By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
All of us make mistakes – myself included. As I often tell new leaders, while reflecting on things you don’t want to repeat is good, don’t ruminate about them. Below are five common leadership mistakes to avoid to improve your leadership:
1. Listening to respond rather than listening to hear and learn.
Most leaders are problem solvers and fixers. These skills probably contributed to your selection for your current role. The challenge is that “fixer leaders” are often not good listeners. Nurses today need leaders who listen to what they say and ask thoughtful questions. Nursing staff often want to vent – they want to tell you that the work is hard, patients sometimes are discourteous, and they feel exhausted. You can’t sugarcoat any of that because it is true, so don’t try to. A great question to ask staff who come to you with a problem is to ask in advance whether they want you to coach them through the situation or want to vent.
2. Failing to deal with performance problems early and not holding staff accountable.
This is probably the most common mistake nurse leaders make, especially early in their careers. They wait too long to take action on poor performers and fail to hold them accountable for their behavior. Poor performers are often difficult to deal with, and nurses today are exhausted and feel underappreciated. Giving feedback is challenging. The reality is that we all need feedback on what to start, stop, and continue doing. Without this, it is hard to grow and even more challenging to hold staff accountable. Having difficult conversations is like a muscle. The more you have them, the easier it becomes.
3. Selecting a staff member who was not a good fit for the unit out of desperation.
Depending on where you are in the country, you may have few applicants for your open positions. During nursing shortages, nurse leaders are often confronted with difficult decisions. Sometimes, against their better judgment and desperation, the leader will select an applicant despite severe misgivings about the goodness of fit for the unit. These selections rarely work out, and nurse leaders regret their mistakes.
4. Trying to be liked by everyone.
As a nurse leader, your relationship with your staff changes. You can’t be their best friend. It is essential to strike the right balance and realize that leading change usually means ruffling someone. Being a leader requires you to develop a thick skin and take the heat without taking it personally. This does get easier with time. You will never be able to make everyone happy, so stop trying. Your goals should be to be seen as fair, avoid perceptions of favoritism, and be consistent in making decisions.
5. Not being open to feedback.
Successful nurse leaders listen actively to their employees and peers. This means being open to feedback that may not always be positive. You may not always agree with the perspective presented, but you must respect how others view you and thank them for sharing it. Look for themes and trends in what is said. If you are open to feedback, your staff will be more honest and open with you to help you succeed. You will have an easier time holding others accountable if they see you role-modeling how to accept feedback. View feedback as a gift – sometimes, we get gifts we don’t want but act graciously when we receive them.
As a nurse leader, you will make mistakes. Research I have conducted with leaders indicates that the key is having the insight to look at your mistakes, acknowledge them, and learn from them. There is nothing that the nursing staff appreciates more than a leader who can confidently say I was wrong.
© emergingrnleader.com 2024
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