Part 3: Leadership Is a Team Effort

“Lead, follow, or get out of the way” sounds pejorative—even arrogant—but it ultimately speaks truth about most situations involving a team. A leader must know, or at least sense, the right action to take at any given moment; sometimes that action entails yielding leadership to another team member. So let’s break down this quote to identify the functional behavioral requirements of leadership.

Northouse presents the notion that leadership is a relationship or process of collaboration in which each team member is needed. The leader should be cognizant of each member’s interests, ideas, passions, attitudes, and motivations.¹

As a leader, you must reflect on all of your output. This includes how you relate to those you lead; how you collaborate with and affect the actions of your teammates; and how you communicate the process and influence a team toward a goal—which is crucial to the entire team’s success. Allow me to illustrate these core principles.

Relating
Early in the NP movement, it was necessary to develop a collective vision for the profession’s future. What was the purpose of an NP? What could we add to the existing health care landscape? The founders and early proponents of our profession, recognizing that there was power in numbers and strength in collaboration, identified a mission: Provide health care services for those who were underserved. Working as a group, NPs leveraged strength in numbers, creating a more efficient way to move forward and achieve that mission.² In those early NP pioneers, I recognize the leadership skills—ability to engage individuals and coordinate activities to move an agenda forward—that are key components of any relationship.

Collaborating
Later, in 1984, a small group of like-minded NPs (of which I was one) joined together to investigate the possibility of a starting an organization dedicated to NPs. As a profession, we were woefully underrepresented nationally. Our role was not fully understood, especially by legislators, and there were laws in place that impeded patients’ access to care by NPs. The existing nursing organizations were in no position to dedicate their resources to represent us professionally or politically.

Several colleagues and I were willing to take a risk to move our profession forward, even if it meant alienating other NPs. Each of us was able to work autonomously, as well as in a team, and we all viewed adversity as an opportunity. This gave us the impetus and motivation to carry out the footwork needed to achieve our goal. These skills—determination, energy, persistence—are essential for anyone looking to start a business or get involved in an organization.

Maybe when my colleagues and I formed the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), we weren’t all leaders … but our relationship consisted of the passion and collective vision needed to work together and achieve. We knew we had to build on each other’s strengths and remain open and respectful of each other’s ideas. We believed we had nothing to lose and everything to gain and—honestly—we succeeded on all fronts!

Continue to: Influencing

Influencing
One success story happened in 1988 when Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act—the Nurse Education Act—was under review. New provisions in the bill included specific penalties for NPs and nurses if they defaulted on their student loans—penalties that did not apply to other health care professionals. My colleagues and I were outraged! Like many others, I had such a loan, which had allowed me to pursue my dream of becoming an NP.

The AANP got the word out, and we bombarded our legislators’ offices with calls and a threat to “march on Washington.” For my part, I personally spoke with Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy and asked him if he realized the revisions made him look like a “loan shark.” I told him that NPs were in direct competition with physicians in settings identified as “loan repayments sites” and that physicians were more apt to be hired in these settings than NPs. I quickly offered up alternatives to increase the number of eligible sites where NPs could work for loan repayment, such as community health centers—a system for which he had secured funding decades earlier.

The end result of our influence? Community health centers throughout the country would be considered “loan repayment” sites, which helped to expand the opportunities for NPs to fulfill their financial obligations. If that doesn’t show you that being a leader requires you to challenge unfairness and identify solutions to correct inequity, I don’t know what does.

In a health care organization, we all have multiple roles that require us to be leaders. We are collaborators, providers of care, advocates for our patients, problem-solvers, and idealists. We are also role models for nascent health care providers. A leader’s responsibility spans the breadth of the organization, and today’s health care system continues to demand strong leaders capable of utilizing a variety of skills.

Next Thursday, I will continue my investigation of how to become an effective leader. In our fourth and final part of this series, we will discuss how acknowledging our specific personality traits can strengthen the efforts of a leader.

