Emerging Nurse Leader

A leadership development blog

The Perils of Perfectionism in Leadership

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN French author Voltaire wrote, “The perfect is the enemy of the good.”  I thought about this when I was working with a new nurse manager who described herself as a perfectionist.  She has very high standards for both herself and others.  While a little perfectionism can be a good thing in leadership, too much can be a double edged … [Read more...]

Avoiding These Top Ten Leadership Mistakes

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN It is always interesting to ask nurse leaders about the mistakes that they have made in their roles.  Most leadership mistakes are not big failures, but smaller mistakes that they often repeated early in their careers.  Experience is a good teacher but as one seasoned leader laughingly told me, “to be honest, I was not a quick … [Read more...]

Conflict with a New Boss

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN Managing conflict well is a challenge for most nurse leaders under the best of circumstances.  When the conflict is with your boss, it can be difficult and stressful.  One of my colleagues talked with me about her dilemma with her boss.  My colleague has been in a director role in her hospital for almost ten years.  A new CNO was … [Read more...]

When You Are the Inside Candidate

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN I recently had a discussion with a student who is an inside candidate for a CNO position in her health system. It is a very competitive field of candidates that she is up against. The good news for my colleague is that business research increasingly indicates that highly qualified inside candidates when selected usually have a smoother … [Read more...]

Managing Yourself

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By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN In 1999, Peter F. Drucker (whom many consider to be the father of modern management theory) wrote a now classic article for the Harvard Business Review titled Managing Oneself.  He made the important observation that we are often our own worst enemies and learning to manage ourselves might be our biggest challenge in the end.  Many nurse … [Read more...]