There were two main goals of the Community. Firstly, we sought personal growth and development for each other and secondly, through each individual’s personal achievements, to gain confidence to lead in our Sigma chapter and consider leadership roles in our region. In this way, the Global Leadership Mentoring Community (GLMC2) encouraged benefits for each individual, their chapter, and society as a whole. Group discussions examined common issues and ideas, recognizing the similarities and commonalities across countries and contexts. Additionally, during several of the quarterly meetings, the co-ordinating team invited esteemed leaders from within the society, to share their own journeys so that both mentor and mentee could learn beyond the individual pairs and the community. Listening to a ‘real world’ global leader tell their story, with the opportunity to question, offered mentors and mentees the opportunity to witness global leadership in action.
Of the 16 pairs, each was drawn from a different geographical region such as partnering between Europe and Asia, North America and Oceania and between Asia and North America. Within each pair, community discussions identified many more commonalities than differences which we would like to share. Commonalities included each partner learning about cultural nuances between regions, learning to link across the time zones as well as patience and respect where English is not the individual’s first language. Use of leadership theories to extend the pair’s capacity and capability to lead was also a common theme, as well as practical strategies to implement such theories in the real world of practice, whether this practice is focused on education, service or research. Most pairs appreciated not only the confidential nature of the individual partnership which met monthly, but the ability to share and learn from the wider community quarterly, encouraging partners to affirm the progress that they had made. To date, much of the partnership energy has been focused on developing individual potential growth though few have sought specific opportunities within the society and beyond to support the mentee in taking up a leadership role within their chapter.
Members shared examples of leadership journeys and the positive influence of mentoring. Having a mentor-mentee relationship between Europe and Asia introduced both partners to the cultural nuances of nursing education in each of their two countries and helped both partners to understand the preparation for registered nurses across continents. The pair explored the concepts of thought-leadership and self-leadership when seeking to extend leadership capacity and capability, particularly in nurse education and strategies to develop nurse educators in extending ability as a global leader. Another pair from North America and Oceania found in the global leadership calls a vast community of professionals to engage in recognizing our commonalities and unique perspectives. Throughout the mentoring discussions, they discovered similar leadership experiences with teambuilding, crucial conversations and navigating culture change in our professional teams. Another mentor-mentee pair from Asia and North America explored international opportunities to strengthen leadership in clinical practice. The mentee was encouraged to apply for the leadership conference of the National Hartford Center of Gerontological Nursing Excellence. As a novice academic, the mentee submitted a roundtable proposal, to develop leadership from networking with global leaders and listening to their successful stories about being a global leader. Finally, one mentor-mentee pair described growth in articulating a position in the face of resistance. They described acquisition of leadership communication skills and how these skills prepared them for communicating when there was a challenge to nurse leadership. Emerging nurse leaders can potentially benefit from support and coaching from expert international mentors residing and working in a different country. The expert mentor becomes a safe and impartial sounding board without risk of conflict of interest or breach of confidentiality. Drawing on the mentor’s leadership expertise and experience, there was opportunity for the mentee to explore options for articulating a position and resolving issues effectively in spite of resistance. The opportunity to engage in deep discussion, active reflection and feedback was an essential aspect of this process beneficial to both mentee and mentor.
The value of relationships to develop nurse leaders and more generally, leadership capacity across the international workforce, is well documented (Spies, Gamer, & Prater, 2015, Rosser, Scammell, Bevan, & Hundley, 2017) and was raised by most pairs. If created well, Rosser (2018) and Spies et al. (2015) recognize that sound collaborations can foster cultural humility and a commitment to global engagement that will enhance our attitude of mutual respect and an openness and ability to effect positive change together. Across the community experience pairs connected, collaborated and catalyzed their global leadership potential to realize their aims in individual ways.
In conclusion, each pair cited examples of their journey together, where pairs were encouraged to critically reflect, share their resources and within the larger community, learn from each other and from their challenging conversations. Whilst theories and strategies have helped to ground the pairs in the available evidence, it has been the shared commitment and a receptive attitude to learn from each other that has made the program such a success.