Thank you to all those who attended the Texas Organization of Nurse Executives (TONE) Conference on March 1. This year’s conference, “Strategies to Inspire Nurse Leaders: Designing, Engaging and Responding,” completely lived up to the title and delivered multiple strategies to engage and inspire nursing leaders. From effective communication skills in the pre-conference by Dr. Rene Thompson to our keynote on values-based leadership by Dr. Bob Dent and ending with an energetic self-reflection by Libby Spears, we were truly inspired by tactics and ideas to improve our personal performance.

 

In a recent conversation with my Chief Nursing Officer, he mentioned the differences between coaches and cheerleaders. We were discussing leadership candidates and the importance of the coach. In an analogy of sports teams and the 2 roles they play, he described the characteristics of leaders in the coaches and cheerleaders. He mentioned how good leaders exemplify good coaches.

 

I started reflecting on my own personal leadership and about who I hire into leadership roles. In an article by Patrick Fiorenza (2014), he discusses 3 characteristics of good leaders. He stated that if managers want to become better leaders, they should view their roles in these 3 domains: the critic, the cheerleader, and the coach. Each one represents an important aspect of good leadership.

By Renee Thompson, DNP, RN, CMSRN, CSP, CEO and founder of the Healthy Workforce Institute

What do you do if you’re a healthcare executive and your recent turnover data indicates a bullying and incivility problem? Do you sigh and say, “Well. That’s just the way it’s always been?” Do you call a mandatory meeting with your leaders and tell them to “fix this problem” or else?

Perhaps you know you have a problem but don’t know where to start, so you do nothing or worse, bring everyone together for one workshop on bullying and incivility (check).