Mentorship in Nursing Leadership: Harnessing the Power of Mentorship

The leadership role in the healthcare system embodies trust, ethics, and competence. Leaders must be emotionally inclined to themselves and their surroundings. To be an effective leader, one must be able to recognize their strengths and weaknesses. This is a reflective essay that identifies leadership competency as it pertains to personal strengths and growth. The goal of this essay is to gain insight through self-reflection so that I can become more competent in the leadership role. It concludes by sharing what I have learned through acknowledging my strengths and areas of opportunity for improvement.

Personal Strengths

Emotional Intelligence and transparency are two strengths that I possess as a leader. According to Lyndon and Pandey (2020), emotional Intelligence has the ability to control one's emotions while being socially aware of motivating others. Emotional Intelligence has allowed me to self-manage so that I can deal with organizational demands. Over the years, I have learned to manage my own emotions, which has allowed me to deal with high-stress situations. I have learned to manage emotions within my staff, making the work environment safer. Transparency is also an area that I feel I have adapted to over the years as a leader. I have found that transparency often leads to trust and a positive work environment. A leader and team need to have a working relationship that leads to effective outcomes. To be transparent is to share the organization's mission, vision, and values along with the leader's expectations. Employees want to feel protected, and it's the leader's responsibility to make them feel safe and secure. Transparency also allows employees to feel empowered and motivated, thus creating structure within the organization. Transparent leaders are compassionate, empathetic, accessible, and honest. These are core values that are needed to build an organization's culture.

Opportunity for Growth

[bookmark: p04_c12_s1_37]Personal growth is vital to the success of a leader. There are many areas that I feel I could improve on as a leader. Conflict resolution and constructive feedback are two leadership competencies that I would like to refine. Unfortunately, I have seen some leaders avoid conflict, which often leads to negative outcomes. According to Lahana, Tsaraa, Kalaitzidou, Galanis, & Sarafis (2019), conflict can be perceived as negative, but it can be used to improve the organization. Conflict should be approached constructively and timely. The idea is not to avoid conflict but to acknowledge it. It is important for a leader to understand that emotions are often involved with conflict. Lahana et al. (2019) emphasize that leaders must compromise and collaborate with staff to problem solve. Conflict often occurs when there is a communication breakdown. The second area of opportunity is to provide constructive feedback to staff. Leaders are often obtunded with tasks which creates a delay in getting feedback to staff. I have found it difficult to communicate feedback timely in some situations. Feedback is essential for staff development and growth. It is important to give positive feedback to build staff confidence. Sometimes staff may hear the negatives more than the positives. It is crucial to deliver constructive feedback so that expectations can be set forth and competencies can be delivered timely.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have found this self-reflection essay to be very beneficial. I have chosen the executive track in hopes of becoming a future leader in healthcare. This essay has allowed me to reflect on my current strengths and to pursue my weaknesses to become an influential leader. I clearly understand the effects that personal leadership competencies have on my future performance as a leader.

References

1. Lahana, E., Tsaras, K., Kalaitzidou, A., Galanis, P., Kaitelidou, D., & Sarafis, P. (2019). Conflict management in public sector nursing. International Journal of Healthcare Management, 12(1), p. 33-39. doi: 10.1080/20479700.2017.1353787
2. Lyndon, S., & Pandey, A. (2020). Emotional Intelligence and shared leadership: The moderating role of task interdependence. Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, 55(3), 519–528. Retrieved from http://www.chamberlainuniversity.idm.oclc.org.

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