Leadership and seniority are not same. A leader is a product of nature and environment, seniority can also be as a result of both,but a good leader lives by example to reproduce herself in her work place. She leads by example and should never be overwhelmed by the attitude of his subordinate because he is there to mentor them, mould them and reproduce himself in his/ her subordinate. Therefore, he must be up and about at all time. He is supposed to be the mirror through which her subordinate sees the work and the world. On the other hand a senior is concerned about getting respect from junior, being served right and how best to maintain her authority. They most often forget that respect is reciprocal. And they are sometimes drunk with thought for self and authority.
A leader is a senior in most cases, and she must be able to marry the two together in other to be a transformational leader and a leader that leaves her foots steps behind making the journey easy for those coming behind.
A leader that does not throw the ladder away after climbing to the top.
A leader that motivates and inspires others.
Let nurses try and marry these two elements together( leadership&seniority), so as to be able to have a lasting legacy of transformed leadership. Your colleagues should be able to trust and believe in you. They must be able to see you as their role model, their guiding angel and a disciplinarian that will not allow them to falter. We need these type of seniors leader to take nursing to the next level. We need nurses who will not carry seniority on their head but in their hands , using it to inspire others.
There is a level we get get to in any profession that seniority becomes less relevant but intellectual brainstorming at a horizontal level becomes the order of the day. The directorate level is ment for brainstorming , transformational activities, not seniority among colleagues of same cadre.. There should free flow of ideas without been biased. Nurses must use this opportunity to mentor their colleagues, institute and sustain change in their domain.
The leader must be creative in other to make themselves relevant.
We really need leaders who will use their seniority positively to the benefit of their colleagues, NURSINGNOW NIGERIA ADVOCATES TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP. (A MUST FOR ALL NURSE LEADERS).
