Nurse leadership is a topic that is a bit mysterious. How do you engage, encourage, communicate with, and motivate your staff to do what needs to be done? There is no shortage of theories that describe leadership styles.
As an Executive Coach working with scores of professionals, I found that regardless of the theoretical style, the leader has to develop their own internal landscape in order to implement it. Emotional intelligence and resilience are skill sets that, when developed, provide advantages for nurse leaders. These help set them apart as effective and dynamic leaders.
In Part 7 of the Resilience series, we are going to review the 5 skill sets that set successful leaders apart.
EQ or emotional intelligence is a set of skills that influences the leader’s ability to handle demands and pressures on and off the job. A nurse leader certainly experiences plenty of pressure and demands, making emotional intelligence a skill set worthy of development.
The EQi 2.0 is an assessment tool widely used to measure emotional intelligence. It is based on 16 subscales, including the 5 skill sets that have been found to identify successful leadership. As such, we are going to briefly describe those 5—namely Independence, Assertiveness, Optimism, Self-Actualization, and Self-Regard—plus their contributions to leadership.
- IndependenceThis skill set reflects the ability to gather all the needed information, think for yourself, and make decisions when necessary. However, it can be tricky because with too much independence, you are not likely to seek out thoughts and ideas from others. With too little, you may rely too much on what other people think.
Where do you fall in this area?
- AssertivenessHow well do you articulate your ideas to one another? Do you do so with confidence and clarity? Very often, leaders err on the side of too little assertiveness for fear of being aggressive. And they are actually 2 different behaviors rather than being at different ends of the spectrum.
Aggressiveness is using force or coercion to get your point across. There is no interest in listening to or understanding another point of view. It is different from assertiveness, which you need so that your direction and guidance can be clearly understood.
Are you able to actively listen to another with the intention of understanding rather than forcing your views on other?
- OptimismAn optimistic leader has hopeful expectations for the future and embraces challenges. It is more than simply being positive in that leaders understand difficulty occurs, and at times, even failure. However, these challenges are not seen as permanent nor do they personalize them. Optimism builds resilience.
Do you embrace challenges or fear them?
- Self-ActualizationYou may remember Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with self-actualization at the top. This skill is your ability to set meaningful goals and work toward them. Other people describe self-actualization as your ability to not just do what you love; rather, you should love what you do. Are you able to bring passion and enjoyment into your life, on and off the nursing job?
Do you enjoy going back to work as much as you enjoy your time off?
- Self-RegardIn the previous article, we have talked about your ability to measure and define your strengths as well as your weaknesses. Self-acceptance can be a tough balancing act for many. Do you recognize what you do well and what you need improvement in, without feeling like you have to hide or cover your weaknesses? Shame sets in a range of negative behaviors that sabotage and paralyze you.