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management
It’s not very often that I can say a book changed my life, except for one. I rarely think about a specific book every day. Yes, Lean In by Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg, is that amazing.
I think I take risks and “lean in” to my family, my job, my passions, but after devouring the book in a little over three hours while traveling, I realized my risks, my priorities, my decisions needed some adjustment.
“This book makes the case for leaning in, for being ambitious in any pursuit” (p. 10). Sandberg explains there’s no single definition of happiness as we don’t all want the same things in life. She discusses unwritten rules of gender roles in society, the “holy trinity of fear,” Imposter Syndrome/feeling like a fraud, and so many more topics that literally made me put the book down at several moments so my brain could digest everything.
I am sure the man next to me on my flight thought I was crazy because I was on the verge of tears many times as I read the book – the acknowledgement page (which I took a picture of a sent to my husband because – oh my goodness – captures the way I feel about my Love), each time I read the title of a new chapter – knowing Sandberg was going to “read my mail!,” accepting her calls to action, laughing and simultaneously cringing from her self-deprecating stories, knowing I’ve lived through many similar ones. I’m not going to lie; I likely didn’t help my flight neighbor’s behavioral health concerns for me as I may have actually laughed out loud on multiple occasions.
Lean In changed my view on many parts of my life. I have made several decisions over the last three weeks, since reading the book, that I definitely would not have done without Sandberg’s advice. Amazingly powerful book!
While there’s no mention of the nursing profession in the book, I found myself thinking of men within the nursing profession a lot as I read the book. There are many parallels.
Woman or man – You. Need. To. Read. This. Book.
Have you read Lean In? What do you think about the book?
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It’s a jungle out there.
I’ve heard this, but it’s a completely different experience living it.
So how does the jungle transform into walkable paths free from crowding and hanging vegetation slowing progress? The leader, of course, exerting all that energy to wield the proverbial machete and forge the path for everyone else. No wonder many leaders are exhausted; they’re covering new ground and pushing back the nonsense!
Don’t forget your machete, Leader; it’s a jungle out there.
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Sincere praise is always good.
It spurs us on. It edifies our work. It strengthens our resolve. It can be expected, or it can be a surprise. It can be public, and it can be private.
Many people think of managers as giving praise, but managers need praise, too. I know; I am one. I’ve relished praise from many, and I say that because there’s one form of praise that supersedes all others, in my opinion.
The most sacred praise, for a manager, comes directly from the manager’s team members. When it’s sincere, it’s melting and humbling and propelling and energizing. There is absolutely nothing like it.
Melt your manager this week – not with laser eyes but with honest words of thanks and praise.
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The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, written by Sean Covey, is an excellent children’s book. It follows the same seven habits presented by Stephen Covey in his 1989 published The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. I read the original book in graduate school, but I had no idea the kids’ book existed until my children’s elementary school started working through the Leader in Me school-transformation model, in which every aspect of the school – from kindergarten to fifth grade, the library to the nurse’s office – follow and are guided by the seven habits.
I really love that my kiddos are learning these vital skills early. Seriously, this stuff is MBA reading illustrated into cuddly animals and practical stories any child (or adult) can relate to. In my kids’ school, each classroom has one copy of the book, and it’s an honor to get to take the book home over the weekend. My six-year-old daughter received the privilege this weekend, and we read through the entire book – all seven habits and corresponding stories and “practice point” questions and tips – in about 45 minutes.
It was lovely. My daughter clearly grasped the meaning of each of the seven habits; she has no problem applying them to everyday situations, which is awesome. And, I even put down the book once we finished it, thinking about the seven habits in my own life.
Are there any other parents working through this book and school model with their children? Or, are there any school nurses actually applying the seven habits into nursing practice? What do you think about the book and the concepts?
