How Nurse Leaders Derail Own Their Careers

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, FAAN

There are many good resources about how to be a great nursing leader. You will find far less written about the kinds of behaviors that can derail your career, some of which you may engage in unknowingly. Consider the following case study:

Miranda Perez is oncology nurse with five years of experience. She recently enrolled in a graduate program in nursing administration and aspires to be a nurse leader. She has become certified in oncology and regularly takes charge on her unit. She is also very involved in the shared governance task force on her unit. A position for a nurse manager to open a new outpatient oncology center is posted. Miranda is very excited about this opportunity and eagerly applies for position. She is surprised and disappointed when she is not selected to be interviewed. She seeks out the Oncology Director David Jackson to talk about why he made the decision not to interview her. At first, David was prepared to tell Miranda that she simply did not have enough experience. As he thought about it, he realized he valued Miranda as an employee and wanted to help her grow. On the surface, Miranda did appear to be an ideal candidate. She had great clinical experience, was on a path to finish her masters degree and had taken charge on her unit. She is respected by her colleagues for her excellent clinical skills. David is also aware of issues about how Miranda interacts with her peers and members of the interdisciplinary team. She has been advised by her nurse manager that when she is in charge, she is not inclusive in her decision making and is often judgmental about the viewpoints and contributions of others. These issues were discussed with Miranda in her annual performance review. In a recent staff meeting where a change in organizational policy was being discussed, she became visibly frustrated and stated to the group that those who developed such policies needed to get out of their offices and come back and work the floors. David views Miranda as having high potential for a more significant leadership role. He is concerned about Miranda’s lack of tolerance of others and her inability to keep her personal emotions in check during stressful situations. He recognizes that such behaviors have and will continue negatively impact Miranda’s career if she does not commit to personal transformation so he meets with her to discuss his decision.

Leadership is both an art and a science. The art of leadership is learning how to manage relationships with others. It is often said that it is these soft skills that can be the hard skills to learn. At this point in her career, Miranda lacks self-awareness about how her behavior is viewed by others. Marshall Goldsmith in his insightful book What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, points out that although we may work hard, some of our behaviors can keep us from moving to the next level. Ironically, they may be behaviors that allowed us to achieve at the level that we are currently working but will now hold us back. In Miranda’s case, she is likely a very efficient and technically excellent oncology nurse but pays less attention to her relationships with others on the team. These are behaviors that can lead to failure in a leadership position. He points out the following 20 behaviors that can be career derailers:

Winning too Much – the need to win in all situations at all costs.
Adding too Much Value – the overwhelming desire to add our two cents to every discussion.
Passing Judgment – the need to rate others and impose our standards on others.
Making Distractive Comments – injecting needless sarcasm and cutting remarks into conversations.
Starting with “No” “But” or “However” – this words send a message that I am right and you are wrong.
Telling the World how Smart We Are – the need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.
Speaking when Angry – demonstrating emotional volatility.
Negativity – explaining why something won’t work.
Withholding Information – the refusal to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.
Failing to give Proper Recognition – the inability to praise and reward.
Claiming Credit We Don’t Deserve – overestimating our contribution to any success.
Making Excuses – the need to reposition annoying behaviors as a permanent fixture so people will excuse us.
Clinging to the Past – the need to deflect blame from ourselves and onto events and people in the past.
Playing Favorites – failing to see we are treating someone unfairly.
Refusing to Express Regret – the inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we are wrong and recognize how our actions affect others.
Not Listening – the most passive-aggressive form of disrespect of colleagues.
Failing to Express Gratitude – having bad manners.
Punishing the Messenger – attacking those who try to help us.
Passing the Buck – the need to blame everyone but ourselves.
An Excessive Need to be “Me” – exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are.

This is a pretty extensive list and it is likely that all of us have one or more of these behaviors that we need to work on. It can be hard to change behavior. The first step comes with acknowledgement and then a willingness to develop a personal improvement plan. In Miranda’s case, David agreed to coach her in her change plan.

They mutually developed an action plan with three components:

Miranda will read Marshall Goldman’s (2007) bestselling book “What Got You Here Won’t Get You There.” Goldman pinpoints 20 bad habits outlined above that stifle successful careers and what leaders need to do to change them.
Miranda will ask her team members for their input on decisions during her shifts when she takes charge. She and David will have a short session each week to discuss her progress in being more inclusive.
Miranda will choose two members and discuss her leadership goals with them. She will ask them for their honest feedback as they observe her interacting with others.

The good news here is that research shows that leaders who are open to feedback as Miranda is and are willing to do personal reflection on their behaviors can and do overcome career derailers.

Read to Lead

Goldsmith, M. (2007). What Got You Here Won’t Get You There. New York: Hyperion.