If You Dare to Lead, Others Will Follow
Article Outline
This year the Spring Equinox falls on March 20, a date when the sun shines directly on the equator, causing day and night to be almost equal in length all over the world. We can see signs of new life everywhere we look. There is literally more sunlight and more color, as days get longer, trees blossom, and flowers bloom. Energy flows and once again we are reminded of the natural cycle of rebirth. Just as our external environment takes on a new look, so should we. Spring is a perfect time to re-examine our inner selves and become renewed.
Attending the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners' (NAPNAP) Annual Meeting is the perfect opportunity to get re-energized. From ancient times, people everywhere have come together to celebrate the official coming of spring with rituals and traditions to ensure fertility and continued growth. So it is fitting that we hold our Annual Conference each spring to renew our mission and re-affirm our goals. I look forward eagerly to this event, for I know I can count on acquiring new knowledge, refining current skills, renewing old friendships, and meeting new colleagues. This meeting is also an opportunity to see your leaders in action by attending the annual Business Meeting and Town Hall forums. I am especially excited about this year's theme, “Achieving Vision: Pediatric Health Care Beyond the Millennium,” which brings together national leaders in advocacy, clinical practice, research, and policy to share their perspectives.
By definition, all of our members are leaders, because we are advanced practice registered nurses and leadership is a component of our academic preparation.
Leadership skills and competencies figure prominently in Doctorate of Nursing Practice (DNP) programs. “Organizational and Systems Leadership for Quality Improvement and Systems Thinking” is listed as DNP Essential II according to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN, 2006). The National Organization of Nurse Practitioners (NONPF) lists “Leadership” as DNP Competency Area III, specifying three additional competencies and skills integral to leadership in the nurse practitioner role: (a) assumes increasingly complex leadership roles; (b) provides leadership to foster interprofessional collaboration; and (c) demonstrates a leadership style that uses critical and reflective thinking (NONPF, 2006).
Discussions of leaders inevitably include the question, “How do you become a leader?” It has been proposed that some people are born leaders; others believe you can learn to be a leader. Leadership also is viewed in several specific ways, and more views are emerging. Leadership can be defined by identifying traits such as being charismatic or visionary. Sometimes leadership is characterized more by style, as in autocratic, motivational, or transformational. Others define leaders by their actions and achievements. At other times, the situation creates the leader when one “rises to the occasion” or “seizes the moment.” Some leaders are given formal authority by their position; others earn informal authority by their actions. There has to be a goal toward which leaders lead. Sometimes this is a specific, concrete goal; at other times it is a dream or vision.
I think of NAPNAP as a community of leaders in which each member can be a leader at different times and in different ways. The discussion by Kouzes and Posner (2008) of leadership in terms of patterns of practices holds meaning for most NAPNAP members. In their view, leaders engage in challenging the process, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, modeling the way, or encouraging the heart. When thought of in these terms, it becomes evident that leaders can emerge in many ways and for many purposes.
So this spring, take the time to uncover the leadership side of you and brush up on your leadership potential. One useful resource by Northouse (2009) includes several questionnaires that help individuals examine their own leadership strengths and limitations. They are simple, quick, fun, and enlightening tools to help you describe yourself. Then take advantage of one of the many opportunities to demonstrate leadership and make a difference. You can join a local school board, run for office in your local chapter, and be a chairperson in your special interest group or sign on to a task force in an area of interest in your community. You can even volunteer for a position on the National Executive Board! You can lead by role modeling, by action, or by words. Of course, you can come to our 31st Annual Conference to learn more about effective leadership roles and applications of many strategies to achieve desired goals and outcomes. Any of these roles will be challenging and hard work. However, they are also opportunities to make a difference for others and yourself. Being a leader changes you by enriching your life in many ways.
Be re-energized! Whether you are young or old or in the beginning, middle, or end of your career, there is still time to make a difference. If you think you are too young, you are not. If you think you are too old and have let time pass you by, think again. What every organization needs is a mix of young and old, novice and expert leaders at the helm.
Tennyson (1973) eloquently speaks for a well-known mythical leader, Ulysses:
So come, my friends
Tis not too late to seek a newer world….
Renewed by time and fate, still strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.
The energy and resilience of youth and the perseverance and wisdom of age result in an unbeatable team of leaders that can propel NAPNAP forward on an exciting course as we continue to improve the quality of life for all children and families.
So do not ask yourself if you can be a leader, because as an advanced practice nurse, you already are a leader. Instead, ask yourself what kind of leader you can be and where you can best lead. Trust me, if you dare to lead, others will follow!
Enjoy the spring. I look forward to greeting you in person at our Annual Conference.
References
- American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2006). The essentials of doctoral education for advanced nursing practice. Retrieved from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/DNP/pdf/Essentials.pdf
- Kouzes, J.M., & Posner, B.Z. (2008). The leadership challenge (4th ed.). Retrieved from http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/WileyCDA/
- National Organization of Nurse Practitioners. (2006). Practice doctorate nurse practitioner entry-level competencies. Retrieved from http://www.nonpf.com/associations/10789/files/DNP%20NP%20competenciesApril2006.pdf
- . Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications; 2009;
- . Ulysses. In: Trilling L, Bloom H editor. Victorian prose and poetry. New York, NY: Oxford, England, and Toronto, Canada: Oxford; 1973;p. 416–418
Conflict of interest: None to report.
PII: S0891-5245(09)00358-7
doi:10.1016/j.pedhc.2009.11.005
