Take a few minutes to reflect on the team of people that you work with: how many people are in your team? Does the team comprise only nurses or do you count allied health professionals, ward assistants, domestics and ancillary staff as team members? Is the nurse with the most experience the person in charge? Do different people have different responsibilities? Who is managerially responsible for the team? Who do people go to when they need clinical advice or support? Is the manager also the leader?
The leadership–management overlap
I hope that as you begin to reflect on these questions, you will appreciate the complexities of team working and team leadership. If you again reflect on your own team and the leadership and managerial roles that people play, you will realise that there is no clear distinction between management and leadership as a number of functions overlap. Although some managers are also good leaders, many are not; other people may have good leadership qualities, but poor management skills. If you have worked in different clinical areas you will have experiences of the various ways in which leadership and management roles overlap and at times combine. Although acknowledgment of this overlap is important, the distinction between leadership and management is often overlooked and poorly understood. This article will explore the qualities that enhance leadership. Part four in the series will identify the skills of management; the difference between qualities and skills is a subtle but important distinction.
Leadership qualities
Some years ago, I was interviewing a number of clinical nurses as part of a research study looking at supervision skills; one nurse told me that her ward sister was an excellent leader and I asked if she could give me an example to support her statement. The example she gave remains firmly fixed in my memory. The nurse said that she and her colleagues had been on night duty on an acute medical ward and it had been extremely busy with complex and difficult patients; the next evening when she came back on duty there was a small card in her pigeon hole from the ward sister saying thank you for her hard work and excellent standards during that previous shift. That small gesture demonstrated qualities of leadership from the ward sister; she recognised the nurse had worked above and beyond ‘normal’ routines, she recognised that the nurse was drained at the end of the shift and she took time not only to say thank you, but to express it in a tangible way. How many times in your nursing career have you worked a shift similar to that of the nurse on night duty? How many times have efforts been first, recognised, and second, appreciated in any tangible way?
Identifying leadership qualities
Whereas management skills can be identified and taught, leadership qualities are more individualist, often building on the characteristics of the person. Some leaders might have quite a dominant style of leadership, while others have a style that builds on mentorship and encouragement, some leaders may be visionary, others more pragmatic. There is no simple formula for leadership that is right for all. Think about the different types of leaders you have worked for; while you will be able to recognise common themes between them, you will also be able to identify many differences as well. Try and think of some of the qualities you have observed in others. Here are some that I have witnessed in people that I have admired as leaders. They:
- Lead by example
- Encourage and support growth in others
- Are positive people
- Have ideas and communicate them to others
- Value other people
- Give constructive feedback.
Developing leadership qualities
Take some time to reflect on your own leadership qualities. Then reflect on others in leadership roles: what qualities do they have and how do they put them into action in the world of clinical practice? Once you have begun to acknowledge your leadership strengths, and we all have some, make a conscious effort to build on them. If you can recognise different qualities in others that you feel would fit into your own way of working, then try to emulate aspects of these different qualities. Leadership is not the sole domain of the person in charge of the ward or unit; each team member can take on a leadership role for different aspects of clinical, educational and even managerial functions.
Somewhat sadly, in nursing we develop posts and promote people, giving them larger salaries to become managers; roles that have little time for either clinical practice or clinical leadership. This is unlike our medical colleagues, who have managed to keep a consultant role that combines management, clinical practice and leadership. Although management is important within nursing and health services, nursing leadership and nurse leaders are essential.