Any organization is a triad consisting of leaders and followers joined in a common purpose. The purpose is the atomic glue that binds us. It gives meaning to our activities.
Followers and leaders both orbit around the purpose; followers do not orbit around the leader.
Courageous Followership recognizes that to be effective at almost every level of an organization, individuals need to play both the leader and follower role adeptly.
Courageous Followership offers a model for the follower role that provides dynamic support for leaders but does not hesitate to constructively speak truth to power. It also offers a model of Courageous Leadership that creates the conditions in which it is easier for followers to speak the truth as they see it and for leaders to give appropriate consideration to what they are being told. It offers a developmental path to true partnership between leaders and followers in the service of the organization’s mission.
Adapted From Courageous Followership: Standing Up For and To Our Leaders (https://new.courageousfollower.net)
Success in the face of current economic challenges in healthcare demands that front line healthcare leaders develop a unique skill-set enabling them to drive measurable improvement against published standards. The ability to influence change has always been central to the success of any healthcare endeavor and more so in the current environment. Now leadership and management structures must also change to accommodate this new reality.
The Department Supervisor Role is an advanced front line nursing leadership position with higher accountability and a deeper, more intensive leadership focus than traditional nursing unit leadership or charge positions of the past. The Department Supervisor functions within the nursing unit as role model, liaison, and resource person, maximizing the skills and strengths of staff through delegation, prioritizing and coordinating assignments and team decision-making. The overall goal of a Department Supervisor, through intelligently managing change, representing unwavering commitment to personal growth and professional development, is to build within the nursing unit a core culture of accountability, responsibility and excellence in patient care.
