Welcome to today's plenary session, which will be followed by the continue the conversation session. Please welcome Dr. Heather Meissen. Hello, I am Heather Meissen, and it is my pleasure to introduce to you today, Miss Beth Wathen, who will present this year's Norma J. Shoemaker Honorary Lecture. Miss Wathen is a pediatric nurse with more than 35 years of experience in varied leadership roles. She received her bachelor's degree from Bloomsburg University and a master's degree as a nurse practitioner from the University of Utah. She has been a clinical practice specialist in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Children's Hospital Colorado, Aurora, since 2005. She oversees the PICUES Quality Program and serves as organizational lead for the Code RRT Program and the Sepsis Task Force, and she is the nursing lead for the Clinical and Operational Effectiveness Council. At the national level, Miss Wathen serves on the Steering Committee for Children's Hospitals Associations, Improving Pediatric Sepsis Outcomes Collaborative, and is the co-lead for the ICU Work Group. She has also served in a number of leadership roles for the American Association of Critical Care Nurses, including chair of the National Teaching Institute's Annual Conference Planning Committee in 2015, a director on AACN's Board of Directors for three years, a one-year term as president-elect, and is currently serving a one-year term as president of AACN. Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming Miss Beth Wathen as she presents Cultivating Leadership from Within. Hi everyone. Thank you for having me. I am so honored to have this opportunity to talk about leadership development with such a diverse group of healthcare professionals. I'm sure many of you are already accomplished leaders in your own right, but I'm a firm believer that we're all works in progress, and so I hope that all of you can find something that you'll take away from this talk. As the title of this presentation alludes to, IVU leadership development is very much an internal process, understanding what drives you, understanding what kind of leaders inspire you, and understanding what kind of leader you want to be. These are really essential elements if you want to advance your leadership, and they'll provide you with a real solid foundation on which to build on. So over the next 30 minutes or so, I'd like to first explore the importance of understanding your core purpose. This is what will fuel your passion, and then I'm going to touch on some of my thoughts on leadership styles and characteristics or qualities of successful leaders. My intent is to plant the seed that this is really for you to understand and explore where your strengths lie, what qualities you embody, and what qualities inspire you. And finally, I'll talk about some strategies to consider when laying out a plan to advance your leadership development. And these are the strategies that I've found invaluable. You may have other ones as well, and that's okay. There is absolutely no one right way or wrong way. Finding your purpose. Understanding your why. Understanding where your passion lies is really fundamental, not only for a successful leadership journey, but also for an enriching career and a fulfilling life. So when I say finding your purpose, I'm really talking about what fills your cup, because I believe that the most successful and influential leaders are the ones who truly have a passion for what they're doing and a passion for leading. And it's that passion that inspires others. So I want to share just a little bit about my journey, because it's really how I found my passion and my purpose. So you'll notice throughout this talk that most of the slides have images of nature, and I'll share why in just a second. When I was younger and early in my nursing career, I had this image of my life, my career, and it was very much like these beautiful alleys of trees. I viewed my life and my career as this linear path, straight path, ordered, predictable, beautiful, no surprises. And I actually thought I would have control over all of it. I think many of us picture our lives this way when we're younger or new in your career. But in reality, this is often what our paths end up looking like. Our lives and careers typically don't follow the path we envisioned when we're younger. They aren't straight and predictable. In reality, they're almost always crooked, messy, and filled with unexpected twists and turns. And my path was no different. Shortly after starting my first nurse practitioner position 30 years ago, my first husband was killed in a tragic accident. Losing my husband sent my life and my career off in a completely different direction. It was like a tornado came through and destroyed that beautiful alley of trees that I had envisioned. And the grief from that loss led me to walk away from my nursing career for a couple of years. I did find my way back over time. I found my way back through taking time in nature, exploring the Rocky Mountains where I lived, leading cycling tours, and even getting a degree in landscape architecture. Hence, the images of nature throughout this talk were really part of my healing journey, and they represent a passion of mine. And I find myself making analogies to nature in my mind all the time. So bear with me. This journey and departure from this straight life course that I had envisioned was also a way back for me. I understand now that sometimes you have to walk away in order to find your way. And before I walked away, I can tell you I was not passionate about nursing or my career. I didn't feel like it was something that I was meant to do. It felt like a safe career choice. But it was by walking away that I realized that as much as I loved beautiful alleys of trees and