Ruth Pearce, Head of School of Nursing, AHPs and Midwifery, reflects on how leadership styles have changed and developed in the NHS. Having been referred to previously as ‘too soft for management’, Ruth shares how this comment impacted her career trajectory. Ruth reflects on staying true to your leadership traits and values, not being afraid of failure, the importance of communication and networking and recognising that even small changes can have a real impact on our patients, their families and our staff.
3 Quotes to lead by...
1. BE TRUE TO YOUR LEADERSHIP TRAITS AND VALUES
‘You’re being unkind to yourself if you are adopting leadership traits that aren’t true to you or your values.’
Q. Think about your leadership style. What leadership traits do you possess?
2. DARE TO FAIL
‘I do think it’s given me the courage to dare to fail greatly, and I think that’s really important in my job that if I want to do something and I’m unsure about it, it won’t put me off even if I were to fail because we’ll never get anywhere if we don’t try and if we don’t push.’
Q. What plans can you implement to help reduce your fears of failure?
3. COMMUNICATE AND NETWORK
‘In terms of how you lead or implement change, it’s all about the sphere of you, and you will probably know in yourself what you want to do and what you think looks good and how you may want to change and to be able to do that you need to be able to build a bit of a network, you need to have those conversations with people….it’s all about the communication.’
Q. When did you last reach out and connect with someone new? What skills or advice could you offer to someone outside your speciality?
External Resources
11 Powerful Traits Of Successful Leaders
Overcoming Fear of Failure Facing Your Fear of Moving Forward
What is networking and why is it so important?
