Respond to two of your colleagues by making recommendations for how they might strengthen the leadership behaviors profiled in their StrengthsFinder assessment, or by commenting on lessons to be learned from the results that can be applied to personal leadership philosophies and behaviors.
Melanie Waychoff
Peer 1
Main Post
Through the Strength Finder assessment, I gleaned a lot of information about myself and my strengths. I scored the highest in developer, empathy, intellection, achiever, and learner categories. These can all be valuable strengths in a nurse leader. I want to focus on strengthening the developer and empathy values within myself to hone the potential I see in others, the genuine care I give them, and my ability to see their experiences through their eyes and understand what they are going through.
As a developer, I see the potential in everyone and want to see them excel. I genuinely encourage success, and I want to strengthen this within myself. Given that the leadership exhibited by nurse managers is the most influential factor in determining nurses' work engagement, nurse managers must display supportive leadership practices, such as recognizing and commending the work performance of their unit nurses (Kim et al., 2023). With my ability to identify the most minor improvements in others, I can strengthen my developer values to encourage those around me to be the best they can be.
I scored high in empathy because I have a keen sense of the emotions of others. I can understand the situation from their perspective, even if I have never experienced what they are going through. I want to strengthen this within myself and use it to provide better patient care and to be a better nursing leader. Nurse leaders should use emotions to inspire others to deliver exceptional care (Mansel & Einion, 2019). Emotions can be used in various ways to lead nursing staff successfully. Nurse leaders can employ their emotional intelligence to handle conflicts, mediate between members of multidisciplinary teams effectively, encourage staff to deliver top-notch, safe patient care, and cultivate a positive work environment conducive to higher staff retention rates (Rhodes & Foran, 2022). I would have never imagined my emotional intelligence could make such a significant impact in leadership.
References
Kim, E., Lee, J. Y., & Lee, S. E. (2023). Associations among leadership, resources, and nurses’ work engagement: findings from the fifth korean Working Conditions Survey . BMC Nursing, 22, 191. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-023-01331-8Links to an external site.
Mansel, B., & Einion, A. (2019). “It’s the relationship you develop with them”: emotional intelligence in nurse leadership. A qualitative study. British Journal of Nursing, 28(21), 1400–1408. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjon.2019.28.21.1400Links to an external site.
Rhodes, E., & Foran, P. (2022). Leading with emotional intelligence in perioperative nursing: An integrative review. Journal of Perioperative Nursing, 35(4). https://doi.org/10.26550/2209-1092.1224
Peer 2
POST:
The Gallup Clifton StrengthsFinder Assessment is a tool designed to help promote personal development and help individuals identify, understand, and maximize their strengths (Rath, 2007). The goal is encouraging individuals to be intentional about their leadership, academic, and professional development (Rath, 2007). The assessment results provide a detailed report of their top five strengths, which will contribute to personal growth and improvement (Rath, 2007). This was my first time taking this assessment, and I answered all the questions to the best of my ability without overthinking. My top five themes from the StrengthsFinder assessment are individualization, restorative, developer, arranger, and strategic.
Two Strengths
The theme of individualization is for individuals who are intrigued with the unique qualities of each person and have a gift for figuring out how different people can work together productively (Rath, 2007). I am not surprised this was one of my top themes because I have always been able to work with all individuals and adapt my communication approach to guide them to work together as a team. The two strengths I use to continue my growth and believe that has made me a strong individual are developer and arranger. The theme of development is for individuals who can spot the signs of each small improvement and derive satisfaction from evidence of progress (Rath, 2007). I take pride in seeing the full potential in others and guiding them to recognize their potential and grow into success. The theme of the arranger is for individuals who are very flexible and organized during dynamic situations involving many factors to get the job done (Rath, 2007). I completely agree with this theme, especially since I work in the ER and also my personal life has always had so many complex situations that required me to become flexible since unexpected events have occurred that required me to be flexible at adapting to new changes to get the job done.
Core Values
Based on the results of my StrengthsFinder assessment, the two core values that are important to me are restorative and strategic. The theme of restorative is for individuals who adapt well to dealing with problems while solving them (Rath, 2007). I have always been known to be proactive at solving problems, especially when I took on my nursing supervisor position. I solved issues, such as staffing issues with floating, and developed a program to keep track of who floated last. The strategic theme is for individuals with a distinct way of thinking that can create alternative ways to proceed (Rath, 2007). This theme is representative of my personality and life, which has made me a strong individual who recognizes relevant patterns and issues in all situations and tackles all obstacles to continue with life.
Two Characteristics to Strengthen
I would like to strengthen two characteristics: consistency and discipline (Rath, 2023). Talented individuals with the theme of consistency strive for stable routines and set clear rules and procedures that everyone can follow (Rath, 2023). I do not consider myself a consistent person because I can barely follow my routine, and my ability to enforce consistent rules varies based on my mood and energy. My patience for dealing with certain people varies depending on my mood and energy; if I feel tired, I tend to be short or ignore certain things. I have difficulty following my routines due to working the night shift, and I can’t keep up with tasks such as skin care, sleep schedule, and working out. This also kind of goes hand in hand with the theme of discipline. I do not have a good routine or structure, making it difficult to follow at work or home. I need to improve on these strengths because they will help me become a more effective and consistent leader.
Overall, I believe the results of this assessment display accurate themes that are true to myself as an individual and professional. Effective leadership is essential for all work environments to be successful. Effective leaders must encourage collaboration, positive thinking, and support by building a work environment based on trust, integrity, and respect (Baquero, 2023). The Gallup organization’s investigation found that the leaders who implement the strengths-based approach in the workplace improve organizational effectiveness, engagement, and performance by promoting the identification, development, and deployment of supervisors’ own and subordinates’ strengths (Ding et al., 2020). Leaders that enforce the strengths-based leadership style focus on three major concepts, which include investing time and energy in the strengths of the team; building the strength of well-rounded teams through executing, influencing, relationship building, and strategic thinking; and understanding the teams’ need to build trust, hope, and optimism (Chu et al., 2022). A strong and effective strengths-based leader does not ignore their and the teams’ weaknesses by focusing on the strengths and minimizing the negative effects of weaknesses (Chu et al., 2022).
Pamela Zuchowski
References
Baquero A. (2023). Authentic Leadership, Employee Work Engagement, Trust in the Leader, and Workplace Well-Being: A Moderated Mediation Model. Psychology research and behavior management, 16, 1403–1424. https://doi.org/10.2147/PRBM.S407672Links to an external site.
Chu, X., Ding, H., Zhang, L., & Li, Z. A. (2022). Strengths-based leadership and turnover intention: The roles of felt obligation for constructive change and job control. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.786551Links to an external site.
Ding, H., Yu, E., & Li, Y. (2020). Strengths-based leadership and its impact on Task Performance: A preliminary study. South African Journal of Business Management, 51(1). https://doi.org/10.4102/sajbm.v51i1.1832Links to an external site.
Rath, T. (2023). What are the 34 CliftonStrengths themes?. Gallup.com. https://www.gallup.com/cliftonstrengths/en/253715/34-cliftonstrengths-themes.aspxLinks to an external site.
Rath, T. (2007). The Clifton Strengthsfinder 2.0 quickbook. Gallup Press.