Chefsbefattningen blir du tilldelad, men ledarskapet kan ingen ge dig : En textanalys av första linjens chefers ledarskap inom äldreomsorg utifrån ett etiskt perspektiv

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this study was to find out from an ethical perspective how researchers describe a good leadership. The study tried to investigate more specifically the leadership styles and attributes of first-line managers which according to an ethical perspective characterized a good leadership in elderly care. The background used was the reforms that occurred in elderly care, the implementation of national values in elderly care and the laws governing leadership in elderly care. The method used was a text analysis of two books which focussed on leadership in elderly care and in social work. An inductive approach was used meaning that the study took the facts from the two books as a starting point and applied the theory to it. The theory used in the study was normative ethics. An analysis was made and it could be seen that there were different views on what constituted a good leadership and different views on the leadership styles and attributes of first-line managers that were considered to characterize a good leadership. Sometimes would a good leadership be described in terms of values such as  achievement, human value and high performance. Sometimes would a good leadership be described in terms of values like dignity, knowledge, self-responsibility and responsibility for others.   The study also found out that there were different leadership styles of first-line managers that created the conditions for a good leadership. These were leadership styles that included empowerment, good attitude, good communication and empathy. Moreover, the attributes that were considered to make first-line managers into good leaders were clarity, accessibility, humor, courage, authority, communicative skills, language skills and especially empathy and an equal attitude. Some researchers even pointed out that there was no particular type of leadership that could be considered the best and that there was no leadership style either that could be considered as a template for all leaders and organizations in elderly care to follow. It was thus found that without ethics as a theory, all of these findings would have been very confusing. Thanks to normative ethics as a tool, it could be understood why there were so many different views on what was considered to be a good leadership. Ethics casted light upon the fact that there were different values, norms, virtues, and motives behind an action that were given priority in different contexts explaining why there were so many different types of leadership styles and attributes that were considered appropriate in different situations. The study found out that a special emphasis was laid on the fact that a leader should know himself or herself and his or her view on mankind as well as his or her ethical values. Then he or she would know what his or her strengths and weaknesses were. It was also observed in the study that the virtues of a good leadership were never-ending. This was why training of first-line managers was considered central and it was found that training was to be organized for them on a more regular basis.