Are you a great or weak leader?  My husband often reminds me that some lead and some follow.  What about you?  Elliott has often said to me as well, “The poor are always going to be amongst us.”  Whether we lead or follow we can all gain and profit from it.  We do not have to be poor in leadership.  Let me explain.

There are riches one gleans from following.  You might say what riches?  There are many especially if one works in a managed cost environment.  These include:

• Being able to go home when one's work day ends and not having to worry about the job the rest of the day or night

• Being free from the expectations that go with leadership

• Not having to work the longest for a set level of pay

• Not being expected to always role model the best in behavior 24/7/365

• Having no starry-eyed students or new graduates seeking to be just like you.

• Being blessed with not having to attend, plan for, schedule or sit through many meaningless meetings, etc.

In other words, you get the picture. And besides, everyone does not aspire to being the leader.  Things that followers detest would make an energetic leader feel exuberant, fulfilled and challenged.

I think today the wealth in leadership is magnified when we lead in five, spectacular ways and realms.  These include visionary, charismatic, authentic, courageous and resilient leadership.  Let's explore the requirements of each as I have developed and conceptualized them.

Charismatic Leadership
Requires Me To Put My Best Foot Forward 

Charismatic leadership is contingent upon me using the  part of me that easily brings others into the fold.  This  type leader doesn't have to work quite as hard to get  followship unfolding.  The charismatic nurse leader, for  example, looks and acts confident, brings a focused  sense of energy, and a ready smile.  He or she comes  across as the Norman  Schwartzkoff or Colin Powell or  Martin Luther King of leadership.  The charismatic  leader walks with authority, speaks with the flavor of  accountability and expects no less than one can easily  give.

Charisma breeds magnetism, ready followers who hang  on to the leaders words and trusts his or her direction,  potency and power.

If you have the privilege of having been in the presence  of or under the tutelage of such a leader you might  have seen yourself or another:

• willing to go where the leader led 
  

• spreading the leader's philosophy 
  
• hoping to always have him or her around 
  
• grabbing on every point 
  
• doing the things the leader recommended and 
  
• trusting in her/his direction. 

Most leaders who search it out in themselves can pull  up when needed their best charismatic self.  We all  have a layer of self that draws others to us.  We just  have to nurture it, believe in it and draw ourselves and  others to it.

So rate yourself on these traits of charismatic leadership.  This type leader is amongst other things:

• Confident 
  

• Assertive
  
• Self Aligned 
  
• Gregarious 
  
• Open 
  
• Honest 
  
• Opinionated 
  
• Easy To Get To Know 
  
• Sociable 
  
• Troop Rallying 

Are you a charismatic director?  Could you be?  To be  maximally successful you need to be charismatic and  courageous amongst other things.

 

Courageous Leadership Can Save Lives, Jobs, and/or Institutions 

Courageous leaders are just that ... courageous.  At times  even courageous to a fault.  The courageous leader  stands for what is right, will take risks and will speak the  truth when the truth needs to be told.

Are you a courageous leader?  Will you go the last mile  for your team?  Fight their fights courageously for  them?  Go to bat with anyone - no matter how high up  the food chain they are?  The courageous leader in  nursing looks out for his or her healthcare team.  He or  she does not hide from his or her duties.  He or she will step out on “right” versus “wrong”, “unfair”, and related  each and every time.

Are you willing to do that in the leadership roles you  face?  Will you prepare yourself for the best leadership you can muster and stand behind it each and every time? Will you keep promises that you have made?   Will you disappoint no one when you can stand for  right versus wrong?  A courageous leader could.

What would it take for you to lead with courage?   Would it take your toes to be finally stepped on for you  to get courageous yourself and then step out courageously or get into the follower's line?  Trust me, no one  wants a non courageous leader.

Courageous Leaders: 

• Stand and fight for what they believe
  

• Stay continually prepared and armed 
  
• Protect the team 
  
• Support consistently 
  
• Never ever gives up for wrong and 
  
• Fights for right - always! 

 

Authentic Leadership
Critical To An Organization's and Individual's Wealth 

What is authentic leadership?  I would answer that it is  leadership that can’t be compromised or bought off.   The authentic leader can be counted on to do what he  or she says even if he or she suffers for it.  Can you  bring your authentic leadership forward as you lead day  by day while also employing charisma and courage?  I  think you can.

An authentic leader demonstrates consistently several  relevant and necessary traits.  He or she is:

• Honest 
  

• Truthful
  
• Strong 
  
• Uncompromising 
  
• Ethical 
  
• Trustworthy 
  
• Safe 
  
• Consistent 
  
• Structured 
  
• Values Oriented 
  
• Disciplined 
  
• Etc. 

Have you experienced this type leadership?  I think we  can all strive for it.  One way is to decide before  situations arise, who you are, what you believe and  what you stand for?  An authentic leader goes to the  negotiation table with his or her mind made up, stands  for the previously set rules and tenets and never compromise his or her integrity.  The leader's word is his/her  bond.  The authentic leader will go down the long, often  grueling road with his or her team members.

Another resounding trait you will see in the authentic  leader is constructive confrontation of those above or  below where integrity is flawed or compromised.  The  leader recognizes that in the long run “right” rules  always over “might”.

The authentic leader is also revered by the team.  He or  she stands for and with them when they are right and  chastises them when they are wrong.  The authentic  leader disciplines fairly, violates no one's rights and  searches for the truth always.

