Running Head: LEADERSHIP ASSESSMENT

Leadership Assessment Paper

NUR 4144: Professional Role Development: Servant Leadership
Bon Secours Memorial College of Nursing
Shannon Ward
October 19, 2015

On my honor, I have neither given nor received aid on this assignment or test, and I pledge that
I am in compliance with the BSMCON Honor System. Shannon Ward

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Leadership Assessment Paper

The Student Leadership Practices Inventory is a great tool to evaluate how one views
them self as a leader and how others view them as a leader. In order to have a leader there must
be a team. The content discussed in this paper is an example of how the leader of a team should
practice. Encouraging the heart was the highest self-assessment score. This does not surprise me
because I am firm believer that encouraging a persons heart can make a huge difference in the
work place and home life. I make it a point to encourage others even when I need
encouragement. I find that when I encourage others, I also encourage myself. Encouraging the
heart is definitely the practice that I am most comfortable with because as a servant leader, I am
continuously recognizing others accomplishments. When others feel that their hard work has
paid off and are recognized, they not only feel encouraged, but encourage others. Praising others
for their accomplishments and achievements encourages the persons heart to continue to do well
(Kouzes & Posner, 2013). Encouraging the heart is like the train effect, if one person
encourages someone than the person that was encouraged will encourage another, and the cycle
continues. As a leader you must start the train and ensure that the spirit of encouragement is
passed to each team member. Encouraging the heart fosters interpersonal relationships among
the group, which will the team effectively work together (Kouzes & Posner, 2013).
Enabling others to act was the highest peer-assessment score. Even though this leadership
practice was different from the self-assessment leadership practice it does not surprise me
because both practices go hand and hand. I am not the most comfortable with this leadership
practice, but I practice this more than I realize. In order to enable others to act you must first
encourage them. The work of leaders is making people feel strong, capable, informed, and

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connected (Kouzes & Posner, p. 14, 2013). This statement means encouraging others to carry
out the goal of the team is the leaders job. Enabling others to act includes strengthening others
by improving self-determination and developing competence (Kouzes and Posner, 2013).
Strength not only comes from being enabled by yourself or others, but also being encouraged to
have the strength to accomplish your goals. Part of the concept of enabling others to act is
fostering a relationship with the team. The team must know that the leader is vested and willing
to collaborate.
Encouraging the heart is the leadership practice that I am most comfortable with. This
practice means a lot to me because I am a senior in nursing school and due to the many words of
encouragement from family, friends, instructors, coworkers, and even strangers, I will be
graduating in December. Without the words of encouragement that I received daily I would have
not been a successful in nursing school. I encourage others because of all the encouragement I
receive and the difference I know it makes. As a leader I feel this is one of the most important
characteristics to have, which means it should be a habit. Your character is essentially the sum
of your habits (Blanchard & Hodges, p.154, 2005).
In the literature encouraging the heart means praising others for their accomplishments
and achievements (Kouzes & Posner, 2013). Showing appreciation which facilitates a spirit of
community is a behavior that should be shown by the leader. This practice carried out by the
leader, encourages the team to do their best. The leader also genuinely cares about the team and
uplifts them during hard times. A leader must know how to uplift their team. Recognition of
individual contributions by the leader keeps the team determined to accomplish the goals. The
leader should also encourage each team member to share the rewards they have received so that
others can be empowered. Team leaders have to act in the best interest of the team and not

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themselves. The behaviors and actions of a team leader must be selfless. The most persistent
barrier to leading like Jesus is a heart motivated by self-interest (Blanchard & Hodges, p.39,
2005). When a leader operates in a selfish manner the team lacks cohesiveness and therefore
does not operate as a team should. The fostering of interpersonal relationships will fail and each
member will seek personal gain. All of the behaviors of a leader mentioned in this paragraph
help a team work together as a unit.
The leadership behaviors that were most frequent in the inventory were praises people,
encourages others, and provides support and appreciation. All of these behaviors are components
of the leadership practice encourage the heart, which was the practice that I was most
comfortable with, the highest on the self-assessment score, and the second highest on the peerassessment score. These behaviors are a part of who I am. I practice these not only as a leader,
but also in my everyday life. The behavior that showed up the least was takes initiative in
experimenting. Right now as a student nurse I do not like to take risks. I am not confident
enough in myself to take initiative when experimenting. I do not hesitate when a new opportunity
arises to learn, but I will not be the first to try an experiment. I want to make sure that the
experiment works before trying it.
I demonstrate the leadership practice of encouraging the heart in a number of ways. As a
PCT on the Pediatrics Unit I train new PCT employees. During the training process I
continuously encourage the new PCT. I recognize and praise them for the tasks they are
performing well and encourage them not to give up on difficult tasks. I am sure to communicate
to the new PCT that I am available whenever they need help or need to ask questions. I also ask
for their feedback and creative ideas on performing various tasks. As the preceptor I value their
opinions. I also demonstrate the leadership practice of encouraging the heart as a nursing student

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by continuously encouraging my fellow classmates, which I believe is very important. I try to see
the good in each situation and encourage others to do the same. If all I can give is a smile, I find
a way to encourage others. I am excited about others accomplishments, even when I dont feel
accomplished. A lot of times, even when I am not sure about a situation, I try and remain hopeful
for myself and others.
Challenging the process is the leadership practice that I would like to use more
frequently. I am a person that agrees with the saying If it is not broke, then why fix it. I can
sometimes be resistant to change because I do not know how things will turn out or if the change
will be successful. As a leader I need to learn to take risks, understand that they come with
failures and mistakes, and accept them as a learning experience (Kouzes & Posner, 2013). In
order for me to become more comfortable with challenging the process, I need to be more
confident in the skills and knowledge I have acquired throughout life. This applies especially to
nursing. I am new to the profession and because of this I doubt myself a lot. The majority of the
time when I do not go with my gut feeling I am wrong. I have to trust my first instinct and
proceed.
My immediate action plan to incorporate the leadership practice of challenging the
process is to finish Immersion with an increase in my confidence level. After this I will be able
to challenge the process with the way I view and handle situations as a senior nursing student.
My long- term action plan is to graduate nursing school, accept a new graduate position, pass the
NCLEX, and finish the new grad orientation/residency program. After completing these steps, I
be willing to challenge the process as a new graduate nurse due to the increase in confidence. I
will have the confidence and not shy away from new experiments. I will even strive to be a
leader when challenging the process with various experiments as a new graduate nurse. I know

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that I have improved in this leadership skill when I am willing to challenge the process and
accept failure as a learning opportunity.

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Works Cited
Blanchard, K. & Hodges, P. (2005). Lead like Jesus. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2013). The Student Leadership Practices Inventory
(2nd ed.). Self- Instrument (2 Page Insert). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass