According to Dr. Ernest of Ohio State University, leadership is not
an innate characteristic. It can be developed through training. All
nurses are leaders; so the choice is not whether to be a leader, but
rather, whether to be a good leader or not.

We lead our patients, their families, and each other. It is
important to recognize our leadership potential and to develop it.
Daniel Goldman in his book "Primal Leadership Realizing The Power Of
Emotional Intelligence" states that the individual's ability to
recognize and regulate his emotions and emotions of others accounts
for 80 percent of leadership success in organizations. As nurses we
need to recognize the leadership potential in ourselves and in each
other.

Dan Amos, the CEO of the insurance company Aflac, states if you treat
your employees well, they will take care of your customers and your
business. As a leader, it is important to develop an interest with
those people you work with, whether they are your employees or
whether they are your co workers. If you have a sincere interest in
the people you work with, you express that interest by finding out
more about them and by listening to their concerns. Developing a
genuine and non-judgmental interest in other people will help you
strengthen one of the most important leadership skills, the skill of
relationship.

The people you lead know whether you are genuinely interested in
their well-being or not based on your relationship. Developing
relationships is one of the most important things you can do as a
leader. You need to know what makes your co workers, your employees,
and other people tick. For example, if you have a competency that
you need for your employees to understand and implement, you will be
in a better position to gain their cooperation if you understand what
their needs are and you shape the development of the program around
their needs.

The first step in developing leadership that works is developing the
relationship; and if you are genuinely interested, you can find out
what makes them tick. Then you have the opportunity to show them how
what you are teaching can make their job easier and make their life
better. Leadership takes time and it takes effort, but good leaders
can change the entire culture of their organization leading to more
cooperation and better patient care.

Best wishes,

David W. Woodruff, MSN, RN-BC, CNS, CEN
President, Ed4Nurses, Inc.
www.Ed4Nurses.com