Examples of Nursing Role Activities for the 12 Characteristics of Leaders

1.    Leadership requires personal mastery- Nurses demonstrate leadership when they show competence and mastery in the tasks they perform.  Nurses are deemed competent by means of a license to practice nursing (NLN 2010).

2.    Leadership is about values- Nurses demonstrate leadership when following the Nursing Code of Ethics.  “The ANA believes the Code for Nurses is nonnegotiable and that each nurse has an obligation to uphold and adhere to the code of ethics.” (ANA, 2014)

3.   Leadership is about service- Nurses consistently demonstrate leadership with their willingness and ability to serve others.  It is the backbone of our industry.  We consider ourselves the patient’s advocate.  In my opinion, nursing is defined as service.

4.    Leadership is about people and relationships- Nursing is all about people and relationships.  To be a good nurse the ability to build and maintain trusting relationships (not only with our patients but also with their family members, and other nurses) is vital.  The best nurses, those that change lives for the better, lead through their trusted relationships with those around them.

5.   Leadership is contextual- Nurses are known for being able to adapt to any situation and be successful.  This is hallmark leadership.  The circumstances in which an event occurs are always changing in nursing.  Health is an always changing, fluid creature.  We adapt, we critically think, and because of this, we succeed.

6.   Leadership is about the management of meaning- The management of meaning is defined as "theorizing communication as a process that allows us to create and manage social reality" (Dictionary, 2014) Nurses are always demonstrating our leadership through effective communication.  We are only effective due to our ability to effectively communicate.  What we say and how we say it influences how our patients follow, or whether or not they follow.

7.    Leadership is about balance- Nurses demonstrate leadership through our balance of all the tasks to be performed.  We are advocate, counselor, friend, leader, teacher, so many roles!  We balance all these roles, all our tasks, and through this show leadership defined.

8.    Leadership is about continuous learning and improvement- The medical industry is always changing and improving.  We as nurses demonstrate leadership through our never ending quest for knowledge and our ability to adapt to the newest, most up-to-date, evidence based improvements.

9.   Leadership is about effective decision making- Any nurse will tell you, we always have far more to do than we have time for.  We make a million decisions everyday. Those decisions, based on education, experience and evidence based practice, make us effective leaders in our communities.

10. Leadership is a political process- Nurses demonstrate leadership through making the tough decisions, and making everyone feel good about it.  I honestly believe that nurses are more successful than other professions at this because of our motives.  Our motto to be the patient’s advocate is at the core of what we do.  We want what is best for our patients; this is why we can make the tough calls without (for the most part) offending. (In a perfect world, anyway).

11.Leadership is about modeling- We must practice what we preach!  No patient will take any nurse seriously who is educating about the benefits of quitting smoking, if they themselves smoke.  We live healthy lives. We are effective leaders because of this.

12.Leadership is about integrity- Nurses demonstrate leadership through doing what we say we will do.  “We’ll be back in 5 minutes…” We follow through.  “We’ll bring that med right away…” We follow through.  We are honest, and because of that, we are trusted.