Leaders Are Always Being Watched - Emerging Nurse Leader

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

A new leader recently talked with me about how surprised she is at how closely staff observes her behavior. I feel like I am always being watched – she observed. She is right about this of course – leadership behavior is always being closely observed by staff. Inconsistencies between words and actions are quickly noticed. Leaders who don’t walk their talk lose trust.

If you want your staff to demonstrate certain behaviors, you need to display them first. You cannot ask someone to do something that you don’t do yourself. If you talked with staff about the importance of the patient experience but don’t demonstrate behaviors that show empathy toward patients and families, you can’t build a culture of service excellence. If you talk with staff about building team inclusiveness but then choose to socialize with only a few staff members – you will lose their trust in you about fairness and equality. Consistency in words, actions, and expectations is key to great leadership.

In nursing, staff will closely watch leader behavior in the following five situations:

Unit/Department performance measures take a nose dive – a leader’s behavioral reaction to bad news will be observed by staff. Do you become defensive or accept responsibility and design a plan.
A staff member makes a medical error – does the leader act in a way that demonstrates just culture behaviors or are they punitive?
A key staff member resigns – how leaders behave when a staff member resigns speaks volumes about whether they truly value staff contributions. If the leader stops talking to the staff member or shuts them out of key conversations, staff will know what to expect if they decide to leave and will avoid giving much advance notice.
A staff member bullies another staff member in front of the leader – a leader’s willingness to quickly act when incivility is observed will set the tone for a no bullying culture in a way that no discussion on bullying will do.
The leader is challenged about a decision by a staff member – how leaders behave when they are given feedback about their decisions will set the tone for how psychologically safe it is to disagree in the environment. If a leader becomes defensive and shuts down the discussion, no verbal reassurance about shared decision making will be believed.

Wise nurse leaders recognize that they are always being watched by staff and are therefore very intentional about their behavior. A senior nurse leader once told me that sometimes she will not leave her office in emotionally charged situations until she is certain she has control over her behavior. This is good advice because someone is always watching.

Read Rose Sherman’s new book available now – The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave