It Takes a Village and a Plan: Leadership Development of Novice Faculty through a Team Project

The purpose of this presentation is to demonstrate the use of a team project in the leadership development of novice nursing faculty.

The successful transition of expert nurse clinicians into nurse faculty leaders requires an intentional, structured individualized leadership development plan, the support of the academic community and the relationship of an experienced nurse leader that serves as a mentor. The Sigma Theta Tau Nurse Faculty Leadership Academy (NFLA) program uses a team leadership project and mentoring to advance nursing education through the leadership development of novice nurse faculty. (Sigma Theta Tau International, 2015) Through the process of leading a project, the novice faculty member practices leadership skills and reflects on personal leadership attributes. Successes and obstacles in the leading of the project and strategies for responding to difficulties are shared with the leadership mentor and NFLA faculty advisor, a Triad relationship.

The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership (Kouzes & Posner, 2012) were used as the leadership model in the creation of the team project. The practice of “Model the Way” was selected to clarify the values of the leader and a “Shared Vision” in the recruitment of team members. “Encouraging the Heart” became important in sustaining the project through the obstacles and challenges encountered along the way. The outcomes of positive leadership practices were elicited from a faculty observer, academic leadership, individual self-reflection, pre and post results of the Leadership Practices Inventory (Leadership Challenge, 2015) and most importantly, project team members. 

The team assembled for this project included an experienced faculty member, a new faculty member, and a nurse educator. The team developed a standardized web-based scenario to assess the clinical reasoning skills of nurse practitioner students. The leadership development process in creating, leading, and implementing the project will be presented.