The Phases of Leadership and Your Leadership Brand

Health care today looks nothing like it did even 10 years ago. Traditional leadership roles are being redefined. New opportunities are emerging. New possibilities are being created. Because as an industry, health care is not merely changing, it is being fundamentally transformed. For nurse leaders, this new transformational reality can open doors beyond traditional hospital and health care system roles. Yet, often nurse leaders are unsure about how to begin to move up the leadership ladder or into non-traditional leadership roles—many of which are outside hospital settings.

Leaders pass through six phases of leadership (Charan, Drotter & Noel, 2000) from managing self to managing others to managing an enterprise. The leader must know themselves, their values, competencies and areas for improvement. Clearly identifying innate strengths is an important part of defining a leadership brand. What results is an image or perception that clearly identifies what the leader wants to be known for. Leadership brands are outward focused and are about delivering results. If the leader does not define their brand, then they are vulnerable and more susceptible that their brand with be defined by others. 

Every leadership brand is an asset that requires specific attention and is not static; it evolves in response to the different expectations faced at different times in your career. While moving through the phases of leadership, the leader emphasizes different competencies. These attributes must be honed in communications, behaviors that reflect who the leader is, presentations, perceived health and wellness, appearance, and how one dresses for a leadership role. The nurse leader must ensure that everything about them helps reinforce their leadership brand, even the use of social media. What results is that external audiences receive a consistent image of the leader reflecting the total experience of the relationship that others have with the leader. This session will define the phases of leadership and how to define and manage one's leadership brand.