designing outdoor spaces or being out in nature, that it was nursing and the feeling that I get at the end of the day that I'm truly making a difference in other people's lives. That's what really fills my cup. And I know that sounds cliche, but walking away made me realize what I was missing doing those other things and what I wanted or needed to feel fulfilled in my career. So now I've learned to embrace this crooked LA version of life. It may be messy and unpredictable, but there's also hidden opportunities behind the obstacles or bends in the path. And there's a beauty there in the unexpected. And I've learned to embrace that. I've learned to look for the beauty and the opportunity in unexpected places. So I would encourage all of you to think about what fuels your passion. What fills your cup. Pursue it and embrace it because it's that passion that you bring to the table that translates into inspiring and influential leadership. So whether you're a physician, an advanced practice provider, a nurse, or a pharmacist, we all spend years of training on becoming expert clinicians in our chosen fields. But I would wager that not many of us envisioned being a leader or really gave much thought to that in our training. In fact, I bet that most of us didn't really have any focused training on leadership. I know I didn't. Yet healthcare is just rife with all types of leadership opportunities. And when I think about healthcare right now, I think it's even more imperative that we grow and foster passionate, inspiring, and visionary leaders to guide us through these times and towards our new future. So maybe thinking about leading leadership opportunities hasn't surfaced for you in your journey yet, or maybe you're at that point where you're thinking, what next? Either way, understanding what characteristics, those styles and qualities of leaders that resonate for you is vital sensemaking we should all do. No matter where you see your career going, I believe if you take the time to cultivate your leadership development, it'll pay off. The skills you hone provide a solid foundation, whether you aspire to be the next CMO or CNO at your organization, or if you desire to advance as an expert clinician and remain in a more clinically focused role. By doing the work to understand your purpose and your passion, and to understand what characteristics and styles you admire in a leader, and to know where your strengths and opportunities lie will allow you to stand out as a leader. I view leadership as more of a way of being and less about a title or a role that you hold. In healthcare, I think we think about medical directors and section heads and clinical managers as being the leader. I would challenge all of us to broaden your thinking on that. Think about who you look up to. Think about who others tend to listen to. Oftentimes you'll find that those people are not always the ones with leadership titles, but they hold power and influence over others. I would argue that they're very much leaders in their own right. Think about what makes them stand out as a leader. There are countless books, references, podcasts, TED Talks out there on leadership styles, government leaders, autocratic leaders, laissez-faire, transactional, transformative. It's all a little bit overwhelming, honestly, when you start to read or dive into this in your leadership development. Remarkably, there's also a lot we can learn about leadership styles of wildlife, even. Take elephant herds. Elephant herds are led by a matriarch who leads by walking alongside others, teaching others skills. She grows and mentors her replacement. She nurtures community. She is chosen by the herd because of her leadership skills, her ability to problem solve, her compassion, her social intelligence, her building of community, and so on. What's my point? Whether you follow Kevin Cashman or Simon Sinek or other leadership gurus, or if you prefer to read about leadership in the animal kingdom, it's important each of us understands the leadership styles that resonate with you. There's no right or wrong style. I would suggest looking to those leaders that have inspired you. What style of leadership do they embody? What was compelling about their leadership style that drew you in? Think about yourself, and how would you describe your leadership style? Even more granular and closely related to leadership styles are leadership characteristics or qualities. For me, this is really what matters, and I think that what characteristics you embody probably directly influences what leadership style resonates most with you. There's countless characteristics we might attribute to successful leaders. These are really just a few examples I threw up here, but think about what characteristics you feel are most critical for a successful leader to have, and which ones resonate with you. Now, I would challenge you to think about how someone would describe you. How would you describe yourself? Really look within to honestly assess what strengths or qualities you have that would make you a successful leader. This is really the fundamental work I think we should all do. By understanding our strengths, we gain confidence. By understanding our opportunities for improvement, we continue to grow. It's a journey where all work's in progress, and our strengths and our areas for growth continue to change over time. But doing this important self-reflection is an essential step in understanding who you are or who you could be as a leader. So this oak tree is just simply awe-inspiring to me. And so what are those qualities in a leader that are awe-inspiring to you? Who are those people who have real influence, and what is it about them? Reverent power is a form of personal power in leadership, a form of reverence that is gained really