[Sharon]

Pick one of the Leadership characteristics in the chapter you read above that you feel is the most important in a leader. Describe a personal situation about yourself or a leader that supports why you feel that characteristic is the most important.

[Emma]

Dependable: I believe that a leader should always be dependable. This characteristic promotes a trusting relationship between and peer and a leader. I work in LTC and am a floor RPN, supervising unregulated care providers to ensure all my residents get all the required care and treatments. I am often told that they can rely on me, or that I am dependable. They say whenever they need help with something or have concerns about a residents health status that they know if they reach out to me that I will follow up and and follow though. They state they know their shift will be smoother when I’m working as they feel supported and heard. A big part of healthcare is teamwork, to have effective teamwork you need to be dependable and be able to depend on others.

[Elena]

Thank you for your post. I agree that being dependable is very important for a leader. In healthcare, staff need to trust their leader and feel comfortable asking for help. A dependable leader also helps create a positive work environment and good teamwork. When team members can count on each other, communication is better and patients receive better care.I believe teamwork is very important in our job. I see a leader as someone who supports and helps others do their best. When a leader is dependable, team members feel supported and trusted, which helps them grow and develop their skills.

[Mark]

Communication: A good leader should always have the ability to communicate. This is a building block that can establish trust and work towards a positive outcome. In my current role it is extremely valuable to have communication with both the care team and the patient to ensure a smooth transition home, with a good plan in place to ensure a successful outcome. The patient can feel vulnerable and fearful especially when going home after a traumatic event that brought him into hospital. They need to have a sense of security that everything that was explained to them is accurate. You need to communicate in such a way that you are confident that everyone involved in your plan has a good understanding of your care vision.

[Emma]

There are so many character traits that are so important to making a great leader it is very hard to pick one. I agree that communication is also a very important trait for a leader. I have recently taken a course called “Crucial Conversations” that is a course that helps give you tools to have high stake conversation with productive outcomes. Rather than a conversation turning into a disagreement if helps you set up the conversation for a productive outcome while keeping the conversation under control. I feel that this is a great resource to help build up this trait for a great leader as we often communicate with all levels; family’s, doctors, co-workers, pharmacies, clinics, hospitals etc.. Also shows that a great leader can continue to build their character traits with on going educations.

[Chad]

Mark you are 💯 percent correct communication is very important.

When you think of a great communicator, what comes to mind?

For me the first thing is a picture of a great orator, giving a grand speech.

But, that’s only half of communication.
Active Listening is 50 percent of all communication. It’s not just the message it is how well it’s perceived and received. Every conversation is 2 way street. I just wanted add that listening is an important half of communication.
Another important thing in communication is congruence. Saying the right things and following up with the actions.
And lastly the non verbal aspect of communication is important to understand and use effectively.

[Jessica]

I agree that communication is one of the most important leadership characteristics, especially in healthcare. I like how you highlighted the importance of building trust and ensuring everyone involved in the patient’s care understands the plan. Patients can feel anxious and vulnerable when transitioning home after a traumatic event, so clear communication can help them feel safe and confident. In my experience, communication between the healthcare team and the patient is essential to ensure everyone is on the same page and understands the next steps. A good leader listens, provides clear instructions, and encourages questions to help prevent misunderstandings and promote positive patient outcomes.
Jessica

[Elena]

I believe that being cooperative is an important quality for a leader. A cooperative leader works well with others, listens to their ideas, shares responsibilities, and helps the team reach a common goal. In healthcare, this means listening to nurses, patients, and other healthcare workers, encouraging teamwork and good communication, respecting different opinions, and helping colleagues when they need support. It also means working together to solve problems instead of making decisions alone.
In my experience, people have often told me that I am easy to work with. When I worked in Hospice, I often helped PSWs and other colleagues during my shifts. I believe teamwork is very important in healthcare because we all work together to meet patients’ needs and provide good care. I also enjoy working with people from different professions and backgrounds because I can learn from them and share my own experience.

[Dayna]

Thank you for your post. I agree that being cooperative is a great quality. Working as a nurse in a team, there is always compromise, team work and collaboration. It is best that everyone listens to one another to ensure great work balance and productivity.

[Katherine]

true I agree that communication is fundimental part of being an effective leader. You can look at some of the greatest leaders of our time John F Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Winstin Churchill. Great communicators who were also at time were great leaders.

[Nadia]

Tolerant to stress
I believe a leader should be able to have tolerance to stress. This will create a calm work environment . For example, when I worked as a PSW there was a lot of horizontal bullying in the workplace. However, when a staff would make a report to their supervisor she always would say I am to stress for this and need to get to my client. she never took note of what was happening among the staff. Until one day a staff and another staff became verbally abusive to each other in the nursing station. Even then the supervisor got another supervisor and a manager to deal with the matter since she stated she was too stressed to deal with it. As time moves no one wanted to report any thing to that particular supervisor since they believe there will be no advocacy. This made me realize a leader should be able to have tolerance to stress to gain the confidence or trust of their team.

[Chad]

I agree stress managment or tolerance is a great skill for all healthcare workers. Many companies in interview process ask applicants if they have strategies for dealing with stress.

