OND 2

The Courage to Lead: Finding our Voice to Make an Impact:

The Courage to Lead: Finding our Voice to Make an Impact De Souza Oncology Nursing Day, Toronto, April 5 th , 2011 Joy Richards, RN, PhD Vice-President Professional Affairs & CNE University Health Network Toronto, Ontario

Finding Voice = Advocacy:

The pursuit of influencing outcomes — including public policy and resource allocation decisions within political, economic, and social systems and institutions — that directly affect people’s current lives . It is the deliberate process of speaking out on issues of concern in order to exert some influence on behalf of ideas or persons. (Cohen, 2001) Finding Voice = Advocacy

Finding our Voice:

Speak the truth in a million voices. It is silence that kills. Catherine of Sienna Finding our Voice

Finding our Voice:

Silence is not the absence of action, but another form of action. We all need to hold ourselves accountable for that. Finding our Voice

Developing our Courage:

As our world grows more chaotic & unpredictable, we as nurses & leaders are asked questions for which our professional education & training did not prepare us for. Developing our Courage

Courage:

Is the ability to confront fear, pain, personal/professional risk or danger, uncertainty, or intimidation by speaking the unspeakable. It is also the ability to challenge the status quo and act rightly in the face of popular opposition, shame, scandal, or discouragement. Courage

Personal Life Lessons: Celebrating my own Voice:

Life is uncertain – expect surprise Life is cyclical – dark times are the conditions for rebirth Meaning is what motivates people Service brings us joy Courage comes from our hearts We are interconnected with all life We can rely on human goodness – practice gratefulness We need peace of mind – learn to be mindful Personal Life Lessons: Celebrating my own Voice

Synergies: Literature & Reseach:

Strong relationship between voice, advocacy, courage, creativity and self-expression, which leads to: The potential for advocacy & courage can be found in the every day lives of all human beings Not specifically reserved for extraordinary heroes & their superhuman accomplishments Personal growth, self-affirmation & transformation Synergies: Literature & Reseach

Confident Leaps of Faith into the Unknown :

Inviting the impossible by trusting the process Leaps of faith plunging into the unknown Big dreamers who believe everything is possible Living comfortably with ambiguity Tolerance and ability to work, live in and leverage the ‘fog’ of ambiguity Having self-confidence Ability to push themselves & others into uncharted domains Ability to do what they believed was right in difficult situations with the confidence that they might fail Confident Leaps of Faith into the Unknown

Deliberate Thoughtful Choosing Despite the Risk:

Driven from within to speak the truth in spite of the risks Feel the fear but do it anyway; being scared to death; going forward into a really scary situation Choosing to act Took action at great personal cost, even if they knew it would fail because it was the right thing to do Deliberate Thoughtful Choosing Despite the Risk

Deliberate Thoughtful Choosing Despite the Risk:

Purposeful visioning & advocacy arising from determined resolve All saw themselves in the world to make it a better place now & future for themselves & others Promoted deep change through broader social dialogue, transforming understanding into alternative solutions Deliberate Thoughtful Choosing Despite the Risk

Deliberate Thoughtful Choosing Despite the Risk:

Deliberate Thoughtful Choosing Despite the Risk Strategic positioning All described knowing when to “pick their battles” Able to develop coherent methodological strategies to position ideas

Deliberate Thoughtful Choosing Despite the Risk:

Emanating from head and heart Paradoxical/dual knowledge source – head and heart United inner passion with external opportunities Strong intuitive nature about themselves, others, environment “feeling it is the right thing to do” Decision making based on ‘trusting your gut” Deliberate Thoughtful Choosing Despite the Risk

Momentous Struggle:

Commitment vs. doubt Paradoxical struggle Grounding values Held themselves to a higher standard, did the right thing when tested Determination & tenacity of spirit Stayed focused and kept their heads above the fray Embracing the gift of the struggle Courageous moments were enriching & personally transformative The untold cost Suffered, were punished, lonely, paid a high price Momentous Struggle

Living and Pushing Against the Flow:

Counterintuitive choices and different directions On the fringe, swimming in a different direction, energized, addictive, adrenalin rush, ‘getting high’, ‘loving the chase On the margins and not fitting in Radicals, trouble-makers, getting kicked out of places, ‘odd’, shy, introverted, didn’t care what others thought, fiercely independent Living and Pushing Against the Flow

Living and Pushing Against the Flow:

Living and Pushing Against the Flow Breaking the rules while walking close to the edge and not falling off Play outside the rules, finding different ways of getting there ‘Mastered the system’ Risk takers

Collective Effervescence:

Building life patterns of legacy Deep obligation to share their learning's in order to encourage others to grow – demonstrated in the interconnectedness between participants Co-creating with others Collective has more to offer than the individual self Saw themselves as ‘enablers’ for others Collective Effervescence

Collective Effervescence:

Living a larger purpose in life Humble; A tiny spec in a much larger reality Contradicts the hallmarks of the “traditional hero – spirit of individualism and dissent” Needing the nourishment and support of others Huge investments into friendships and networks that were used in times of crisis or when in need of nourishment and support Collective Effervescence

Becoming Courageous:

Progressive-regressive invisible-visible dance Incremental, fleeting, happening unexpectedly, coming and going Non-linear, more encompassing than a single end point Convergence of many types of knowledge all at once Bearing witness to others courage Drew support from strong female role models and mentors in their lives Unique finding: Negative role models played as important a role Becoming Courageous

Becoming Courageous:

Bearing witness to one’s own courage Remained invisible in their unconscious articulated with others Powerful transformation for participants’ & researcher Mind-body-spirit connectedness Interconnectedness and synergy between all three Becoming Courageous

Resources:

Personal failure Recognized the value of taking risks & making mistakes Reframed, leveraged disappointments & applied them to new learning's Self-reflection & Life-long learning Integral to participant’s ways of being in the world Critical intelligence, advanced education, analytical/strategic thinking allowed constructively arguing while deconstructing & challenging the arguments of others Resources

Resources:

Supportive bosses and work environments There are some environments that allow you to play out courageous behavior Participants to work where they were allowed to speak their voice & aligned with their values Fathers and other male supports with a strong feminine side Non-traditional males who saw women as more than ‘help-mates” to men ‘different’, strong feminine side, did not fit macho male stereotypes Resources

Concluding Remarks:

Concluding Remarks

Thoughts to Ponder:

Our safety and future as nurses & as human beings depends on each of us stepping outside the lines, finding our voices, developing our courage, and participating intelligently in this complex world. Thoughts to Ponder

Thoughts to Ponder:

How can we advocate intelligently when things are fuzzy? Where do we intervene to change something when we cannot determine straightforward cause & effect? What kinds of actions make sense when we are confronted with increasing uncertainty? Thoughts to Ponder

Jumping off Points to Cultivate and Celebrate your Voice:

Discover what is meaningful Discover one another Use the network’s communication capacity Involve everybody who cares Learn as you go Jumping off Points to Cultivate and Celebrate your Voice

Slide 28:

Do not depend on the hope of results…you may have to face the fact that your work will be apparently worthless & even achieve no result at all, if not perhaps results opposite to what you expect. As you get used to this idea, you start more & more to concentrate not on the results, but on the value, the rightness, the truth of the work itself…You gradually struggle less & less for an idea and more and more for specific people…In the end, it is the reality of personal relationship that saves everything. Thomas Merton

Courage:

Courage Does not always roar. Sometimes, it is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow”.