Month: February 2021

Resilience

By Cathy Converse

“What’s comin’ will come and we’ll meet it when it does.” –Hagrid

Have you ever thought about the relationship between success and failure? Sure, they’re opposites, but they also go hand in hand more often than we think. Success is almost always built upon failed attempts. Almost every successful person we can think of has actually failed numerous times or has overcome significant hardships. J. K. Rowling and Stephen King were rejected by publishers many times before landing book deals that launched incredibly successful careers. Joe Biden overcame a severe stutter to become President of the United States. The Ford Motor Company was the third automobile company Henry Ford started—the first two went bankrupt. Albert Einstein and Thomas Edison were notoriously poor students.

And yet, these people, and many more like them, went on to incredible success. There may have been many reasons they were able to overcome tough times, but almost certainly one of these was that they were resilient. Continue reading “Resilience”

Connectivity

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

Those of us who have worked in an environment that lifts us up, encouraging our commitment to the mission of the organization and the people we work with, know how fortunate we were to be in such a situation. When we are lucky enough to be a part of this type of organization, our work may not be easy, but it seems worth the effort we put into it. We recognize that leadership throughout the organization strongly influences the work environment, but what do leaders in this type of organization do to stimulate our commitment?

Our literature review regarding Courageous Leadership suggests that one characteristic, Connectivity, may be responsible for Continue reading “Connectivity”

Trustworthiness

By Cathy Converse

If you’ve ever worked in an environment where trust is in short supply, you know how debilitating it can be. Work goes undone as people scramble to protect themselves and try to distinguish fact from fiction. Gossip increases and morale declines. Creativity and innovation come to a screeching halt. Trustworthiness is driven by an organization’s leaders, and it is one of the ten characteristics of courageous leadership, our research has determined. Continue reading “Trustworthiness”

Honesty

By Susan Sportsman, PhD, RN, ANEF, FAAN

 We often hear colleagues say, “To be honest…” Although this phrase is typically only used for emphasis, I always think to myself, “If you are being honest now, WHEN were you NOT honest?” My immediate reaction illustrates how important the perception of honesty is in human interaction. Nowhere is honesty more critical than in the leadership arena. For this reason, honesty is one of the ten characteristics of Courageous Leadership. Continue reading “Honesty”

Decisiveness

By Cathy Converse

Have you ever been in a meeting where the only decision that was made was to have another meeting? Chances are you have been—I certainly have. And if you’re particularly unlucky, you’ve been in a string of such meetings, where over the course of weeks or months no definitive decisions are made, and consequently no action is taken, and no progress is made.

Whether you are the leader or a participant in such a meeting, a lack of decisiveness can be frustrating at best, and yet leaders often struggle with Continue reading “Decisiveness”