THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN LEADERSHIP STYLE AND ORGANIZATIONAL HEALTH IN EDUCATIONAL HOSPITALS

Improving the performance of any organization depends mainly on its organizational health. This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the relationship between managers' leadership styles and organizational health in Ahvaz teaching hospitals. The Hershey et al. and OHI scales for measuring leadership style and organizational health were distributed among 160 nurses working in five teaching hospitals in Ahvaz using the convenience cluster sampling method. The data correlation was analyzed using SPSS22. The organizational health level in Ahvaz hospitals was relatively good (149.60 +/- 17.72). The predominant leadership styles in Ahvaz hospital managers were selling and telling styles. The findings of the study showed a weak positive correlation (r = 0.22) between selling style and organizationa l health, and a weak negative correlation (r =-0.20) between delegating style and organizational health, both significant (P = 0.006 and P = 0.009, respectively). Besides, the Telling leadership style had a significant positive correlation with institutional and managerial levels (Institutional integrity and Initiating structure dimensions), and delegating leadership style had a noteworthy negative correlation with institutional and managerial levels (Institutional integrity, Initiating structure, and Consideration dimensions). This study confirmed the positive relationship between Telling leadership style and creating a healthy hospital environment, and the negative relationship between delegating leadership style and organizational health. However, comparing different leadership styles concerning organizational health requires further studies, especially in the hospital setting.