public health officer or have a professional private practice, an online leadership course can help you grow personally and professionally. You can study leadership courses while balancing your work and life with a flexible course designed to suit your needs.

GlobalHealth Education’s university partners offer postgraduate courses in a range of healthcare fields, in addition to healthcare leadership. These include social work, public health, counselling, nursing, psychology and mental health. To take the next step in advancing your healthcare career, browse our course catalogue, choose a course and enquire to speak to a Student Enrolment Advisor for guidance with your enrolment.