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So a smidgen of my reading for the week included:
- A Texas Senate Bill Would Revise the State’s End-of-Life Procedure by The New York Times via The Texas Tribune
- Pretending that You Have Cancer – It Never Really Ends Well by Slate
- Yes, Marketers, There Is Life After Mommyblogging by Harvard Business Review Blog
- Language Access in Healthcare: Infographic by Medicine and Technology
- Poor Americans in South Less Likely to Get Medical Care by HealthDay
- Now Track Your Stress Level through Android Smartphone App by TelecomTiger
- Why the PCORI Picks Matter by HealthWorks Collective
- Susan Kistler on Better Evaluation and Eight Free Training Webinars by AEA365
- A Healthy Dissatisfaction With Success by Innovation Excellence (The last line of this article struck a chord with me, for sure.)
- Scientists Can Pluck Images Out of Your Dreams by PopSci
- Baldness as a Signal of Heart Disease Risk by NYT Well
- The Key to Getting Motivated: Give Up by 99U
- 50 Ways to Integrate Art into Any Lesson by Innovation Excellence
- Why Baby Boomers and Millennials Make Great Teams by 99U
- The 5 Characteristics of Weak Leaders [Podcast] by Intentional Leadership
- Webinar: Translation of a Transitional Care Nursing Intervention for People with Serious Mental Illness by INQR
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Here’s a sampling of my informal reading this week:
- 3 Ways People Pretend to Work – at Home or the Office by Blanchard LeaderChat
- Worst Magazine Cover of the Year? Time’s Coverline is Wrong, Grandiose, and Cruel by Slate
- Following Your Bliss, Right Off the Cliff by The New York Times
- 100 Startling Facts About the Economy by The Motley Fool (Check out the #5 fact!!)
- Can Pizza Hut Boss Jens Hofma Make “The Hut” Cool Again? (a.k.a Why Pizza Hut UK’s New Boss Loves Clean Toilets) by Management Today
- Your Phone vs. Your Heart by The New York Times
- Nurse-led Delirium Screen Validated in Hospital Elderly by Internal Medicine News
- The 128-Byte Data Field That Could Save Lives and Billions of Dollars by Forbes
- Don’t Kick the Anthill by Lysa TerKeurst
- A Plan to Fix Cancer Care by The New York Times
- How Cultural Stereotypes Lure Women Away From Careers in Science by TIME
- What is Fair Payment for Outpatient Care? by HealthLeaders Media
What articles in the hydrant-force information stream caught your attention this week?
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The Article: Moneke, N. & Umeh, O. (2013). How leadership behaviors impact critical care nurse job satisfaction. Nursing Management, 44(1): 53-55.
The Big Idea: Nurses’ job satisfaction is correlated with many organizational, financial, and patient health outcomes. The authors of this article discuss analysis of 112 surveys completed by critical care nurses within a New York nonprofit healthcare organization. The surveys inquired of job satisfaction in light of five perceived leadership behaviors: enabling others to act, encouraging the heart, inspiring a shared vision, challenging the process, and modeling the way.
Survey Says!: The researchers discovered critical care nurse satisfaction is significantly and positively correlated with four of the five leadership behaviors – model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, and enable others to act. Interestingly, “encouraging the heart” was not correlated with critical care nurse job satisfaction.
Quotable: “And organizational empowerment [is] found to be directly associated with job satisfaction, particularly in areas where nurses feel they can impact policy [reference]…Studies suggest that leader behaviors can affect the work climate, which in turn affects financial results [reference]” (p. 53).
“Exemplary leaders model the way by making explicit that there are no gaps between ‘what they say they do and their explanations for their actions’ and ‘what they actually do and the real reasons for their actions [reference]‘” (p. 54).
So What?: For the most part, people leave organizations because of their leaders and managers. Leadership, leadership, leadership; it makes a difference. Organizations need to invest in their managers, and develop them as authentic leaders. It’s a retention strategy for both the managers and the frontline team members. Current leaders and managers should take note of these behaviors and develop them personally to impact their teams and their careers. High-performing teams don’t just happen, and when they do happen, people tend to look for the leader who created them. Be that leader.
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