“Lead, follow, or get out of the way” sounds pejorative—even arrogant—but it ultimately speaks truth about most situations involving a team. A leader must know, or at least sense, the right action to take at any given moment; sometimes that action entails yielding leadership to another team member. So let’s break down this quote to identify the functional behavioral requirements of leadership.

Northouse presents the notion that leadership is a relationship or process of collaboration in which each team member is needed. The leader should be cognizant of each member’s interests, ideas, passions, attitudes, and motivations.¹

As a leader, you must reflect on all of your output. This includes how you relate to those you lead; how you collaborate with and affect the actions of your teammates; and how you communicate the process and influence a team toward a goal—which is crucial to the entire team’s success. Allow me to illustrate these core principles.

Relating
Early in the NP movement, it was necessary to develop a collective vision for the profession’s future. What was the purpose of an NP? What could we add to the existing health care landscape? The founders and early proponents of our profession, recognizing that there was power in numbers and strength in collaboration, identified a mission: Provide health care services for those who were underserved. Working as a group, NPs leveraged strength in numbers, creating a more efficient way to move forward and achieve that mission.² In those early NP pioneers, I recognize the leadership skills—ability to engage individuals and coordinate activities to move an agenda forward—that are key components of any relationship.

Collaborating
Later, in 1984, a small group of like-minded NPs (of which I was one) joined together to investigate the possibility of a starting an organization dedicated to NPs. As a profession, we were woefully underrepresented nationally. Our role was not fully understood, especially by legislators, and there were laws in place that impeded patients’ access to care by NPs. The existing nursing organizations were in no position to dedicate their resources to represent us professionally or politically.

Several colleagues and I were willing to take a risk to move our profession forward, even if it meant alienating other NPs. Each of us was able to work autonomously, as well as in a team, and we all viewed adversity as an opportunity. This gave us the impetus and motivation to carry out the footwork needed to achieve our goal. These skills—determination, energy, persistence—are essential for anyone looking to start a business or get involved in an organization.

Maybe when my colleagues and I formed the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), we weren’t all leaders … but our relationship consisted of the passion and collective vision needed to work together and achieve. We knew we had to build on each other’s strengths and remain open and respectful of each other’s ideas. We believed we had nothing to lose and everything to gain and—honestly—we succeeded on all fronts!

Continue to: Influencing

Influencing
One success story happened in 1988 when Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act—the Nurse Education Act—was under review. New provisions in the bill included specific penalties for NPs and nurses if they defaulted on their student loans—penalties that did not apply to other health care professionals. My colleagues and I were outraged! Like many others, I had such a loan, which had allowed me to pursue my dream of becoming an NP.

The AANP got the word out, and we bombarded our legislators’ offices with calls and a threat to “march on Washington.” For my part, I personally spoke with Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy and asked him if he realized the revisions made him look like a “loan shark.” I told him that NPs were in direct competition with physicians in settings identified as “loan repayments sites” and that physicians were more apt to be hired in these settings than NPs. I quickly offered up alternatives to increase the number of eligible sites where NPs could work for loan repayment, such as community health centers—a system for which he had secured funding decades earlier.

The end result of our influence? Community health centers throughout the country would be considered “loan repayment” sites, which helped to expand the opportunities for NPs to fulfill their financial obligations. If that doesn’t show you that being a leader requires you to challenge unfairness and identify solutions to correct inequity, I don’t know what does.

In a health care organization, we all have multiple roles that require us to be leaders. We are collaborators, providers of care, advocates for our patients, problem-solvers, and idealists. We are also role models for nascent health care providers. A leader’s responsibility spans the breadth of the organization, and today’s health care system continues to demand strong leaders capable of utilizing a variety of skills.

Next Thursday, I will continue my investigation of how to become an effective leader. In our fourth and final part of this series, we will discuss how acknowledging our specific personality traits can strengthen the efforts of a leader.

