Leadership Nursing

Nursing Leadership Skills
Effective Leader Characteristics
The main characteristics of a highly effective leader are:
· Share their vision
A leader who has a vision has a clear idea of where they would like to go, how they will get there, and what success looks like. It is vital for a leader to articulate their vision clearly and passionately in order to ensure that their team understands how their individual efforts will contribute towards the higher organizational goals.
· Lead by example
The best way for a leader to build credibility and gain the respect of his/her team members is by setting the right examples. A leader should demonstrate the behavior they would like their team to follow (Pardey, 2016). Any leader who demands a lot form their team should be willing to set high standards for them self-first.
· Demonstrate integrity
Integrity is demonstrated by drawing on a leader’s values in order to guide decisions, behavior, and dealings with others. An effective leader has a clear conviction regarding what is right and wrong and they get respected for they are genuine, ethical, principled, and consistent. A leader demonstrates integrity by keeping their promises, communicating openly, honestly, and directly with others.
· Communicate effectively
Communicating clearly, tactfully, and concisely is a vital leadership skill. Communication is more than just listening attentively and responding appropriately. It will include sharing valuable information, soliciting input, asking intelligent questions, clarifying misunderstandings, and being clear on what a leader wants to be done.
· Make hard decisions
There are decisions that need to be made no matter the situation. An effective leader is able to make fast and difficult decisions even with limited information. Consideration is usually made for the likely consequences of the decision and the alternatives are evaluated.
· Recognize success
An effective leader is one who frequently and consistently recognizes achievements of his/her team members. When people know that their contributions and hard work will be valued and appreciated they tend to stretch themselves further.
· Empower others
An effective leader understands that for people to give their best, they need to have a sense of ownership over their work. They also need to believe that they are doing meaningful work. Therefore, it is the work of the leader to ensure that he/she communicates clear goals and deadlines to their team (Shanafelt et al., 2015).
· Motivate and inspire
A leader who is able to drive their team forward with enthusiasm, passion, motivation, and inspiration is considered to be an effective leader.
According to Kaiser, LeBreton, and Hogan (2015) the worst leader does not like to deal with conflicts either directly or by being a mediator between two employees in dispute. They will do all they can to dodge disputes or any unpleasant situations. Bad leaders do not know how to empower other. The title or ranking will begin to go to their heads and this causes them to shift focus from team empowerment to boasting. A leader who does not show vulnerability is considered to be a weak leader. trying to show an image of flawlessness can be intimidating to employees. This is because employees will be scared to approach the leader with any issue since the leader seem not susceptible to the same hurdles faced by the employees. A good leader should be able to see the strengths of their team without feeling intimidated by them. Without understanding and knowing the strengths of their team a leader will be leading with blinders. They will end up delegating responsibilities to people who are not able to perform them and overlooking others. Any mistakes of the team should not be fully blamed on the team. The team leader should take some responsibility for their failure (Warrick, 2017). However, this is never the case with bad leaders. They will push the blame fully to the team and points a finger on individual team members. Failure to listen is another trait of a bad leader. They will seem quiet and allow someone to talk, but they will not be paying attention to what is being said.
Self-Analysis
My greatest strengths are communicating effectively, recognizing success, demonstrating integrity, and making hard decisions. Personally, I am able to clearly pass on information to others and ensuring they have understood the information delivered. When speaking with others, I am able to listen attentively to what is being said and actively participating in the conversation and responding appropriately. Reading body language allows me to relate well with others and to properly deal with any issue they might have. When a colleague does something amazing at work, I am willing to congratulate them and recognize their achievements. Letting someone know that what they have done has been recognized by someone else and it has been appreciated motivates the individual. Celebrating a person's achievement should not always be a big thing even a simple well done is appreciated. I demonstrate integrity based on my principled, ethical, and consistent behavior. Being a nurse, ethics play a vital role in the performance of my duty on a daily basis. I always keep my promises to others and will communicate honestly, openly, and directly with others. In the performance of my work, I am forced to make hard decisions within a short period of time. This is mostly when treating a patient. Having the ability to analyze alternatives quickly is vital. I take full responsibility for my decisions and stick to them.
My greatest weakness is that at times I hide my vulnerabilities. I do not like people to see that I am weak or I do not have the strength to do something. In order to remediate on this weakness, I plan on working on my own self-judgment. This will allow me to be more open to other and will make it easy for me to open up on my weaknesses. Showing others my weaknesses should not be seen as a negative, but rather as a positive thing. There are management classes available that will assist in overcoming this weakness.
Effective Leadership Scenario
Some of the nursing staff had been demotivated since they were forced to work longer hours and any patient problem was being blamed on the nursing staff even when the mistake was nursing related. This was mainly because the head of the nursing unit was not willing to admit their fault and they also did not fully understand the nursing roles. Things changed when there was a reshuffling of top leaders at the hospital and a new manager was assigned. The leader found that nurses were not willing to share their experiences for fear of being victimized. In about two months, nurses were back to their cheerful self and they felt motivated. This was because the new leader kept communicating with the nurses. Any issues were first investigated and the problem identified. Nurses could now see how effective the leader was and they began opening up. The new leader motivated the nurses, communicated with them his vision and he led by example. He was at the forefront and he was willing to take the blame for a nurse even when he knew the nurse had done something wrong.
Ineffective Leadership Scenario
When working in a team that was charged with coming up with a new nursing practice in the ICU, the team leader had her own ideas and they were not willing to listen to the ideas of the other team members. Communication was always one-sided. Team members found it hard to get through to her and they were forced to follow her lead. However, the team leader was also ineffective in communicating her ideas. This resulted in the team members working on the wrong things even when she had shared with them what was needed. Eventually, the team could not survive because the leader failed to recognize her weaknesses and kept on assigning responsibilities to the wrong people. Assigning research work to a junior nurse and expecting her to prepare a comprehensive report, while there were other more experienced nurses in the team. Any argument on the role’s assignment was met with rudeness and she reaffirmed that she was in charge of the team. The result was that the team did not manage to do what was expected and it was disbanded after six months of not showing any progressive work.


References
Kaiser, R. B., LeBreton, J. M., & Hogan, J. (2015). The dark side of personality and extreme leader behavior. Applied Psychology, 64(1), 55-92.
Pardey, D. (2016). Introducing leadership. London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
Shanafelt, T. D., Gorringe, G., Menaker, R., Storz, K. A., Reeves, D., Buskirk, S. J., . . . Swensen, S. J. (2015). Impact of organizational leadership on physician burnout and satisfaction. Paper presented at the Mayo Clinic Proceedings.
Warrick, D. (2017). What leaders need to know about organizational culture. Business Horizons, 60(3), 395-404.