Characteristics of Leaders

Leadership requires personal mastery –  In order for nurses to be effective leaders, they must first demonstrate mastery of nursing skills.

Leadership is about values – Nurses must have values that are considered "good" and "honorable" in order to encourage others to follow them.  Some of these values include honesty, integrity, service, and respect.

Leadership is about service – Nursing is all about service.  Leadership is also all about service.  A good leader should be continually looking for ways to serve and help those that they lead.

Leadership is about people and relationships – Nurses are constantly interacting with people.  In order to be an effective leader, nurses must form strong interpersonal relationships and really make an effort to connect with those they lead, as well as all those they come in contact with.

Leadership is contextual – There are many different ways for nurses to be leaders.  They can be leaders at home, within their families, or at work, among coworkers, or in their education, or in the community.  All of these are different contexts, but they all provide opportunities for leadership.

Leadership is about the management of meaning – Each and every person has their own interpretation and found meaning from interacting with others. By finding meaning from interactions had with others, nurses/leaders will develop skills that will allow them to communicate more effectively with others and find meaning in situations they find themselves in.  By communicating more effectively and finding the meaning in situations and events, nurses will be able to remember things that they deem important.  By managing what is important (or what has meaning to them), they will become more effective leaders.

Leadership is about balance – Being a leader is a big job.  In order to be an effective leader, you must develop a good balance.  This could mean many different things, such as a good balance between your work and home life, or a good balance between the members of the team you lead.  You must understand what type of people you work with, as well as how to create the most balanced and effective situation for everyone.  This goes back to understanding your team members' personality types and learning styles.  If you have too many dominant people on your team, they will likely conflict and knock the entire team out of balance.

Leadership is about continuous learning and improvement – This goes back to the adage that "a great teacher is someone who can learn from his students, who can learn with them, and learns for them."  The same is true for leaders.  They must be continuously learning and improving in order to be the best version of themselves for those that they lead.

Leadership is about effective decision making – There is no doubt that nurses are in a position to make many important decisions.  It is important for them to make decisions in a timely, effective manner.

Leadership is a political process – Leadership is a political process in the sense that most leaders have to be chosen by those that they lead, similar to a democracy.  A leader who was not chosen by those that they lead will have a more difficult time gaining the respect needed to be an effective leader.

Leadership is about modeling – A good leader is one who leads by example.  When leading by example, you become an inspiration and an encouragement to those that you lead.  It is very difficult to be an effective leader when your technique includes "do as I say, not as I do."

Leadership is about integrity – Integrity is defined as "the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles."  If nurses/leaders lack integrity, it is difficult for them to gain any sort of standing or authority.  You must be honest and true in all of your interactions in order to earn the respect of those you lead and care for.