Leadership Reflection

Running head: REFLECTION PAPER 1

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REFLECTION PAPER

Leadership Reflection Paper

Grand Canyon University: PSY 693- Professional Capstone

Leadership Reflection Paper

According to Kouzes and Posner (2017), there are five core practices common to all leaders when they are at their personal best. These practices include the ability to model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart (Kouzes & Posner, 2017). The following is a reflection of an interview completed with psychiatric nurse practitioner (NPP) Christine Slocum on August 11, 2017 at the community mental health center where she is employed.

Learned Information from Interview

One of the observations that was gleaned from the beginning of the interview is that Ms. Slocum is a no holds barred individual who expresses herself freely and without reservation. For example, there were a few interruptions from staff during our interview. This occurred despite her blocking out 30 minutes in her schedule to complete the interview. At the second interruption, she excused herself to address nearby staff and respectfully asked them to hold all queries until she was done with her appointment. She further advised she would not be responding to any request for information until after her appointment.

It was apparent that her NPP role garnered a certain amount of respect, but her kindness and need to be available to everyone generated a certain amount of expectation. From a leadership perspective, she demonstrated care and concern for her staff but had no problem implementing boundaries and holding people accountable when needed. Ms. Slocum also exemplified true balance of responsibilities. She was aware of the tasks needing completion and organized herself to get them done. Overall, it was apparent based on the information she shared and her body language that maintaining relationships with the people she worked with was important to her happiness and longevity in her workplace.

Application of Information to own Leadership Experiences

From the interview with Ms. Slocum, there was a greater understanding of the importance of time management and relationship building as important variables necessary for the enhancement of job satisfaction. Interdisciplinary relationships facilitated through effective dialogues, education, reinforcement, motivation, mutual respect, consistency, and inspiration could be used to enhance the health and well-being of the consumer of care.

Additionally, acquiring ongoing learning and transforming that knowledge in a manner that is received by clients and interdisciplinary staff members are helpful tools for both and personal and professional growth. Thus, understanding and participating in decision making that parallel activities conducive to the perception of health and well-being according to the consumer’s perception will be one of the most rewarding way to facilitate success in patients.

Conclusion

To conclude, interviewing Ms. Slocum allowed me an opportunity to receive an honest, straight forward and realistic perspective of life as a NPP. In this advanced nursing role, it was perceived a variety of leadership styles were utilized based on the happenings of the day. This showed a flexible and adaptable attitude was necessary to maintain a self-regulated, emotionally intelligent demeanor. Overall, leading by example, remaining authentic in words and actions, and affirming contribution of others will be some of the ways to sustain a passion for the NPP role while demonstrating my personal best.

References

Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2017). The five practices of exemplary leadership model. Retrieved

from http://www.leadershipchallenge.com/about-section-our-approach.aspx

Slocum, C. (2017, August 11). Personal interview.