I recently had a former student talk with me about the challenges that she was having with her career.  I asked her why she thought things were not moving in the direction that she wanted them to.  Initially, she began blaming others for what was happening but ended up acknowledging that she self-sabotaged some of her career opportunities.  The reality was that she had failed to move on some important opportunities because of crises in her personal life – some of which were a result of her own doing.  Her personal journey is not unusual.  We often observe staff with high potential who can’t get out of their own way to move to higher career success.  They choose to either blame others or environmental circumstances for what is happening to them when often their own behaviors are self-defeating.  Getting one’s career back on track  can be challenging but it is very doable and here are key actions to take:

1.  Take Responsibility for Your Past Behaviors and Actions

Admitting self-defeating behaviors is an important first step.  Blaming others for what happens to you is an unattractive and unproductive personal trait.  If you have been the type of person who has waited on the sidelines and expected others to recognize your abilities and reward you for them – admit it.  It is true that life can be very unfair but our much of our situation is within our control.  Career success is really not built on  big milestones but rather the countless decisions that we make each day on how we react to situations and how we use our time.  We do need to realize that we are in control of our own destiny.  Establishing our personal priorities and sticking to them is important.

2.  Demonstrate Confidence

Lack of confidence plays an important role in self-defeating behaviors.  All of us battle our own share of insecurities but we can make the decision to be confident and act confident in spite of them.  You will build confidence through preparation and decision willingness in the face of uncertainty.  This entails the willingness to be bold even when you may not feel bold.  Sometimes we need to stop analyzing and start acting.  There will always be downsides to any decisions we make.

3.  Be Gracious to Others

What I noticed with my former student is that she now feels she has fallen behind her professional colleagues in where she is in her career.  While to a certain degree this is true, I reminded her that life is a journey not a race.  When you feel lost and overwhelmed, reaching out for help to others and graciously acknowledging their achievements is important.  Revel in the success of others and make it a point to bring others along when you begin to achieve your own success.

4.  Be Grateful for What You do Have

The columnist David Brooks has recently focused on the power of gratitude.  He has noted that many times in life, people are disappointed because they have unreasonable expectations about what will happen.  Learning to temper our expectations and feeling grateful for what we do have can lead to greater happiness.   Having an attitude of gratitude can help to balance out the negative effects of the challenges and stresses.

Getting back on track with one’s career can be challenging but not impossible.  We can often feel very alone in our journey and sometimes hopeless.  I am an avid read of biographies of leaders.   What always amazes me is the level of adversity that most great leaders have overcome to achieve their goals.  What we see in the public eye often obscures a more complex back story of how the leader did have to get out of his/her own way to move forward.  This journey as I told my former student begins with small steps in a different direction.

One of the interesting things that I have learned from my interviews with nurse leaders is that they have little time for reflection in their daily work.  So often when asked a question, the leader will tell me “I never really thought about this before”.  Yet, we know that real learning from our experiences requires reflection.  Until we reflect on situations looking at our own behaviors and actions, we may not develop the new insights needed that might lead us to act differently in the future.  Gaining wisdom from any experience especially the unsuccessful ones takes reflection.

I recently spoke with one of my former graduate students who hastily accepted a new leadership role in her organization that appeared to be a  fast track promotion.  Three months into the role, she realized that she was working for a very toxic leader.  She was extremely upset about her situation. I asked her to reflect for a few days and come back with what she had learned.   After thinking about the whole experience, she identified the following key learnings:

1. She had jumped at an opportunity without really doing the due diligence needed to assess if it was a good fit.
2. She had been flattered that this leader would consider her for this role with very little experience.
3. She had not sought out the guidance of mentors who had been helpful to her in the past.
4. She was naïve in workplace politics and assessing the leadership style of others.

These were significant insights for a young leader on her career journey.  It is important to examine events and ask ourselves how they have shaped the way we see the world, others and ourselves.  The act of reflection can help build our resiliency.  It offers us the opportunity to go back and think through what we would do differently the next time instead of ruminating about the outcomes of our actions.  It is proactive versus reactive thinking.

