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leadership and development Associate Editor: Michael R. Bleich, PhD, RN, FAAN Author: Michael R. Bleich, PhD, RN, FAAN

Leadership Needs Assessment

Professional development educa-tors are charged with the function of performing an ongoing learning needs assessment of target audiences to satisfy accreditation needs, develop programs, and show a return on educational investment. In the area of leadership, such an assessment can be complex. Leadership skills at the individual level must transcend to the organizational setting where leaders can impact everything from strategy development to operations. Determining programs that impact the actions of leaders requires deep analysis and careful program design, the foundation of which is a leader- ship needs assessment.

USING ASSESSMENT TOOLS The literature supports that many

firms provide leadership assessment

tools and corresponding programs. There is a heavy emphasis in these programs solely on individual de- velopment. Various instruments and tools measure leadership prefer- ences to act or to highlight individual strengths or areas to improve. Ad- dressing the validity and reliability of these instruments or services is beyond the scope of this article; in- stead, the purpose of this article is to suggest an organizing framework for developing quality programs.

When Crosby and Shields (2010) reported one approach to an assess- ment, it was based on a widespread concern for the lack of sufficient fu- ture leaders in the discipline. Their assessment led to insights collapsed into leadership development that would: ● “Build” a successful leader,

change culture, and manage dif- ficult behaviors.

● Address issues tied to horizontal violence or lateral hostility.

● Increase skills in other nurses in communication and critical thinking.

● Recruit and retain nurses through rewards and recognition strate- gies.

● Plan for leadership succession. ● Practice in multisized organiza-

tions from urban to rural.

With an eye toward these assess- ment results, several factors stand out. Only one area focused on de- veloping the leadership capacity of leaders. The other aspects reflected leadership attributions (most likely at the director or unit manager role) that would resolve issues in others linked to human resource recruitment and retention, human resource develop- ment, and conflict management, in- cluding resolving violence and hostil- ity as part of culture change.

TAKING A HOLISTIC APPROACH The Center for Creative Leader-

ship (CCL) has a useful framework that could help professional develop- ment educators think through a ho- listic approach to leadership assess- ment (Leslie, Chandrasekar, & Barts, 2011). In this framework, three types of competencies are noted: ● Leading the organization. ● Leading others. ● Leading self.

Considering the work of Cros- by and Shields (2010), the assessed needs documented a major focus on leading others, with limited empha- sis on self-development. Missing was any focus on what it meant to be a leader within an organization or be- yond the organizational setting. In my experience, individual identifica- tion of needs produces sparse results, culminating in one or two topics or recommended speakers, and is of limited usefulness.

DEVELOPING A CENTRAL AIM Again, with reference to the CCL

work (Leslie et al., 2011), a Leader-

abstract Documenting a leadership needs

assessment is complex. One ap- proach is through developing a cen- tral aim, followed by the competen- cies needed to lead the organization, others, and self. By adding contex- tual factors, an actionable leader- ship development plan evolves. J Contin Educ Nurs. 2015;46(1):10- 11.

Dr. Bleich is Maxine Clark and Bob Fox Dean and Professor, Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, St. Louis, Missouri.

The author has disclosed no potential conflicts of interest, financial or otherwise. Address correspondence to Michael R. Bleich, PhD, RN, FAAN, Maxine Clark and Bob

Fox Dean and Professor, Goldfarb School of Nursing at Barnes-Jewish College, 4483 Duncan Avenue, Mail Stop 90-36-697, St. Louis, MO 63110; e-mail: [email protected].

doi:10.3928/00220124-20150109-13

11The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing · Vol 46, No 1, 2015

ship Gap Indicator is an assessment that begins with a success profile, a vision of the types of competencies or characteristics that will drive the organization to success. One stra- tegic planning firm (T. Fallon & L. Schulte, personal communication, October 13, 2014) calls this vision “the central aim,” a compelling state- ment of what the organization’s suc- cess would look like 3 years out. The value of the central aim is that in a single statement, unified expectations are articulated and remain steady in rapidly changing environments where a drift of focus may occur.

From this vantage point, the pro- fessional development educator can now converse with an assessment team and eventually state the com- petencies needed to meet the central aim: ● What competencies are present in

current leaders? ● What competencies can be devel-

oped? ● What kinds of programs would

inspire, encourage, and lead to optimal leadership performance?

IDENTIFYING LEADERSHIP CAPACITY

The difference between the cen- tral aim and existing leader compe- tencies (those holding defined lead- ership roles) identifies leadership

capacity. Leader capacity should be assessed equally in those who work in professional, nonmanagerial posi- tions. It is this group that begins to form the foundation for leadership succession. If leadership capacity is underdeveloped or absent, the cen- tral aim will not materialize, creating a crisis of leadership when stakes are high.

For a completed needs assess- ment, the focus shifts from indi- viduals to an examination of orga- nizational conditions, those drivers and deterrents that will obfuscate or accelerate leadership functioning. It is these drivers and deterrents that will flavor the action orientation of leaders. They also inform the con- tent of leadership programs, helping to address restraints and optimize strengths to lead change initiatives. Well-designed leadership programs reflect favorably on professional de- velopment educators who can dem- onstrate strategic and operational benefits of their work.

Finally, leadership is both con- textual and relational. It is a concept that evolves over time and is never static. When the needs assessment is conducted, consider the: ● Environment (dynamic or static). ● Clinical demands (new and

emerging technologies and the presence of clinical risk).

● Professional structures (who has power and influence, the pres- ence or absence of professional resources, and the care delivery model in use, formally or infor- mally).

● Consumer demands (awareness of individuals, families, and com- munities of interest). This final dimension of the needs

assessment will help determine ways of delivering context-rich content, using leadership simulation, point- of-care instruction, off-campus edu- cation, multimedia and computer- driven delivery, and other formal fellowships and certification courses.

The best way to lead on is through a leadership needs assessment that is vision-driven, individually assessed, collectively derived to determine where gaps exist, and contextually rich.

REFERENCES Crosby, F.E., & Shields, C.J. (2010). Preparing

the next generation of nurse leaders: An educational needs assessment. The Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 41, 363-368.

Leslie, J.B., Chandrasekar, A., & Barts, D. (2011). Leadership gap indicator: An or- ganizational analysis of leadership ef- fectiveness and development needs. Greensboro, NC: Center for Creative Lead- ership. Retrieved from http://www.ccl.org/ leadership/pdf/assessments/LGISample FeedbackReport.pdf

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