from how others perceive you. It's the ability of a leader to influence a follower because of the follower's admiration and respect. Reverent power is about inspiration and influence and trust, and it's something that's earned. Reverent power, as you might assume, is not about hierarchical leadership structures. It's really a form of personal power. I imagine all of us can think of colleagues or leaders you know who hold reverent power with others. Reverent leadership is not about a title or a role. It's about having those qualities that inspire and influence others. And in healthcare right now, I believe having the ability to inspire and influence others is essential. Who do you know who has reverent power, and what is it about them that gives them that power? What can you learn from them? So we've talked about the importance of understanding where your passion and your purpose lie, and also the value of self-reflection and understanding what are those characteristics and leadership styles that resonate most with you. So now let's shift, and we'll talk about some strategies to grow or cultivate your leadership development, or to take your leadership skillset to the next level. The strategies I'm going to share are really ones that I have found incredibly valuable on my leadership journey. I've read the books, and I've listened to the TED Talks, but honestly, I find a lot of them are a little overwhelming. And so in my own reflection, it's really the following strategies that I feel have been most successful, in allowing me to grow as a leader. So first, and we already talked about this a little bit, know your strengths. This is your power. This is about knowing what those characteristics are that you embody that would make you a successful leader. It took me a while to understand my strengths, and I think most of us tend to focus on our weaknesses, but I am always of opportunity, and I am certainly no different. It's really only been in the last decade that I've come to realize that some of the qualities that I had, always perceived as a weakness, were maybe actually my strengths and part of my power. So I'm an introvert, and as an introvert, and someone who is always on the quieter side, I tend to sit back and take things in. And I realize those qualities have made me a great listener. I think it's allowed me to see others' perspectives, and to be able to see the big picture. But it wasn't until I read Quiet by Susan Cain, that I learned to embrace my strengths as an introvert, and realize that that was part of my power. So whether you're an introvert, or an extrovert, or whatever you are on your leadership journey, do the important work of knowing and understanding your strengths. It's a win-win, because that will fuel your confidence, and you'll also understand what are those things, or qualities, you can still work on and nurture. Okay, second strategy. Without a doubt, if I didn't push myself to step outside my comfort zone, over and over throughout my career, I could guarantee you that I wouldn't be talking with you today, or have the incredible honor to serve as AACN's president. So take the leap, try something new, raise your hand, jump in. It's by stepping outside of your comfort zone, that doors will open, and opportunities will emerge. And you'll also find out so much about yourself in the process. I remember when I was new in my current role, almost 20 years ago, and I was scheduled to present at a national conference, first time ever. I was thrilled and excited, but completely, totally petrified. Just thinking about this presentation months ahead of time, elicited immediate heart palpitations for me. And without a doubt, I was completely out of my comfort zone, but I did it. And then I did it again, and again. And soon a confidence grew, and it became easier and easier. So think about ways that you could push yourself outside of your comfort zone. And think about what that looks like to you, and embrace it, and try it, give it a shot. So I love aspen trees, and aspen groves. In Colorado, they're everywhere, and I just think they're so beautiful. But the interesting thing about aspen trees is that while aspens grow as individual trees, underground, their roots are actually connected and intertwined. They're actually one large collective organism. This is how I think about healthcare. How all of us are interconnected and interdependent on each other. With each of us having a critical role to play in the delivery of healthcare. So I think having the power and ability to nurture collaboration is an absolutely essential skill for healthcare leaders. Too often in the past, we've worked in silos, whether it's within our own disciplines or within our own departments. And now more than ever, it's essential that we have leaders who foster collaboration, who ask who is not at the table, who can bring disparate groups to consensus, who can break down silos and build partnerships. This is so critical as we look to our future in these really transformational times. And so think about what skills you have that nurture and grow teamwork and collaboration. What lens do you bring to the table? And can you see outside your own lens to see others' perspectives? How do you bring diverse perspectives together and work towards common collaborative solutions? During these disruptive, often polarized and divisive times, the skill of collaboration is an absolutely essential one that we should all nurture. So we've all heard the saying that if a tree falls in the wood, does it make a sound if there's no one there to hear it? Well, I don't know the answer to that question, but I think this saying highlights a really important point and that's the power of listening. Successful leaders understand and hone their power of listening. They realize it's