Are You Ready for Leadership?

The Small Business Administration defines a leader as anyone who envisions and promotes his or her ideas. Leadership in any field is a lifelong learning process. Good leaders constantly strive to become better, to empower others, and to facilitate change (Senge 1990). Whether or not you are a natural-born leader, with commitment and practice you can develop your leadership skills.

The Leadership Aptitudes and Leadership Readiness self assessment tools that follow will help you identify your strengths and decide what you need to work on to reach your leadership goals. Strategies for developing your leadership skills are also included, along with links to sources of additional information about leadership development.

My Leadership Aptitudes

Use this checklist to self-assess your leadership readiness and determine what skills you will need to work on to reach your leadership goals. Check off your current strengths, then click Submit for a personal summary.


Communication

Verbally articulate
Articulate on paper
Able to get your point across
Eager to hear & understand another’s point of view
Able to stay connected to other people

Commitment

Giving of yourself personally and professionally
Good at listening to your inner voice
Good at getting involved
Good at staying involved

Lifelong Learning

Able to use technology
Able to create a learning environment for yourself and others

Management

Good at setting priorities
Able to plan ahead
Capable of making change happen

Personal Style

Able to balance professional and private life
Self-confident
You have a good sense of timing
You have a good sense of humor

Risk Taking

Willing to get involved at any level
Known for thinking “big”
Willing to fail and begin again
Able to cope with change

Willingness to Collaborate

You respect diversity
You want to build teams
Willing to share power
Willing to mentor

Submit

Source: Adapted from Hanson, C., Boyle,J., Hatmaker, D., & Murrray, J. (1999). Finding your voice as a leader. Washington, DC: American Academy of Nursing.

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Leadership Readiness Assessment

These questions -- derived from Kouzes and Posner (2002) -- will help you determine how well you are positioned for taking a leadership role.

  • How certain am I of my own conviction about the vision and values of my organization?
  • What gives me the courage to continue in the face of uncertainty and adversity?
  • How will I handle disappointments, mistakes, and setbacks?
  • What are my strengths and weaknesses?
  • What do I need to do to improve my abilities to move the organization forward?
  • How solid is my relationship with my constituents?
  • How can I keep myself motivated and encouraged?
  • What keeps me from giving up?
  • Am I the right one to be leading at this very moment? Why?
  • How much do I understand about what is going on in the organization and the world in which it operates?
  • How prepared am I to handle the complex problems that now confront my organization?
  • What are my beliefs about how people ought to conduct the affairs of our organization?
  • Where do I think the organization ought to be headed over the next ten years?

Source: Kouzes, J.M., Posner, B.Z. (2002). Leadership: the Challenge.
San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.

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Strategies for Developing Leadership Skills

  • Take educational leadership seminars or graduate leadership courses.
  • Work with role models and mentors.
  • Work in community-based projects.
  • Run for graduate Student Government office or leadership positions in local professional organizations; serve on boards and coalitions.
  • Keep up-to-date on developments in the health professions.

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For more information:

Leadership Development from the Small Business Administration
http://www.sba.gov/managing/leadership/development.html
Additional reading about qualities of a good leader, differences between a leader and a manager, and specific advice on how to develop in specific areas of leadership.

The Center for the Health Professions: Focus on Leadership
http://futurehealth.ucsf.edu/NursingResource/Default.aspx?alias=Leadership
Leadership training and networking resources for healthcare and science professionals.

Leadership for Executives in the Health Professions (LEAP)
http://www2.mc.duke.edu/docme/mdleader/hcarelinks.htm
Online healthcare and resources page from LEAP, an intensive leadership and management skills training course offered by the Office of Continuing Medical Education at the Duke School of Medicine.

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