Northwest Organization of Nurse Leaders News

June 2022 Leader Highlight

 

Expanding Leadership Outside Your Specific “Role”

Cindi M. Warburton DNP, FNP
Nurse Practitioner and Program Manager
Executive Director, NWONL
Associate Professor, WSU

 

Cindi, like many senior leaders, you have several roles and responsibilities, Executive Director of NWONL being just one. Tell us briefly about your career to date and how your various roles compliment each other. Additionally why NWONL? Why the ED role?

 

• In reflecting on my career path, I think that the varied nursing roles and progressive education and professional development activities really shaped where I spend my time and effort today.  Like many nurse leaders I know, I have a "few" jobs, or "projects" as I like to call them. Early in my career in the Emergency Department, I had the chance to practice leadership skills and have had many wonderful mentors and role models along the way.  My decision to become an FNP was grounded in my passion for patient care, but I also saw an opportunity with the DNP to expand and grow as a strategic thinker and leader. I feel fortunate to have had roles as a formal nurse leader to provide that grounding and breadth of experience to bring forward into my FNP role.  When the opportunity came up to be the Executive Director for NWONL, I saw this as a way to really put that into practice and keep a solid footing in nursing leadership at a time when Nurse Practitioners were seen and uses for their clinical skills and not so much their leadership skills. My "Venn diagram" of work informs my professional and personal purpose in life. It is my intent to use these opportunities to influence positive change and health outcomes. 

 

NWONL supports the idea that Nursing Leaders should engage outside of their current roles and specialties in order to gain perspective and collaboration. What does this look like for you and how have you leveraged work that is outside of your primary focus areas? 

 

• I think it is tremendously important for the nursing profession to seek ways of working together on our problems. Finding a shared voice on issues, especially since the pandemic, strengthens our profession. NWONL has provided so many opportunities to do just that. There is a "cross-pollination" of nursing leadership, roles, perspective and expertise across both Oregon and Washington hat prompts thought leadership and problem solving conversations.   A great example of this is the CNO and Dean Rounding calls.  From these calls, I gain insight and ideas that inform my program development work.  When I'm working with students at WSU, I gain deeper understanding of the challenges nurses are facing first hand. I take in information from a wide variety of sources and perspectives when I synthesize into my "work-buckets" to put to use. 

 

What has developing your leadership approach looked like for you and what kind of challenges have you overcome in your career? 

 

• I can think of many challenges that I faced in my leadership roles, but what I am really reflecting on is how I had to learn the basics first and be proficient at those basic management requirements.  In the ER, managing productivity, patient flow improvement projects and department requirements initially took most of my time. However I quickly realized that none of that was going to change, improve or move unless I started practicing people skills.  Understanding human behavior principles and honestly, showing up because I truly "cared" for that team, was the leadership skill that was clearly the most impactful.  When I think about the tremendous challenges, changes and transitions that I have been a part of, it is the people skills that stand out in my mind as important to develop. 

 

The Nursing Profession has so many areas of focus and paths for a nurse to take.  What should nurse leaders keep in mind as they themselves may be shifting focus? 

• The idea of "healing the healer".  We have to be more attuned to taking care of ourselves and other nurses.  Nurses are natural healers, who unfortunately, are also natural martyrs. I think that the nursing profession has an opportunity to shift to a more Design Thinking approach to problems, opportunities (including career changes) and solutions. Being more intentional about using evidence based research to level-set our goals both personally and professionally can provide a solid trajectory for moving forward.

 

In a coaching moment for aspiring or advancing Nurse Leaders who are considering or about to begin a similar journey, what are the one (or two) things you’d advise they be aware of?

• Managing your own emotions, opinions, desires. That for me was and still is critical. People make all decisions, even those based on “evidence” once they cross an emotional threshold that makes them “feel confident" about moving forward. So understanding that we all are emotionally driven first is absolutely critical. The joke “how do you get a buffalo to move? You don't, they move themselves…” is pretty accurate. As a manager, sure you can likely order someone to do something but that is forcing. Its something else entirely to emotionally lead them to act on their own. If you are a new leader, get to know the technical aspects of the position enough to do the most important things consistently well, but spend the majority of your time on developing your own emotional management and influence capabilities.

 

Any other pearls of wisdom to share?

• I think about all of the opportunities that have "found me" and I guess I would say to this....be brave, take the challenge, stretch what you think you are capable of and take the leap when those opportunities present themselves.  I never started a new role as the expert, but rather with an open mind and a passion for figuring it out and learning along the way. We work in complexity and that means it might be a little "messy" and ambiguous. I also have a robust "counsel" of people in my life that I consider my informal board of directors. Seeking counsel, mentoring and guidance has helped me navigate my career.  And finally, gratitude. I am so filled with gratitude to be in this profession that fills my bucket and gives purpose and meaning in my life. 

~fin