“Lead, follow, or get out of the way” sounds pejorative—even arrogant—but it ultimately speaks truth about most situations involving a team. A leader must know, or at least sense, the right action to take at any given moment; sometimes that action entails yielding leadership to another team member. So let’s break down this quote to identify the functional behavioral requirements of leadership.

Northouse presents the notion that leadership is a relationship or process of collaboration in which each team member is needed. The leader should be cognizant of each member’s interests, ideas, passions, attitudes, and motivations.¹

As a leader, you must reflect on all of your output. This includes how you relate to those you lead; how you collaborate with and affect the actions of your teammates; and how you communicate the process and influence a team toward a goal—which is crucial to the entire team’s success. Allow me to illustrate these core principles.

Relating
Early in the NP movement, it was necessary to develop a collective vision for the profession’s future. What was the purpose of an NP? What could we add to the existing health care landscape? The founders and early proponents of our profession, recognizing that there was power in numbers and strength in collaboration, identified a mission: Provide health care services for those who were underserved. Working as a group, NPs leveraged strength in numbers, creating a more efficient way to move forward and achieve that mission.² In those early NP pioneers, I recognize the leadership skills—ability to engage individuals and coordinate activities to move an agenda forward—that are key components of any relationship.

Collaborating
Later, in 1984, a small group of like-minded NPs (of which I was one) joined together to investigate the possibility of a starting an organization dedicated to NPs. As a profession, we were woefully underrepresented nationally. Our role was not fully understood, especially by legislators, and there were laws in place that impeded patients’ access to care by NPs. The existing nursing organizations were in no position to dedicate their resources to represent us professionally or politically.

Several colleagues and I were willing to take a risk to move our profession forward, even if it meant alienating other NPs. Each of us was able to work autonomously, as well as in a team, and we all viewed adversity as an opportunity. This gave us the impetus and motivation to carry out the footwork needed to achieve our goal. These skills—determination, energy, persistence—are essential for anyone looking to start a business or get involved in an organization.

Maybe when my colleagues and I formed the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), we weren’t all leaders … but our relationship consisted of the passion and collective vision needed to work together and achieve. We knew we had to build on each other’s strengths and remain open and respectful of each other’s ideas. We believed we had nothing to lose and everything to gain and—honestly—we succeeded on all fronts!

Continue to: Influencing

Influencing
One success story happened in 1988 when Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act—the Nurse Education Act—was under review. New provisions in the bill included specific penalties for NPs and nurses if they defaulted on their student loans—penalties that did not apply to other health care professionals. My colleagues and I were outraged! Like many others, I had such a loan, which had allowed me to pursue my dream of becoming an NP.

The AANP got the word out, and we bombarded our legislators’ offices with calls and a threat to “march on Washington.” For my part, I personally spoke with Senator Edward “Ted” Kennedy and asked him if he realized the revisions made him look like a “loan shark.” I told him that NPs were in direct competition with physicians in settings identified as “loan repayments sites” and that physicians were more apt to be hired in these settings than NPs. I quickly offered up alternatives to increase the number of eligible sites where NPs could work for loan repayment, such as community health centers—a system for which he had secured funding decades earlier.

The end result of our influence? Community health centers throughout the country would be considered “loan repayment” sites, which helped to expand the opportunities for NPs to fulfill their financial obligations. If that doesn’t show you that being a leader requires you to challenge unfairness and identify solutions to correct inequity, I don’t know what does.

In a health care organization, we all have multiple roles that require us to be leaders. We are collaborators, providers of care, advocates for our patients, problem-solvers, and idealists. We are also role models for nascent health care providers. A leader’s responsibility spans the breadth of the organization, and today’s health care system continues to demand strong leaders capable of utilizing a variety of skills.

Next Thursday, I will continue my investigation of how to become an effective leader. In our fourth and final part of this series, we will discuss how acknowledging our specific personality traits can strengthen the efforts of a leader.