A Strategic Leadership Plan: A Personal Vision, Mission, and SMART Goals - Essay Sample

Introduction

Leadership is an individual's ability to guide an organization, teams, or other individuals (Ali, Jangga, Ismail, Kamal, & Ali, 2015). It can also be defined as having an influence on people's beliefs and behaviors. This essay will describe my strategic leadership plan using such specific subtopics as a personal leadership vision, my mission, and SMART goals.

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Personal Leadership Vision

I envision being a nurse practitioner in my hospital in the next 10 or 20 years. In the DISC personality assessment, compliance was one of the areas I received the highest scores. Thus, I will be able to satisfactorily fulfill the traditional roles of a nurse practitioner, like implementing evidence-based practice (EBP) and ensuring high-quality care (Kueny, Shever, Mackin, & Titler, 2015). Indeed, one of my distinct leadership strengths is the commitment to ensuring quality and accuracy. In this leadership position, I would like to be highly influential at the community, national and international levels. As part of my commitment to compliance and quality improvement, I need to engage in clinical research to shape healthcare policies in my hospital and facilities across America and internationally.

My Mission as a Leader in the Nursing Profession

In the position of a nurse practitioner or any other position I will hold, I aim to be a renowned quality improvement specialist. Besides engaging in clinical research alluded above, I always need to provide emotional support and ensure adequate staffing of nursing units and other environmentally favorable factors as they mitigate nurses' burnout, a significant prerequisite for quality care, and patient safety (Guirardello, 2017). Additionally, I aim to incorporate patients' views on improvement needs in the hospital because relying on nurses' opinions exclusively can miss some crucial details regarding care expectations (Calong, Soriano, & MHPEd, 2018). 2018). In support of that fact, Soliman, Kassam, and Ibrahim (2015) argued that patient satisfaction is the most suitable indicator of the quality of care. This mission aligns precisely with my leadership characteristics like a conscientious passion for quality and accuracy to the extent I appear like a perfectionist. The book Jesus CEO provides a vital framework for reflecting on why I can fulfill my mission. In particular, one of the self-mastery strengths that made Jesus such an effective leader was an unrelenting commitment to the cause (Jones, 2001). Jesus understood that He had been sent to save the world. Thus, he did not give up, even when faced with difficulties. For instance, Jesus withstood temptations in the wilderness and crucifixion (Jones, 2001). I believe I have adequate commitment to accomplish the mission. In the DISC personality assessment stated earlier, steadiness scores were among the highest, which indicates a lower probability of changing my stance on relying on EBP. The test also indicated that I conscientiously work toward ensuring quality and accuracy. Thus, I seem to follow Jesus' direction of commitment.

Jesus was also a visionary leader since, despite the difficulties; He focused on accomplishing the mission of saving the world (Jones, 2001). As I stated above, I wish to steer remarkable improvements in the nursing profession and healthcare. This ability to embrace the big picture will also inspire me to accomplish. Additionally, Jesus guarded His energy as evidenced in Luke 8:43-46 in New International Version Bible when He refused to engage in meaningless debates with the people who wanted to undermine His mission. Like Jesus, I will need to check my ego as it might contradict my leadership abilities (Jones, 2001). Lastly, I can overcome my fears to accomplish my mission. Jesus exhibited fears at different times, which could have hindered His mission. However, Jesus' ability to overcome the fears led Him to success.

SMART Goals

The mission described above necessitates the incorporation of some elements of transactional leadership, which as Ali et al. (2015) alluded, is the best leadership approach for enhancing quality work culture. It also calls for some transformational leadership elements, in which a leader encourages followers to innovate to fulfill certain expectations. However, some of my leadership weaknesses may undermine my transformational intentions (Ali et al., 2015). Some of the weaknesses identified in the SWOT analysis are lack of confidence, being soft-spoken, shy, reluctance to delegate tasks, and inadequate experience, which might hinder my intention of being a renowned quality improvement leader.

Goals

I have to improve my confidence so that I can initiate quality improvement without fear. Also, transformation requires effective communication characterized by clearness, correctness, courtesy, and respectfulness. I also need to have substantial experience in the intensive care unit and emergency room and pediatric operations, as it will boost my chances of ascending to administrative positions. Lastly, I aim to familiarize myself with delegating tasks as it is a significant element of transformation (Jones, 2001).

Certainly, the strategies to strengthen my leadership style should follow the example set by Jesus. Jesus took actions to improve His leadership, including training and creating relationships with people from different backgrounds (Jones, 2001). Jesus remained active for the entire time He was on earth, including teaching disciples and followers in Galilee and other areas. Besides, whenever faced with fear, Jesus prayed to His father for perseverance (Jones, 2001). Building relationships with followers limits resistance and collaboration in implementing strategic actions. Jesus built relationships by making sure that followers shared His vision and understood their role in facilitating it (Jones, 2001). The following table represents the actions toward the goals and their corresponding timeline and possible impacts. Improvement Actions

Conclusion

The discussion indicates that people can implement specific actions to strengthen their leadership skills. In my case, while I have strengths like steadiness, predisposition to compliance, and commitment to quality and accuracy, I lack confidence, experience, and adequate communication skills. However, I can improve through networking with other leaders, seeking mentorship, increasing my engagement in ICU, emergency room and pediatric operations, and seeking support from transformational leaders in my network.

References

Ali, N. M., Jangga, R., Ismail, M., Kamal, S. N. I. M., & Ali, M. N. (2015). Influence of leadership styles in creating quality work culture. Procedia Economics and Finance, 31, 161-169. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(15)01143-0

Calong, K. A. C., Soriano, G. P., & MHPEd, R. N. (2018). Caring behavior and patient satisfaction: Merging for satisfaction. International Journal of Caring Sciences, 11(2), 697-703. https://www.internationaljournalofcaringsciences.org/docs/9_soriano_original_10_2.pdf

Guirardello, E. D. B. (2017). Impact of critical care environment on burnout, perceived quality of care and safety attitude of the nursing team. Revista latino-americana de enfermagem, 20(5):685-95. doi: 10.1590/1518-8345.1472.2884

Jones, L. B. (2001). Jesus, CEO: Using ancient wisdom for visionary leadership. Hachette UK.

Kueny, A., Shever, L. L., Mackin, M. L., & Titler, M. G. (2015). Facilitating the implementation of evidence-based practice through contextual support and nursing leadership. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 7, 29-39. doi: 10.2147/JHL.S45077

Soliman, H. M. M., Kassam, A. H., & Ibrahim, A. A. (2015). Correlation between patients' satisfaction and nurses' caring behaviors. Journal of Biology, Agriculture and Healthcare, 5(2), 30-41. https://www.internationaljournalofcaringsciences.org/docs/9_soriano_original_10_2.pdf