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Welcome to a new decade and 2010! We are
excited about shifting from the challenging economy and “on hold” mentality of
2009 to the freedom of moving to opportunities and possibilities in 2010. By
the time you read this newsletter, about 94% of you will have made and already
broken your New Year’s resolutions. It is time to regroup, take action and move
forward! We will help to jumpstart your year by introducing Shift Change
Coaching’s Six Keys to Leadership series. Just like our foundational Six Keys
to Nursing Success, these Leadership Keys are valuable assets for your personal
and professional life.
In the December 2009 newsletter, we invited
you to begin identifying your personal and professional leadership roles. We
posed the question, “Should you lead, follow or get out of the way?” There is
accidental leadership and then there is purposeful effective leadership. The
Peter Principle is the theory that employees within an organization will advance
to their highest level of competence and then be promoted to and remain at a
level at which they are incompetent. In nursing that is demonstrated when the
best staff nurses are the ones promoted to management positions with little
or no training. Many of these nurses don’t have a desire to lead but are
following the next step offered to achieve an increased salary or improved
working hours.
One of our nurse coaching clients shared that
she was “promoted” to a management position with no salary increase and actual
increased hours to accommodate the staff and management nursing roles. This is
not an unusual occurrence in the current nursing climate. Is this the solution
to effective nursing leadership and fulfilled nurses who desire to stay in the
profession long term?
The Six Keys to Nursing Leadership guide
nurse leaders/managers to shift from a hierarchical model to functioning more in
professional collaboration practicing the coach approach to leadership.
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Respect/honor
– how do leaders show respect, and how do they earn it? Honor self – honor each
other – honor others
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Communication
– how to shift to clear and valuable communication using powerful language,
critical conversation for conflict resolution, and creating purposeful and
respectful interactions
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Courage
–how to make the shift to leader, develop confidence in yourself and others
and inspire those you lead
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Recognition
– celebration and acknowledgment, intrinsic versus extrinsic rewards, giving
yourself credit
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Trust
– integrity, honesty and accountability for yourself and others; confidentiality
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Passion
– find the best fit, empower others to succeed, be the cheerleader, discover the
passions of those you lead and utilize them
Respect/honor, the 1st key, is the
foundation of effective leadership. Utilizing the Shift Change Coaching logo
above, the 3 pillars on the left side of the bridge represent the leaders and
the 3 pillars on the right represent the followers or the team. The bridge
represents a two-way street where the leaders respect and honor the followers
and the followers respect and honor the leaders. The arch over the bridge
represents the organization embracing this culture of honor and respect. This
type of mutual relationship results in a win-win situation often reflected in
the quality of patient care, happy satisfied workers, greater productivity,
increased cost effectiveness and decreased staff turnover.
How do you as a leader in your personal and
professional roles show and earn respect and honor from those you serve? Here
are 3 suggestions; (1) Know your team members - ask how they are, what they need
and what they are happy about (2) Give frequent feedback, both positive and
“needs improvement” (3) Set clear expectations and hold yourself and your team
accountable.
Self-respect is essential. A true leader is
someone who is a role model and walks their talk as well as being able to admit
their mistakes and shortcomings. A leader remembers they are but one member of
the team.
How does your leadership measure up to the
six keys? Are you seeing low morale, staff confusion, errors in patient care,
high number of incident reports and call outs, frequent staff turnover or other
crisis issues? Work with Shift Change Coaching to implement the Six keys to
Nursing Leadership. Build the foundation to promote excellence in leadership.
Convenient teleclass or in-person workshop formats are available. Schedule now
as our 2010 is filling up fast!
In the
February issue we will discuss the 2nd Key to Nursing Leadership,
communication. In the meantime, please visit our Shift Change Blog and let us know your ideas and challenges
around nursing leadership.
Warm
regards,
Merrily Sable, RN, BSN and Betsy Smith, PhD
 
“Second
Blooming for Women-
Growing a Life That
Matters After Fifty”
 Our
own Betsy Smith has co-authored a book with Kathleen Logan, “Second
Blooming for Women: Growing a Life that Matters After Fifty”. This
book speaks to 5 of these 6 keys, as it relates to women reinventing
themselves. We also consider this a great resource for those of you
that aren’t fifty yet! (Book cover in color) Join the Second
Blooming Seminar at Sea Jan. 28th-31st, 2010 To order the book or
get cruise information go to:
secondbloomingforwomen.com
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What are
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