[Chad]

I believe a powerful leader will have humility. A humble leader knows his/her limitation, strengths and weaknesses. A Humble leader will seek the teams input and knowledge . This approach creates a positive effective work environment. The team feels important , heard and involved.

An example is a nurse leader také a new position as law supervisor in homecare sectors the nurse leader has strong background in management in LTC settings. They recognize they lack knowledge in operations of a homecare agency and seek feedback form staff on improving processes .

[Chad]

Autocorrect changed psw to law. Please in above post change law to PSW.

Thank You

[Jennifer]

Hi Chad,
I genuinely agree that humility is an integral characteristic of leadership. I doubt there is anyone here who hasn’t experienced what it feels like to be made to feel small. In my experience, feeling seen and heard creates a much greater community. People want to come to work and provide better care.
Healthcare providers are in a position of power. Having humility towards our clients is equally important and reaffirms that we are all people.

Excellent choice:-)

[Dayna]

A powerful leader can have many strong and amazing traits. One that stood out to me the most is: The Ability to Story Tell for the purpose of mentoring.

This trait is very important to me. In the last 20 years of my nursing career, I have had a few leaders/managers that became mentors to me. They had the ability to teach me different strategies of the job by providing scenarios and different experiences to help me understand tasks/situations.
Leaders need to have the ability to adapt to different situations and provide these supports to help others.

This trait has helped me develop in my role. I find myself now using story telling as a skill to help train, support and teach my staff. I have found this to be an effective tool/trait.

[Jennifer]

I feel that having integrity may be the most important characteristic in leadership. Some key aspects of having integrity include honesty, consistency, accountability, loyal, ethics, and being trustworthy. When I see these qualities in an individual, I feel like I really want to lean in. I am more open to ideas and have greater desire to be a follower.

Being a mother and working in paediatrics has provided me the privilege of interacting with plenty of children. Children have a very keen sense when it comes to integrity. Children are like little integrity meters – always asking why and remembering exactly what you said, did, or promised to do. I have had my share of experiences where a child has called me out for saying or doing something where my perspective differed from theirs. For example, they might say, “You said that medicine would taste good, but it didn’t,” or “You said that wouldn’t hurt.” These little people have inspired me to constantly strive to work and live with integrity. Trust is fundamental for a successful nurse-client therapeutic relationship.

[Chad]

Jeniffer, I 💯 percent agree.
Integrity is a key pillar in Leadership.
It builds trust.

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[Karolina]

Knowledgable about group tasks means a lot to me as a leader and manager. I sometimes deal with managers that never than my job as a unit nurse or supervisor. I don’t think they understand my job or difficulties I deal with.

[Chad]

Katrina, yes to this.
A Good leader should familiar themselves with the ins ann outs of the different roles.

A Leader does not necessary mean they have a position of authority. Anyone can be a leader.

An example form experience. I work for a homecare company as a visiting nurse. I have lots of experience with different treatments and dealing with Ontario Health at Home. Many of the new employees will come to me and ask for advice or guidance. I’m not the manager or nurse educator. This signals to me that I am a peer leader. I have no official authority or position of power.

[Karolina]

Hi Chad, exactly what you said. Everybody can be a leader. I know my staff and their skills. I often brainstorm with more experience PSWs with a great set of skills to find a solution and deliver best care possible to our LTC residents. Also I ask more experience nurses for advise before I ask my managers.

[Sarina]

Karolina, I agree! Knowing your team, recognizing and utilizing the skills, strengths and experience the whole team has to offer is so important. I work with PSW’s who have been doing the job as long as I’ve been alive and they get to know the residents really well, it would be a terrible waste not to tap into all that knowledge and experience!

[Sarina]

For me, Adaptability is an incredibly important aspect of leadership. Recognizing that every situation is different, every person is different and it’s never a “one size fits all” situation. All of these traits and skills are important but knowing when and where to utilize them and adapting your approach to the specific scenario is what I think really make them effective.
In my current role I provide a lot of staff education, adapting my approach to better promote staff buy-in can be a challenge on a busy unit with many different personalities working together.

[Leona]

Being ambitious as a leader in communication is incredibly vital to myself and my co-workers around me becaue it helps us create goals for exceptional patient care within the workplace and a great experience. This is not just for me, but for my fellow nurses. Without ambition, goals would not be reached as quickly or even created for us to achieve.

[Katherine]

I think having integrity and trustworthiness are crucial with leading. especially in health care you need to have your team trust you and have great integrity ignorer to lead a team effectively. If there is no trust when leading a team, the team become lost and so does the integrity of the team.

[Jessica]

I believe communication is one of the most important characteristics of a good leader. Effective communication helps build trust, prevent misunderstandings, and ensure that everyone understands their roles and responsibilities. A leader who communicates well also listens to others and makes people feel valued and respected.

In my experience working in a healthcare setting, communication is essential when caring for patients and working with other healthcare professionals. For example, when a patient comes to the clinic with a concern, it is important to listen carefully, ask questions, and explain information clearly so the patient understands their care plan. Good communication also helps ensure that important information is shared with the healthcare team and that patients receive appropriate care. This situation has shown me that communication is important because it promotes teamwork, builds trust, and helps prevent errors. I believe a good leader should lead by example, communicate openly, and make sure everyone feels comfortable asking questions and sharing concerns

[Author]

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