Leadership qualities are vital in professional role development; life experiences support development of certain qualities, while at the same time do not allow other essential qualities to mature. I learned about my strengths and weaknesses by using Dr. McNeese-Smith’s leadership tool, according to this tool my strength is “Inspiring a shared vision,” while my weakness is “Challenging the process.” This wasn’t a surprise, in my current position as a staff nurse, I find myself to be pretty complacent with the way things are managed on my unit. Kouzes and Posner’s 2002 (1) research study found five recurrent behaviors of effective leaders: Challenge to process, Inspire a shared vision, Enable others to act, Model the way, and Encourage the heart. …show more content…
As a nurse, encouraging the heart comes easily, as this is an innate characteristic; I practice celebrating ever positive outcome, whether a patient, co-worker, or …show more content…
Now I realize in order to be an effective leader; all my leadership qualities, which were presented by Dr. McNeese-Smith, should be up to par. There are several tasks I can undertake to challenge the process, including assessing why a current protocol or guideline doesn’t work, and set out to find innovative solutions, and seeking out challenges. As a novice nurse practitioner in a new position, I’m certain I will encounter practices that work really well, and equally discover things that may not work so well. Seeking out new challenges is great way to foster development of this leadership quality. Staying up to date with new practice guidelines, and research will also aid my ability to challenge any outdated standards, as I will be thoroughly prepared and educated to make that distinction. Challenging the status quo is something I’ve never really done, but being a nurse practitioner will empower me to seek those types of challenges – but not until I’ve moved on from novice to advanced beginner nurse practitioner, as my newly acquired experience will impart me the confidence required to distinguish between status quos in need of