not about them, it's about those they are tasked with leading. And good leaders listen often and they listen deeply. And reverent leaders achieve their power not just by inspiring and influencing others, but by listening, which builds trust, creates safety and builds collaboration. So how do you hone your power of listening? Start by thinking, what kind of listener are you? Are you jumping in to complete someone else's sentence before they're finished speaking? Do you have a comment or a rebuttal ready before someone else has done? Perhaps clouding your ability to really listen to what they're saying? Or do you listen fully? Do you acknowledge what you're hearing? I understand what you're saying. Or it sounds like you have concerns with. Many of you have heard or may have heard of the acronym WAIT. Why am I talking? Wait. It's a great reminder for all of us to keep in the back of our heads, to pause and to remember to keep your emphasis on listening. One of the things I've learned through my journey is that in general, I'm an optimist. I tend to see the beauty and the light rather than the thunderstorms or the clouds. Desmond Tutu said, hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness. And I think that's an important quality for leaders in these times. Sometimes the storm clouds can overwhelm you and keep you from seeing that light. And right now in healthcare, it's easy to stay focused on the thunderstorms and the clouds, the overwhelming burden from this pandemic. But I think keeping your eyes on the horizon allows you to see past current hardships and barriers and envision the future beyond. In many ways, this is about perspective. We want leaders. We need leaders that can inspire hope, that can help others to see the horizon as well. Along the same lines as keeping your eyes on the horizon is finding opportunity in the chaos. This perhaps doesn't come natural for many people and can be a more difficult strategy or skill to acquire. These past two years with the pandemic have taken the definition of chaos to a whole new level, especially within healthcare. Yet despite such turbulent and challenging times, we've also seen incredible innovation and we've seen so many rise to the challenge. Over and over, we've seen those who have stepped forward to define new ways of providing care, opening up new units, to envision and create new staffing models. It's endless. And it's the leaders who have said, we can do this, we will find a way. Leaders who can see that sometimes the chaos can provide a chance to try something new, something different. And it's these visionary leaders who can see past the chaos that allows them to lead others to see past the chaos as well, to be able to envision new possibilities. Another leadership strategy I've relied on is finding those mentors along the way that have inspired and pushed me. That have inspired and pushed me. This doesn't have to be a formal mentorship partnership by any means. In fact, many of my most trusted mentors have been informal mentors, colleagues that I've sought out for advice, colleagues that I admire and trust and that I wanted to learn from. And it's often these formal or informal mentors who see things in us that we don't always see in ourselves. Whether we're talking strengths or perhaps opportunities. And I think a key component of successful mentorship partnerships is being able to establish an open, honest, two-way feedback channel. It's gotta be two ways. And that's simply essential. You don't want a mentor also that's gonna sugar coat everything for you or always tell you what you wanna hear. So look around in your circle or even outside of your circle. Who do you see as someone who might be an inspiring mentor for you? Seek them out and ask them. I guarantee that this partnership will be mutually beneficial for both the mentor and the mentee. Growing your network is another essential strategy for aspiring leaders. This is about relationship building. It's about cultivating relationships and networks that you can learn from and grow with throughout your career. And in our healthcare field, it provides many rich opportunities to grow your network. Whether it's through your training, through collaborations within your areas of research or practice, attending conferences such as this one, participating in national collaboratives, the opportunities are there. Another way is becoming involved with a professional organization such as SCCM. That's an excellent way to grow your network and it provides countless opportunities for involvement and leadership development if you choose. So the last strategy I'll share is about pursuing opportunity. Growing your network and pursuing opportunity go hand in hand, especially when we're talking about leadership development. If you wanna grow your leadership portfolio, raise your hand, put yourself out there and be a part of the solution. This is where involvement in professional organizations can really provide you with a powerful boost to your leadership development journey. They provide many opportunities to test and grow your leadership skills in ways, honestly, that you might not have a chance to do so in your day job. So if you're a volunteer for a work group, join the conference planning committee or is there a task force that looks interesting to you? Start small, just get involved. That was how I not only grew my network, but I found invaluable opportunities to advance as a leader. And it's also a chance to grow your big picture visioning and global thinking skills. So you're no longer just thinking about your department or your role. The narrative shifts to the bigger picture, to your profession. What does your profession need? What are the impacts of decisions at a broader healthcare system level? Pursuing leadership