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I currently manage a supported living team and have been in management posts since January 2018. My strengths as a leader are communication including being a good listener and in particular responding to people “in the moment”, building relationships with the staff team and being trustworthy. I am also ambitious.

In terms of areas to develop I considered a leader from a previous position, considering this the areas that I need to continue to work on are being more resilient and responsive, especially when emails are involved. Having more confidence on what to and when to delegate and to be able to appear calm even in the more stressful situations.

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Hi

its the not want to be led mind set and adverse to change  the usual kind of things  - also its not a total of 112k its 157k as of yesterday!

thanks Caroline

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Hi All,

I currently work at SHU as a lecturer in MH nursing, as a relative newbie my management responsibilities are fairly mild. However in a former life I have worked as a ward manager in the NHS.
At my best at this I was able to work collaboratively with my colleagues to get them involved in problem solving and was able to role model the correct attitudes and approaches to complex care situations. Within this I also was able to focus on developing a narrative or understanding of complex organisational situations (ones beset by dry bureaucratic concerns) and make it relevant to the clinical staff. I very much believed in leading from the front, (I was a much younger man then).  A key factor here was that of aiming towards being calm and unflappable and clearly interested in "the work."
I can cheerfully get my nose to the grindstone and work through challenging and difficult stuff in a calm methodical manner. I might be praising myself a little too highly if I were to call it "grit."

My current key strength in terms of managing my students is that of enthusiasm, however this is a job that I'm entirely enthusiastic about so it comes easily.

I put a lot of stock in kindness, integrity and civility in leadership and management.

In truth I'm more interested in the academic nature of this module ( the Grint article was brilliant) than in being a brilliant leader myself. I'm not particularly ambitious, I'm phlegmatic by nature, pragmatic in my worldview and generally a big fan of the Stoics.

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Hi Ciara,
Thanks for your question.  Regarding innovations, a recent example was looking at how we use our cool bedrooms - special bedrooms that allow us to care for children after they've died, giving families a chance to spend time with their child's body before their funeral.  They are normally used only by children who received palliative care, however I recently extended the use of ours to include children who have donated organs.  These children were not known to the hospice before hand, but the families were offered such little bereavement support, so we stepped in to fill the gap.  We're the only hospice we know of who offer this care routinely.

The new service required many leadership skills: communication (making the case, sharing the vision, validating and responding to concerns), perseverance, resilience and collaboration - both within our team and the services who would refer to us.

Michael

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Hi Caroline,

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.  I can identify with your comments around communication and being a team player.  I wonder if your approach to leadership had changed from being a hospital-based to a community nurse.  And WOW - it certainly sounds like change is ahead... that's quite a population you're serving! What are the biggest challenges you're facing?

I've enjoyed reading pen portraits, and see that many of us consider communication as central to leadership.  One of the criticisms I hear about 'management' is always that communcatuon could be better.  I wonder if the teams we all work with would agree with our thoughts on being good communicators?

Michael

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I can totally relate to your outlook and job role and like you enjoy leadership take it seriously and like the elements of self development.
I found it a positive read .

I am very new to Padlet too as well as Msc study and writing!

I have found everyone's over view very interesting and very diverse

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Hello everyone!
Like all of you I am looking forward to this module sharing experience and gaining new ones.

I am a nurse Practitioner / presrcriber working in Primary Care in a NHS practice. I Have previously worked in the hospital setting and did so for 18yrs leaving 5 years ago for a change to Primary care.
I have been in leadership roles within the hospital and have recently been promoted to lead nurse in my practice.

My skills- I am a good communicator, fair and honest with my team and also a team player .

Our practice is currently going through a huge amount of change as we have recently merged with about 13 other practices across the East of England to form a super  practice - locally our population is 14k but across site we are about 112k patients!
So with this comes change , so currently in a new role and leading through change which is difficult and VERY challenging .

I am very interested in how as leader this can be managed and any strategies that can help also.

Inspirations- hmmm not sure on that but will see as the course progresses

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Hello all,

I am currently a radiographer working in CT Unit of the main general hospital. I'm in my second year in the MSc Diagnostic Imaging course and I have finished my BSc a year and a half ago. I did not have a lot of opportunities to lead at the workplace since I haven't been working for long.

This is the first module I am doing on leadership and look forward to improve my knowledge and skills. I believe that my qualities and strengths within this area include being hard working, attentive to detail, and optimistic. These are very important for good leadership as one might encounter different difficult scenarios. However, I believe I can further improve my communication skills.

A person who inspires me is our team lead within my workplace. He is always very calm and ready to listen to our opinions and concerns.

Carlene

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I really enjoyed your outlook on leadership as not being an isolated domain within your job but an integral part of all the others.  I also see that you mention you take calculated risks and like to be innovative in your approach to leadership.  Can you give any examples of innovations that you have used?
I have really enjoyed reading everyones Pen portraits and noting that so many people associate part of leadership being the development of others and focusing on the benefit to the team the patient and the organisation.