Some leaders,especially in the early stages of a new role, have found reflective journaling to be helpful.  The act of writing down your ideas can help to clarify thinking.  The Center for Creative Leadership in North Carolina offers some valuable guidance on how to do this.  They recommend using the following format to evaluate experiences that may be shaking your equilibrium.

• The event or experience– describe it as objectively as possible sticking to the facts.  Who was involved? Where did it happen?  When did it happen?
• Your reaction – describe your reaction as factually and objectively as possible.  What did you do?  What were your thoughts?  What were your feelings?
• The lessons – What did you learn from both the event and from your reaction to it?  Did the event suggest a development need that you should address? Do you see a  pattern in your reactions?

Increasingly, we now see reflection being added to leadership competency models.  Your leadership experiences are only as valuable as what you do with them, and this requires reflection.

Recently, a professional colleague was the victim of a power play in her organization that led ultimately led to her having to leave her position.  Understandably, she was quite upset with the situation and felt victimized. My students often tell me that they want to avoid the politics and power in situations, and just do their jobs as leaders.  Yet, that can be challenging to do.

Jeffrey Pfeffer, a nationally known scholar in the area of organizational leadership, studies power.  He has noted that if we believe that life is fair, then we tend to subscribe to a just-world phenomenon.  He contends that this can leave us very unprepared for the realities of organizational life.  Power is a force that can be used not only for individual gain but also for the benefit of the organization.  Findings from Pfeffer’s research with corporate managers indicate that being politically savvy and seeking power are in fact related both to career success and managerial performance.  Despite the role that power plays in organizations, Pfeffer observes that it a topic rarely included in leadership development programs.

Building Your Power Base

From his own research on power and that of others, Pfeffer has identified 7 important qualities needed by leaders to build personal power.  These include:

1. Ambition – a focus on achieving influence and a willingness to work hard if needed to be successful.
2. Energy – is the fuel that allows us to do our work and demonstrate organizational commitment.  Having enough energy also helps us to avoid making costly mistakes because we are tired or stressed.
3. Focus – is developing a deep expertise in areas that leads to outstanding competence.
4. Self-Knowledge – there is no leadership learning without reflection of ways that you could have managed situations differently.
5. Confidence – allows you to seize control in situations and helps to build influence.
6. Empathy with Others – understanding where others are coming can help you to advance your agenda and be an effective negotiator.  You need to become an astute “reader” of the feelings and thoughts of others.
7. Capacity to Tolerate Conflict – the ability to handle difficult conflict and stress-filled situations is an enormous advantage because most people are conflict adverse.

Pfeffer offers some interesting advice for leaders to build power such as:

• Remain vigilant in detecting power plays and be willing to fight back.
• Assess in advance positions/committees/task forces in your organization for the level of power and influence that they have.
• Learn to ask for help or what you want – even when it might be uncomfortable because you just might get it.
• Recognize that likeability is over-rated – leaders sometimes strive to be liked but it will not necessarily lead to influence in an organization.
• Build social capital through an efficient and effective network both inside and outside the organization.
• Act and speak with power and influence even in situations where you may not be confident.
• Work on establishing a positive first impression in your interactions.
• Overcome your hesitancy to self-promote and establish a positive social media image.
• Manage your own reputation carefully.
• Be resilient in overcoming opposition and setbacks.
• Recognize there is a cost to power – you undergo more scrutiny.

Power plays and politics will always be part of organizational life.  You may not like it but it is reality.  Successful nurse leaders learn to navigate it and succeed.  Pfeffer recommends that leaders “seek power as if your life depends on it – because it does.”

Getting ahead in your career can sometimes seem like a challenging journey.  There are few of us that don’t hit bumps or roadblocks.  When this happens, it can be difficult to maintain perspective.  Having a trusted group of colleagues with similar career goals/interests/challenges who work together to help each other can be invaluable.  In business circles, this is sometimes referred to as a Mastermind Group. The concept of the Mastermind Group was formally introduced by Napoleon Hill in the early 1900’s. In his timeless classic, “Think And Grow Rich” he wrote about the Mastermind principle as: “The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony.”