involvement in professional organizations is a win-win in my mind for everyone. It provides leadership growth opportunities for you and really impacts the professional organization and also potentially your own organization. So think about ways that you can pursue opportunities and get more involved. It's a fundamental step in building your leadership portfolio. So with that, I wanted to share just a few final brief take-home points for you as you think about next steps for your leadership development. First, know your purpose and your passion. This is what will provide your strength in tough times on your journey, and it will inspire you to reach higher on other times. Second, understand your power. Know where your strengths lie. Know what you bring to the table. Third, don't be afraid to be bold, to raise your hand, step forward, and stand out. And finally, embrace your journey. All of our paths are different, and I can guarantee very few, if any, are like the beautiful alays of trees that I had envisioned. But there is such beauty and opportunity on all of our paths, so be the leader that embraces their journey, and others will be sure to follow. Thank you so much. Ms. Wathen, thank you so much for that excellent presentation and for sharing your story with us today. I have a passion for workforce development and leadership development, and I just really enjoyed listening to your talk today. I have a few questions. I want to thank the SCCM membership for submitting a few questions as follow-up questions to continue the conversation. So first, how would you advise folks such as trainees or early career providers who are interested in growing their leadership skills, but they may not have access to mentorship opportunities? Where should they start? Well, I think there's opportunities in all of our work environments, honestly. I think it's about raising your hand and starting small, you know, join a committee, be a part if you identify a problem in your unit, be a part of the solution and figuring out how to solve it. And so I do think there's ways that people can start small, even if you don't have that big structure around you or clear mentors around you. And I think in this day and age, we have the option and the possibility of reaching beyond our immediate environment through technology. And so can you find someone in another healthcare setting that you can form a partnership with? A mentorship with? And so I think there's so many ways that you could start to, number one, start to get involved and then think outside the box as to what sort of mentors you could reach out to or benefit from learning from. That's great. You know, speaking of opportunities, what is one unexpected opportunity that turned into a leadership position for you? It seems that opportunities can come in all different types of packages. Yeah, they sure do. You know, honestly, I think one of the very first ones was when I was a charge nurse in our PICU and as part of being the charge nurse, I was part of our code team. And I remember responding to the first couple codes and they felt really chaotic. Nobody had a defined role and people were kind of running around. And so I raised my hand and I said, hey, would anybody mind if I tried to really start to choreograph this and figure out who's supposed to do what? And that was about 16 years ago. And lo and behold, a few years later, I'm running the organization-wide code committee and developing the RRT program. So just by trying to be a part of the solution for that one little problem, it opened so many doors in my career. I think that's a great place to start. I know that a lot of our health care entities could really use some help with our rapid response team. So I think that's a great place to start for folks. Tell me, this is an interesting question regarding our future. What does the leadership skills, what do you think that the leadership skills that will be most relevant in the coming years? What should we be trying to aspire to? Well, I think I touched a little bit on this, but I really believe that we need leaders that can see through the chaos and the tumultuous times and to be able to envision the possibilities. So really, we need visionary leaders. And really what we want are leaders that can help us to shape our environment and our future in health care, rather than letting the environment shape us and how we work. And so I think we also right now need leaders that are empathetic and that are optimistic and can help people find hope and feel hope about the future. We know that we all have a lot of healing to do over the next couple of years. And so I do think that's an essential skill for leaders. These are just transformational times right now. All the changes that were already in place in health care, it's always been a dynamic environment, have just been accelerated because of this pandemic. And so we really need those leaders that are willing to embrace the changes that have been accelerated over the past couple of years and help us shape what our future looks like moving forward. I think that's great. I liked how you mentioned in your talk that despite the challenges, we've seen new innovation. And as you mentioned, leaders who are going to embrace that new innovation and carry it forward, such an important skill to have. So thank you for that. Tell us, how would you advise someone who's in a new leadership role who might be experiencing some imposter syndrome? Oh, that's a very real thing. You know, we talk about imposter syndrome on our board of directors and for new board members when they first join and, you know, everybody's an accomplished leader, but you sit down at the table where everybody is equally accomplished. It's very easy to start to question and doubt yourself. And so I would