Ciara

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Hi everyone, Like you all, I am looking forward to this module and sharing and learning.

Portrait of myself as a leader.

Strengths:

I am hard working, ambitious and driven and that helps me to motivate my colleagues and team.

I am optimistic and like to think of challenges as opportunities.

I connect well with people, irrespective of their professional background and have been able to make productive working relationships both within and outside the organization.

Weakness:

Need to get even better with time management and better communication.

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Hello Everyone. I am currently a practicing radiation therapist who is highly motivated to pursue advanced practice roles within my profession. This is the second course I have taken towards my MSc, and I am optimist to develop my leadership knowledge. I envision a good leader consistently demonstrates characteristics including confidence, compassion, advanced clinical skills, critical thinker, and is seen as a resource for staff.

What I consider my existing leadership gifts to be include my high level of taking initiative by asking questions and seeking out answers, I am a fast learner, critical thinker and passionate teacher in the clinical setting, I have comprehensive technical and clinical experience and exceptional interpersonal skills. Of these skills I am most interested in asking questions and seeking out answers through scientific research and clinically proven evidence.

I tend to have positive relationships amongst friends and family, colleagues, groups, and society. The core foundations of a strong relationship include trust, honestly, commitment, and respect. I believe these are the key factors that contribute to a strong relationship and adapting these traits into the work environment is critical. As a leader it is important to have positive relationships with your team. I typically feel confident and comfortable in group settings, and typically speak up in meetings. I am not shy to offer opinions, advice, and question technical problems or processes in a professional and constructive manner. However, I am typically more relaxed in settings with people I know, opposed to group settings that involve people I do not have relationships with.

The talents I still need to continue to develop include being an effective listener and knowing how to delegate tasks. I would also like to further develop my communication skills towards colleagues and leadership staff.

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Pen Portrait  Amanda Kelly Therapeutic Radiographer 

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Pen Portrait  Amanda Kelly Therapeutic Radiographer 

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Hello all,

This is the first step I have taken academically with regards to leadership. Recent completion of MSc modules has extended my scope of practice in the workplace. I have learnt from these that instead of specialising in one specific patient type, I feel my qualities are better suited teaching and leading change whilst mirco-managing ‘the ground floor’ radiotherapy department.

On an average day as a front-line member of the NHS I feel the leadership qualities I poses aid the safe and timely delivery of treatment. At work I am a motivational team player which encourages a high staff engagement this linked with my own self-awareness allows for delegation of tasks which is a desirable skill in my current team leader job role, I feel my peers know I would not ask anything of them I would not be willing to do myself. Being respectful in this way reduces conflict whilst increasing morale in the team. Being a good listener allows me to show compassion and empathy towards patients and staff this helps to manage expectations, especially for patients when machines are delayed, and patients have not followed specific protocols. I am honest and poses the humility to hold my hand up if I have made a mistake, but I will also ask for help and support from those who have more knowledge.

Taking the Jung personality test my report describes my personality as an ESPF. I can resonate with these results and feel how I describe myself as a leader shows these characteristics.

Areas requiring improvement; pursuing innovation, helping other identify their strengths and utilising these within the team and conflict management.

Leaders who inspire me; Band 8 in my workplace being a great listener but always knowing the right question to ask, acknowledging other points of view but understanding what impact this will have on the patient pathway.

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A portrait of myself as a leader.

I believe that my good qualities as a leader mainly surround my trait as a task and finisher.  If my team has a task to fulfil I like to keep everything on tract to get the job done in a timely fashion. For example, setting a target date for task completion at the outset, with regular updates along the way on how things are progressing. I have high standards and value efficiency. For that reason delegation can be difficult for me unless I am confident the team member can fulfil the task to my preferred standard. Therefore I need to develop the ability to delegate more as this increases my workload. I recognise I attempt to play an unobtrusive supporting role when delegating tasks, so my help and advice can be accessed but also so that the door is open for me to give input if I feel the desired standard has not been attained.

I feel my communication skills are utilised to effect in leadership.  I give constructive criticism in attempts to motivate and employ open questioning techniques for the team member to try to find their own solution to a problem. If a team member contributes their own ideas, they are more likely to feel involved and valued. This can translate into them ‘buying in’ to the task and motivational in working towards task completion.

As a leader I aim always to respect for other people’s feelings. I think this is why I always try to avoid any type of conflict. However I recognise that this is sometimes unavoidable. My tactic in situations of potential conflict is always to remain calm and provide reasoned argument whilst demonstrating active listening and acknowledging respect for their viewpoint.

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Hi Michael, great to read your pen portrait, it comes across that you are well suited to your job role and seem very happy working at the hospice. Like yourself I feel people management and encouraging change in those who don’t particularly want to move forward is the most difficult aspect of leadership. Have you had to deal with much conflict in your workplace? How have you dealt with this previously?

