Running head: STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP 1

Strengths Based Leadership

Janet Heath

Bon Secours Memorial School of Nursing

Servant Leadership

NUR 4241

B. Ellcessor

January 21, 2017

On my honor, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment or test, and I

pledge that I am in compliance with the BSMCON Honor System.

STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP 2

Strengths Based Leadership

The Emergency Department has a vacancy for the Nurse Manager position following

termination of the present manager. Unfortunately, this decision was made and was the outcome

after a large turnover of nursing staff in the department, loss of profit, and low job satisfaction

that resulted in concerns related to the previous manager. As a result, there is an immediate

opening for the position. As the director, my plan is to implement a 4-5 person stakeholder

interview panel, along with incorporating behavior-based interview questions. By doing so, the

goal is to hire a Nurse Manager who has desirable qualities and is a well suited candidate for the

position. The vacancy requires a candidate with experience and leadership skills that will help

the department operate more efficiently and effectively.

In order to be a good Nurse Manager, leadership qualities are necessary, as well as, being

a supportive supervisor who encourages interdisciplinary communication and cooperation. They

will also take an active role in order to maintain the unit. Also, the manager should have various

positive qualities in order to accomplish the objectives that are necessary to develop as a

department. The top five strengths are belief, command, communication, consistency, and

restorative. If the future manager possesses each of these qualities, they will be the ideal person

for the position, as well as, being the most effective leader for the department.

Belief is a strength that has certain core values that are unchanging and defines a

purpose for life (Conchie & Rath, 2008, p. 123). These values vary from one person to

another but ordinarily your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even

spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics; both in yourself and others ("Belief," 2017,

para. 1). A leader that holds their belief system in high regard, will also serve their employer

with the highest respect and portray the heart of a servant leader.
STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP 3

Nurse Managers are leaders who have a duty to act as command central and ensure

department goals are being met on the frontlines (Top Master Healthcare, 2017, para. 1).

Individuals with command have strong personality traits who manage multiple situations that

require leadership skills. Often a characteristic that intimidates others, Command strengths

exterior may appear harsh. However, once the outer shell is uncovered, you will discover the

directness builds trust and trust builds relationships (Conchie & Rath, 2008, p. 127).

Communication is the third strength which is considered among the top five. In order to

be an effective leader, effective communication is essential. It enables the ability to provide

stability and capture the successes of others in words and relate those words back to them,

preferably in writing (Conchie & Rath, 2008, p. 132). As a result, finds the right ways to

praise, give feedback, and reassure (Conchie & Rath, 2008, p. 132).

Consistency is one of the important qualities for a manager to practice. Treating each

employee the same without showing favoritism, builds trust amongst the staff. A Nurse Manager

that is consistent, lives by the same standards in their life that they expect from each employee.

This creates a trusting relationship and provides stability because employees know what is

expected and what is not tolerated (Conchie & Rath, 2008, p. 144).

Finally, a manager with Restorative qualities will restore integrity to systems and

make certain that they perform reliably (Conchie & Rath, 2008, p. 219). This will have a

positive effect on the departments group dynamics and team development. As a result, will

bring the unit back to some normalcy.

The ultimate leadership leverage is to carefully choose and build strong relationships with

your followers. Since the qualities that the manager is lacking are characteristics that the

followers possess, the team dynamics are complete. Therefore, the manager will automatically
STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP 4

have a positive effect on the department just by using the innate strengths: belief, command,

communication, consistency, and restorative themes that I will be requiring as a prerequisite for

the candidate of the new Nurse Manager of the Emergency Department.

During the follow-up evaluation, I will incorporate feedback from other staff members to

determine their satisfaction with the new manager. Also, I plan to review Gallup Scores and

current dashboards that reflect the units progress. When I do my evaluation, I plan to observe

the nurses in their everyday work environment. Finally, if organizational goals are met,

employee relations are improved, and productivity has increased; it will conclude that the Nurse

Manger is a good fit.

STRENGTHS BASED LEADERSHIP 5

References

Belief. (2017). Retrieved from www.gallup.com/businessjournal/637/belief.aspx

Conchie, B., & Rath, T. (2008). Strengths based leadership. New York, NY: Gallup Press.

Top Master Healthcare. (2017). www.topmastersinhealthcare.com/job-profiles/nurse-manager/