By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN
Every year for the past decade, I have assigned my graduate students to interview their Chief Nursing Officer or Nurse Executive asking a range of questions about their role, challenges and advice they would give to young leaders. It is interesting for me in these interviews to look at what changes over time and what remains the same. This blog is the second of two outlining the responses of 21 nurse executives related to the advice that they would give to today’s emerging nurse leaders. Most but not all of these nurse executives work in acute care.
What advice would you have for emerging nurse leaders?
Figure out if leadership is right for you – It is not right for everyone and that is okay.
Attend classes and educate yourself in leadership – Leadership is a journey.
Know yourself – your strengths and your weaknesses – Leadership begins from within.
Try everything – be open to the possibilities – Don’t be afraid to try something new and fail.
Join Committees – take on responsibility – Don’t expect to be paid for everything.
Take ownership – Be the leader who is accountable and accepts responsibility for success and failure.
Be consistent and fair – Your staff will watch for this.
Be fearless – Leadership today takes courage.
Don’t believe everything that people tell you – Do your own investigation of situations.
Keep a sense of humor – Find something to laugh about every day.
Develop thick skin – People will criticize your decisions but you can’t personalize it.
Find a mentor you trust – Don’t be afraid to ask for guidance.
Don’t give up – It is challenging at first but will get easier with time.
Be willing to have the crucial conversations – Most leaders try to avoid them but things just get worse.
Listen more than you talk – embrace change
See learning as a life-long journey – Learn something new every day.
Develop a framework and vision for your work if the organization does not have one.
Forgive yourself – You will make many mistakes.
Don’t make too many changes at once – Don’t be afraid to pilot a change before you leap into it.
Make sure that you are known in your setting – Volunteer and present new ideas.
Be very open minded – Think about a career trajectory and where you would want to lead.
Apply for positions even if you may not be ready – Interviewing is an art and you will improve with practice.
Read, study and ask a lot of questions.
Don’t let doubts and fears get in your way.
Don’t be afraid if you don’t know everything– maximize the strengths of others – You can’t know everything and the higher you go the more you will need to do this.
If approached with something new – Say yes instead of no.
Learn the value of networking – This is how one can advance their leadership career.
Develop strong business skills – Don’t shy away from the business skills, nurse leaders today need them.
Be open minded and listen
Be politically sensitive – Some places are very unforgiving when you make early mistakes.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions
Let people know that you want to be a leader – Don’t ever assume that people know what your career aspirations are for yourself.
Work on your interpersonal relationships – Never misrepresent what you know.
Don’t move up the ladder too fast – Learn well from each experience.
Pay close attention to your professional appearance and aura – Leadership presence matters to your success.
Look for stretch opportunities in your setting – Be the one to say yes to the new opportunities.
Take all feedback you are given positively – See criticism as a gift.
Set short and long term goals – Have a career plan.
Don’t react quickly – be thoughtful – Observe the politics and drama in situations.
Don’t do it if you don’t love it.
Walk the Talk – Staff will pay more attention to what you do than what you say.
In Summary
Most the advice here from senior leaders is timeless but their is recognition that nursing leadership will change with health reform. There will be many more opportunities in non-traditional settings. Nurse leaders today advise emerging leaders to be willing to step outside their comfort zone and to keep learning. Another key message in these interview was the need for future leaders to remain reflective and process situations prior to reacting to them. And lastly, the importance of having and using a trusted mentor or mentors is a key component to the leadership journey.
© emergingrnleader.com 2013
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