Amanda

Also new to these padlets couldn’t find a way to directly link to one individuals pen portrait, sorry.

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H everyone, I’m looking forward to this module, and sharing thoughts and experiences over the next few weeks.

Leadership is an integral part of my role as a consultant nurse in children’s palliative care.  ‘on paper’ my role has four domains: clinical practice, education, research and leadership.  I prefer to think of it as having three, with leadership being inseparable from the other parts.

I enjoy leadership, and take the responsibility very seriously. I have always enjoyed working with people, and think that nursing and leadership feel like a good fit for me.  Being present, alongside the team is really important to me.  I enjoy development – of myself and others, particularly when I can help someone realise their potential.   In recent years, I have become better a delegating responsibilities. I'm not someone that always needs to be in charge, and am happy to let others take a lead. I'm comfortable with taking calculated risks too, enjoying innovation and not always following the status quo.

I directly line manage the clinical nurse specialists (x3) and practice educators (x2), performing appraisals and regular 1:1 support, which I enjoy.  As the head of nursing in the hospice, I provide nursing leadership across the care team, within the hospice and community services.  I enjoy innovation and ‘thinking big’, taking our strategy and working with the team to develop operational responses. I’d say I take a transformational approach to leadership – keen to bring the team along with me, though clear communication and creating a sense of shared ownership.

Not thought about ‘leadership gifts’ before, but I’d probably say communication, and emotional intelligence help me most as a leader.  I am a good reader of people and skilled at acknowledging and validating feelings, whilst at the same time being an effective communicator.  In terms of where I need to develop, I’d probably say ‘management’, leading people who simply don’t want to be led.  While I don’t think this is ever something I’ll enjoy doing, I know I could be better at it.

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I agree that student participation is key. Rather than command, good leaders should guide students to explore and identify their own learning, problem-solving and solution planning.

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As a clinical educator, being an effective leader is extremely important as a large part of my role is to motivate students to develop their knowledge, skills and attitudes in order to advance their clinical practice.

On reflection, I think situational leadership is the model which I employ the most in my own practice as I have to evaluate individual’s readiness to complete specific tasks and adapt my own leadership behaviours according to their readiness.

To support students in setting goals and guide them in developing action plans to achieve them, I listen to them and ask questions that focus on the student, encouraging them to actively participant in goal setting and planning processes and harness their own creativity. Therefore in most situations my approach to situational leadership focuses on student participation rather than trying to ‘sell’ a goal or change in practice to them or telling them what they need to do. I feel this approach to leadership is very important when working with adult learners.

I believe that coaching can be an important component of effective leadership and try to adopt this approach as much as possible in my own practice.  By listening to, and questioning, students, and offering input if needed, I have found that students gain insight into their current performance and this helps them move forward in their personal growth and development.

Whilst I feel confident in my communication and coaching skills, I would like to focus on becoming a transformational leader as I think this approach would help me support staff in achieving ‘higher’ goals that not only relate to their own practice but would also align with organizational goals and strategies.

I would also like to become a more innovative leader, taking risks of using new approaches, for example exploring how to use technology to achieve success.

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I feel that effective leadership demands a responsibility to ensure it is collaborative, and thus I aim to be actively engaged alongside my colleagues rather than being an ‘armchair commander’ who relies upon delegation. I take great measures to be constantly available; this allows me to be expedient in my responses to patient’s and colleagues needs, yet this means that I equally expect this of my colleagues. In this sense my leadership could be seen as utilising a hands-off, laissez-faire approach; I respect and trust that my colleagues are competent in their roles and so I leave them. I ensure that any colleagues are aware of my ad-hoc approach, and that they can collaborate with me as necessary. Seen as an ideal leadership style for healthcare, I have taken a particular interest in transformational leadership. Certain aspects of my leadership style involve the key theories of transformational leadership, namely ensuring motivation through collectively working and challenging colleagues to take responsibility for their actions in achieving aims.

Currently on the acute ward, colleagues’ morale can be described as ‘compromised’ due to lower levels of staff, higher work-loads and increasing numbers of patients requiring complex needs. In order to accommodate these more complex and difficult working conditions, I need to determine whether my leadership can be adapted to improve my own and my colleagues’ morale. I have never felt inspired to ape other leader’s talents, nor to aspire to be like a great historical figure, as I believe that any leader has individual characteristics that enhance and improve his leadership style. As such, it is imperative that any leader identifies strengths and weaknesses, which often requires a social influence to achieve; i.e. feedback from colleagues and through reflection. As such, I must work upon these weaknesses:

1.    A more consistent approach to my leadership; achieved by incorporating the transformational idea of connecting followers’ sense of identity, rather than a laissez-faire approach where individuals think individually

2.    Ensuring greater collaboration between leader – followers

3.    Rather than be constantly involved, learn when to appropriately delegate