This is a group that meets regularly (at least monthly) outside a work setting and may include colleagues that live locally or even in other geographically in other parts of the country.  The beauty of these Mastermind Groups is that participants raise the bar by challenging each other to create and implement goals, brainstorm ideas, and support each other with total honesty, respect and compassion.  It is like having your own personal advisory board.  Here are five great reasons to form your own Mastermind Group:

1. Mastermind Group Members serve as accountability partners – in high functioning Mastermind groups, members challenge each other to set powerful goals, give input to a plan and then provide the follow-up to make sure it is achieved.  All of us need accountability partners to keep us on track.
2. Mastermind Group Members help us to keep perspective – when we encounter career challenges, it can sometimes be difficult to keep perspective.  In a group with a high level of commitment and confidentiality, members can play the devils advocate with our evaluation of situation, our response and/or see pitfalls that we may not see.
3. Mastermind Groups can provide synergy for our ideas – the ability to brainstorm new ideas in a safe place can be invaluable.  With a mastermind group, you have the benefit of group experience and perspectives that you may not have considered.
4. Mastermind Groups can serve as your resiliency muscle when times get tough – a strong support network who knows you well is key to maintaining resiliency when confronted with serious challenges.
5. Mastermind Groups allow you to have a network outside your own organization – many leaders today work for large health systems and have few professional colleagues outside these organizations.  Yet to gain perspective and move your career to the next level, you need to have a wider network especially if you encounter challenges that force you to leave an organization.

The ideal Mastermind Group has members who have similar career interests and experience.  Because of the group nature, a commitment is required. Members should be highly-motivated people who are willing to ask for — and give — help and support, and are willing to show up for every meeting.  To my knowledge, the concept of Mastermind Groups is not widespread in healthcare and nursing but why not.  There are tremendous benefits to growing as a group and forming close bonds.

We know from research that nurses value transformational leadership.  I have heard nurse leaders describe themselves as being transformational. The interesting thing about transformational leadership is that it is your followers that will define what your leadership style is – not you.   Without evidence, declaring oneself to be transformational is a personal opinion that may or may not be verified by those who work for the leader. Fortunately, there are good questions that you can ask yourself to be sure that you are on the right track.

Transformational leadership theory was first introduced in 1978 by James McGregor Burns. He described it as leadership that occurs when the leader engages with followers in a way that raises their level of performance and motivation. Those influenced by transformational leaders find meaning and value in their work, are able to make significant contributions to their organizations and are more likely to become leaders themselves. There are four key attributes of transformational nurse leaders:
1. The leader serves as a role model and “walks the talks”.
2. They inspire motivation in their followers by having a strong vision about their work.
3. They are concerned about the individual and demonstrate genuine concern for their needs and feelings.
4. The leader challenges and develops the followers to be innovative and creative nurturing independent thinking.

Are You a Transformational Nurse Leader?

Nursing research findings indicate that nurse leaders who use transformational leadership principles create environments that promote higher levels of job satisfaction, well-being and organizational commitment. Wong & Cummings (2009) also found in their work that there were significant associations between transformational leadership practices, increased patient satisfaction and reduced adverse events.
Developing transformational leadership skills requires that nurse leaders be honest and reflective about their current practices. Dr. Ronald Riggio, an expert in leadership development, advises leaders to ask themselves the following key questions to determine whether they demonstrate transformational leader qualities: (Agree or Disagree)

1. I would never require a follower to do something that I would not do myself.
   2. My followers would say they know what I stand for.
   3. Inspiring others has always come easy to me.
   4. My followers would say that I am attentive to their needs and concerns.
   5. My followers have told me that my enthusiasm and positive energy is infectious.
   6. Even though I could easily do a task myself, I delegate it to expand my follower’s skills.
   7. Team creativity and innovation are the keys to success.
   8. I encourage my followers to question their most basic way of thinking.
   You probably were not able to answer yes to each of the above questions. Leadership is a journey of self-development. It is important to turn your areas of weakness around using these statements in situations to ask yourself for example – am I being attentive to the needs and concerns of my team members? An even stronger test would be to ask members of your team how they would rate you on each of the eight statements.