Leadership takes various forms within nursing. For our 4th year undergraduate students, they are learning about their role as novice nurses in a variety of clinical settings. For our graduate students, they are learning about systems thinking and influencing change in clinical settings. On January 24th, our 3rd annual Nursing Leadership Forum featured four speakers and facilitator: Corina Vogt (Director (Interim) of Workforce Optimization Fraser Health), Brenda Booy (CNS, Frail Elderly Older Adult Network & Chilliwack, Agassiz and Hope Health Services), Michelle DePodesta (Director Clinical Services Eagle Ridge Hospital and Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Health Services), Ruby Gidda (Manager Clinical Services and Regional Nursing Lead BC Cancer Agency) and Josh Greggain (Medical Director Hope Health Services). The speakers introduced themselves, emphasizing their individual pathways to their current leadership position, and responded to students’ questions. Several points stood out during the dialogue:
Authentic leadership. The speakers spoke about the importance of self-awareness as a leader, especially knowing one’s strengths and weaknesses, and being true to oneself on the leadership journey. From this stance, they were able to foster genuineness and job satisfaction in others, working toward bringing out the best in others. All of our speakers were open to taking on leadership roles as opportunities presented themselves.
Leadership development. Although each of the speakers were clear about how they led from their own sense of self, they also sought out opportunities for leadership development, many of which were offered through their employer. The need for ongoing development speaks to being a lifelong learner as a leader. None of them implied that they had arrived as a leader, but rather that as they found themselves in new situations, they continued to learn about how to be more effective as a leader.
Leading to serve. To a person, the message for students was that leadership was not about status or prestige, but rather about serving others to bring about more effective healthcare services and better health outcomes. Leadership is not about the formal position one holds, but rather the influence one has. One manager, for example, talked about checking in with each unit, each day, as a way of supporting them to give the best care. The integration of servant leadership principles in practice has less to do with directing other people and more to do with serving their needs and in fostering the use of shared power in an effort to enhance effectiveness in the professional role (Neill, Hayward, & Peterson, 2007).
Interprofessional leadership. Students were intrigued to hear the perspectives of the social worker and physician about how they viewed nurses and how nurses could be strong team contributors. Learning about the contributions of various professions was an important aspect of learning about leadership.
The Leadership Forum also allowed for informal conversations toward the end of the evening, as our guests graciously interacted with the students.
“We are all working together for the good of the patient. This is leadership” (J.Greggain, MD)