Walden University Good Leadership Discussion

Discussion # 1

A good leader should build a culture of personal responsibility, confidence, and courage in several ways. First, from all that I have learned through my experience and in this course, I believe lone of the most critical traits of a strong leader is in his or her ability to role-model the behavior they wish to see. Grossman and Valiga (2017) state a good leader is “courageous” and willing to make “brilliant mistakes” (p. 29). If the leader is truly leading honestly and courageously, ideally the followers will notice this and aspire to act in the same way.

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Second, as we learned in Brene Brown’s book Daring Greatly (2012), there is power in vulnerability and when a team of leaders and followers foster vulnerability it creates deeper connections with innovation, creativity, trust, and empathy. Brown (2012) describes vulnerability as the most accurate measurement of courage. Leaders should create an environment where the “followers” feel safe to make mistakes and question their peers on best practices. A good leader understands and respects that being vulnerable and admitting to a mistake is part of the process. If the followers in this example would have felt “safe” at work one of them would have been more likely to speak up and offer a suggestion or question the MD. Finally, it would be important for the staff to feel comfortable having open conversations with their leader. This way they can imagine how the conversation could go and not be fearful of getting “in trouble.” In this example, it would be important for the leader to have an open conversation with the staff nurses regarding the rational for their assessment in this situation. If the leader has done things well the nurses should feel comfortable sharing their thought process as well as their decision-making process without feeling intimidated. As Park (2012) points out “the quality of ethical decision making should be evaluated in terms not only of its conclusion but also the process of decision making (p. 139).” If a leader makes a space safe and open for “followers” to discuss “hard” things by being vulnerable, honest, courageous, and non-judgmental mistakes like this example may be less likely to occur.

References

Brown, B. (2012). Daring greatly: How the courage to be vulnerable transforms the way we live, love, parent, and lead. An imprint of Penguin Random House.

Grossman, S., & Valiga, T.M. (2017). The new leadership challenge: Creating the future of nursing (5^th ed.). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company.

Park, Eun-Jun. (2012) An integrated ethical decision-making model for nurses. Nursing Ethics 19(1) 139-159.

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., McMillan, R., & Switzler, A. (2012). Crucial conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are

high (2nd ed.). McGraw-Hill.

Dissuission #2

Unfortunately situations like this will happen and nurses are not immune to the pressing issues. As we have discussed in this class, it is essential for good leadership to ensure a safe environment for strong nurses to advocate for their patients. From readings of this class, a transformational leader is someone that has the characteristics to motivate each nurse to perform they best of their abilities. From Grossman & Valiga (2017), the idealized influence of leadership is to assist the follower to increase confidence, respect and trust. To encourage the nurses to believe in themselves and to trust their instincts on when to question something that may not be right. A leader is someone with vision and drive to be able to bring out the best in the individuals that they might not see within themselves. By encouraging and motivating the individual, they will give their best foot forward resulting in creating the environment of nurse advocates. A few characteristics that really transformed my thinking of a leader will be discussed below.

“The secret of leadership is… the ability to inspire others with faith in their own high potential.” – J. Donald Walters

As a leader, it is encouraging and building confidence in each individual nurse to allow for courageous actions to address issues that they may face daily. It is important to lead like a shepherd in guiding the flock of sheep, by protecting and defending them in times of danger (Leman & Pentak, 2004). Standing up for the individuals in times when it may not be the easiest task to do. To encourage everyone to voice their concerns. Then as a leader, taking the feedback and using the voices to drive change within the environment. If the individual feels like the leader will fight for you, they will work harder as a follower. Another way a leader will build confidence and courage in nurses is by understanding what motivates the individuals individually. By learning about the staff can help build a relationship that encourages motivation.

Walden University Good Leadership Discussion

A leader can incorporate molding the values and beliefs of the environments and lead by example. For the leader, to work alongside the nurses and be there in times when it is not easy. An example of this is when a leader comes in on a day off, with the work unit is drowning to help ease the chaos. To show the followers that they are not alone, and this is a team that will at the end of the day will overcome the challenges. Especially during a time like this with a pandemic, the nurse managers have been sending out encouraging emails and ideas to help ease the chaos with both home and work life balance. Also, they have been coming in when the unit is extremely short staffed to help with the role of charge nurse, to allow for more nurses to maintain safe nurse-patient ratios. Which ensembles that we are not in the trials alone.

A lot of what has been discussed in this class by defining a leader, something the has stuck with me is being consistent, honest, and organized leader. As a leader, to be transparent with the nurses about changes that may occur, giving and receiving feedback, and performance reviews. As talked about through Crucial Conversations, it is important overcoming the fear about having those difficult conversations in challenging times and creating a mutual purpose to discuss important issues (Patterson, 2012). This creates an environment that allows for open communication and respect. If the leader will be honest and consistent, it allows for the followers to rely and instill trust in the leader that is representing them. This helps to mold a safe and trustworthy environment. “A healthy work environment is crucial to morale, patient safety, patient satisfaction, RN job satisfaction, and nurse retention (Grossman & Valiga, 2017, p. 107).

Lastly, each leader will face challenges and make mistakes. It is learning from those mistakes and using those moments of failure to push forward (Maxwell, 2000). To use the tools in our toolbelt from past experiences, to transcend ourselves forward by practicing what may be a challenge. With using this mindset, we can learn from what does and doesn’t work with motivating nurses to be advocates and to stand up for what is right.

All these characteristics I hope to incorporate into my practice as a leader. As Grossman & Valiga (2017) emphasized that professional nurses are in a significant position to provide leadership by using their communication skills, ability to work collaboratively with others, sense of service to others, well-established credibility, and a commitment to high-quality patient care. As I continue my practice, these characteristics are tools I will continue to be mindful about to help provide the best care for the patients to my ability.

References

Grossman, S., & Valiga, T. (2017). The New Leadership Challenge (5th ed.). F.A. Davis Company.

Leman, K., & Pentak, B. (2004). The Way of the Shepherd. Zondervan.

Maxwell, J. C. (2000). Failing forward (1st ed.). HarperCollins Christian.

Patterson, K. (2012). Crucial conversations (2nd ed.). McGraw Hill.

Walden University Good Leadership Discussion