say go back to what I talked about, which is knowing your strengths, because that's your power. And I think if you hold on to what you know about yourself and what you're bringing to the table, I think it gives you a confidence. And so I don't have the magic answer to that because we all have our moments of self-doubt. But it's what I've tried to come back to all the time when I feel those moments of self-doubt is, what am I bringing to the table? Oh, yeah, I'm supposed to be here, you know? Right, right. And having a good mentor to help you remember, so important. Absolutely. Let's talk about our next generation and specifically regarding teaching. Should we be incorporating leadership skills and leadership development into educational preparation and curricula for all health care providers? Oh, absolutely. I think it's, I think we need to shift. And I think it's starting to. But, you know, for so long, the emphasis has always been on those essential clinical skills. And I think the leadership skills and concepts are so critical, not just if you aspire to be in a leadership role, but really as part of being a team player and helping to be a part of the solution within your own unit. And so I also think there's an opportunity there to look at how we can do that across disciplines, you know, in an interdisciplinary approach in the training environment. You know, as I talked about, I think in health care, it's so everybody, every discipline has such a critical role to play in the delivery of health care. And so how cool would that be if we started incorporating leadership training and leadership concepts early in your training career? And we brought together medical students and nursing students and pharmacy students to talk about that. Yeah, interprofessional education, I think this is one of those areas that could definitely be taught across the professions. And, you know, I think you touched on it a little bit in your conversation about how leadership doesn't necessarily carry a title, but it's more of a behavior. How do we teach that to our next generation that it's a behavior and not necessarily a job? I think it's all part of starting early in their career and really changing the narrative of what people envision a leader being. I know so many leaders at the bedside delivering care who people look up to them. I look up to them, you know, but it's a cultural thing, too, about how we talk about leaders in our organizations and who's a leader and who's not. And so I think we have work to do overall as professions to help to change that narrative and to really allow people to see that leadership is about the qualities that you embody and that others see in you and less about your title. That's great. Let's talk a little bit about conflict in leadership. You know, much of our health care leadership is about negotiating a balance between the different motivations of your team and of your leaders. How do effective leaders handle these types of conflicts? Yeah, that is such an important question right now, I feel. And we've been hearing in our current environment that I think there's an erosion of trust between people at the front line and leadership. And I think how you deal with that and address that is by being present, by being transparent. I think a lot of times if you don't know what all the things that are going into the hard decisions that we sometimes need to make, people make the wrong assumptions about it. So I think transparency around that. I think people need to be a part or feel like they have a part of a voice at the table, really, and a part in the decision making process. And so I think those are ways that you can help narrow that gap. And leaders need to let their teams know that they see them, that they hear them, and that they're working for them and they understand where they're at. And I feel right now more than ever before, there's a little bit of that growing chasm there that we really all need to focus on trying to bridge that divide. That's great. I completely agree. Transparency is definitely key. Communication, trust, all very important concepts for managing the conflict at the bedside. Tell me what, despite the challenges and the conflicts, what has motivated you to keep going through your leadership roles? What has helped you to continue to push into leadership opportunities? I think initially, earlier in my career, it was about having a voice, and I think it's probably been driven because I don't know that nursing has always had a voice at the table. And so I know that for me, that's been one of my motivating things that has led me to step forward and volunteer and get involved. And then I would say, as I've matured further along on this leadership journey, what is so motivating is sort of that shift where it's really about who you can bring along on the journey and who you can build up and support. And boy, that just brings you great joy when you can see something in someone else and tap them on the shoulder and help them to to start this leadership journey. So I would say those are probably my two big motivating factors. I think that's great. I agree. Finding joy and helping mentor new leaders is definitely something that drives me as well. So, you know, I really appreciate having the conversation with you today and listening to your lecture. This wraps up my questions that I have for you, and I just want to thank the SCCM membership for sending in these questions and again, for having this conversation with you today. I've learned a lot. So I appreciate your time. Yeah, well, thank you, Heather, and I appreciate the opportunity. I've really enjoyed it.

Cultivating Leadership from Within

pediatric nurse

leadership development

core purpose

passion

effective leaders

chaotic times

new possibilities