Are you a charismatic, courageous and authentic  leader? If not, could you or should you be?

 

Resilient Leadership Has Bounce Back Capability 

Certainly a variety of leadership traits, including  charisma, courage and authenticity stand out.  Resiliency is another necessary trait for today's leader.

The resilient leader can withstand the knockout punch,  the unexpected and the grossly unfair.  This leader can  carry out a variety of complex roles, responsibilities and  goals and come back quickly for more.

When you are looking at a resilient administrator you  see the characteristics of:

• Survivability 
  

• Flexibility 
  
• Permanence 
  
• Recurrent Efforts 
  
• Courage 
  
• Variance of Approach 
  
• Militaristic Bearing 
  
• Tenacity 
  
• Etc. 

The resilient leader is primed like a well oiled fighting  machine.  He or she is prepared, on time, ready,  flexible, self reliant and has a reputation for success.   This leader is rambo like in his or her ability to get  punched out but come back more prepared each and  every time.

How resilient are you as you work? 

Can you go one more round when knocked down by a  supervisor, family member or friend?  Do you bounce back in  time to get prepared for the next round?  Do you allow  yourself no procrastination, excuse making or defensive  realm when backed into a life or work corner?  If so, you will  have even greater success and long term wealth as you master these leader traits of charisma, courage, authenticity,  resilience, and vision.

Let's look at the final layer of leadership traits ... vision. 

 

Maximal Leadership Requires Charisma, Courage, Authenticity, Resilience and Vision

The Visionary leader looks beyond the day, or year  down the sighted future of the organization, its people  and direction.  A vision is a long range view.  It doesn't  stop with the first steps but seeks to take the organization down a path the rest may not see, aspire to,  believe, or hope to reach.

The visionary isn't hindered by sight but rather is well  versed in “Why do we need to see only brief glimpses?”   He/She sees over the obstacles, past the resistance  and can move straight ahead or take deadly curves as  he or she drives the team to the goal line, the perceived  path or the next dynamic phase or process.

Visionary leaders exude the traits of.... 

• insight 
  

• seeing the big picture 
  
• the direction one needs to take 
  
• fearless belief 
  
• vision 
  
• focused energy 
  
• walking with assurance 
  
• photo clarity 
  
• no fear 
  
• supernatural revelation 
  
• imagination 
  
• unusual discernment 
  
• foresight 
  
• focused clarity 
  
• dreamlike understanding 
  
• perception 
  
• mystical awareness of the end result 

The visionary leader grasps the big initial, midway and  final picture of the process.

When this ability is combined with the other 4 traits of  charisma, authenticity, courage, and resilience, a truly phenomenal leader emerges.  Ask yourself, “What do I  need to be a magnificent, challenging, exceptional, and  fulfilled leader.

Are you primed for your role as Administrator, Director,  Manager, Supervisor, Department Head, Head Nurse, or  Team Leader?  You are if your can put on the garments  inherent in being charismatic, courageous, authentic, resilient, and visionary.  Think much about these traits.  How do you see yourself operationalizing each today?  Can  you picture your leader duties at home, in the community  and/or at work and how you might use each?  Are you  contemplating how you can grow others in your life and/or  work world into these same practices?  I know this is  possible because I have taught these concepts for years.  Focus on how you can do the same to maximize all the  success and wealth possible for you and your organization.

And just keep on leading..... 

 

Until the next time -- Keep on Leading and Blessings!! 

---

MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR

Dr. Gloria "Jo" Floyd, a recognized author, speaker, consultant and survival strategist has produced and/or presented over 1,000 workshops and seminars attended by thousands nationwide. For over 31 years, Jo has been the heartbeat for program participants leading them in common sense survival approaches to a variety of challenges. Since she founded NCEHS in 1978, she has prided herself on customizing her programs to assure participant empowerment and realistic survival. Dr. Floyd earned the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) from Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas. She has been a consultant to over 250 agencies, schools, businesses, associations, universities, hospitals, home care agencies and related facilities throughout the U.S. Never idle for long, Jo is published in numerous professional journals and is the author of Survival Strategies for Managing Life, Stress, Obstacles, Challenge and Change. She is also featured in/on over 60 other nationally distributed audio-visuals and educational materials including: On Leaders and Leadership, Communicating Effectively, Improved Productivity through Stress Management, Documenting Patient Care Legally and Effectively, Legalities of Documentation, Recording Clinical Actions, and On Being The Effective Teacher/Educator/Presenter. Jo is constantly reading, analyzing, networking and researching to continue to bring up to the minute options to her clients nationwide via educational materials, workshops, seminars, keynote addresses and consultation. Dr. Floyd is, also, nationally recognized as a medical-legal expert in the area of legal and documentation issues. She assists in review and analysis of simple to complex medical and legal cases. Jo has received numerous awards, citations and recognitions from a variety of groups. She has held positions as Administrator, Director of Nursing, Education, Surgery and Central Services, Inservice Education Coordinator, Professor, Television and Radio Host, Health Writer, and Staff Nurse. Dr. Floyd has, also owned four businesses. She has been successfully married for over 35 years to Elliott and is the mother of 5 children. Dr. Floyd is an inductee into the Leadership Texas Hall of Fame and the San Antonio Women’s Hall of Fame. Dr. Floyd has taught numerous school nursing courses throughout the United States. She is also a licensed child and school health care administrator.