Servant Leadership Qualities at Home Health Nursing Agency

Week 16 Topic 16 DQ
Looking back on your time with your mentor, would you consider him or her a servant leader as described by in the textbook? Explain your answer. Elaborate on what characteristics your mentor displayed most consistently. Share examples from your experience to support your response.
FYI MY PRECEPTOR IS A WOMAN and did my practicum at a home health nursing agency...
Example from class Re:Topic 16 DQ
Looking back on your time with your mentor, would you consider him or her a servant leader as described by in the textbook? Explain your answer. Elaborate on what characteristics your mentor displayed most consistently. Share examples from your experience to support your response
My mentor exemplifies servant leadership. She serves others and stands back when the accolades begin to fly around. She empowers others around her and never uses the word “I” she uses the word “we”. People feel good around her and when she is on a project working with a team, the team feel engaged and usually come up with great ideas. She allows people to express their thoughts in a safe and teaching manner. I was blessed to get a mentor that was a Christian. So everything she did had that in the middle. During my time with her our facility was preparing and going through Joint Commission. She is the Director of Risk/Quality. So you can only imagine her plate was full. She started our mentorship by letting me know where she wanted this relationship to go. She stated we would be working together as opposed to I was going to be learning from her how to get through Joint Commission. She didn't use me to do her work as often happens. She outlined JC standards and we worked on putting them into a priority list. We met everyday in the morning and made a plan for the day. She made it easy by breaking it down into small bites. The mountain became doable. My mentor is retiring by the end of June. I thought she might be uninterested in putting a lot of energy into a “project” because she was on her way out the door. Quite the contrary happened. She became very engaged with me and shared with me everything about the quality/risk side of the hospital. She included me in the hospital briefings etc. as they prepared for the survey. I have gone through many surveys in my career but this was the most meaningful. I learned about the hospital from a global point of view instead of only from a departmental point of view. I feel that was one of the most valuable parts of our time together. I went outside my comfort zone for sure and learned how the rest of the hospital works. I am grateful for that and I feel it makes me a better leader for my department. I am able to share with my staff how our department fits into the big picture. For years I have stayed in my lane and have some resentments because I have been upset at how something was handled by my superiors. I know that we all are important and must all be functional to make the facility function to meet the needs of our patients, staff and community. I feel richer and forever changed.
example Re:Topic 16 DQ
Looking back on your time with your mentor, would you consider him or her a servant leader as described by in the textbook? Explain your answer. Elaborate on what characteristics your mentor displayed most consistently. Share examples from your experience to support your response.
Reflecting on my practicum experience and the leadership style of my preceptor, initially I would have said that she is not a servant leader. Nearly weekly, my preceptor would make the comment that she couldn't put up for everything if it weren't for the money. I didn't perceive that she had the best interest of others in mind when she feels they are a burden and she needs to be paid well to deal with them. My preceptor doesn't seem to help and serve others physically and doesn't exhibit a whole lot of humility.
However, as I begin to think more servant, I can see that she has many servant qualities. She seems to have a barrier to let anyone mean anything to her, or let her guard down to be humble before them, and I have heard her very rough childhood story. I feel that there is a desire to love her staff more and behave more servant like, and she has developed many programs to recognize her staff's accomplishments.
DelHousaye and Brewer (2004) state that Jesus said Who-ever wishes to be great among you shall be your servant, this is the basis of servant leadership. My preceptor is not completely a servant leader according to the text, but does this in small ways. She desires to build future leaders and has taken great strides to help create a leader out of her two supervisors. She has developed a clinical ladder program for her staff and staff throughout the hospital to climb and show their accomplishments. She ensures that staff have the best equipment the facility can buy to do their job most effectively. She desires to create an all certified staff, encouraging all staff to become certified in their specialty. She has created a Peri-Op educator position and clinical nurse supervisor positions, encouraging staff to go above and beyond to become greater nurses and leaders. She is very encouraging supportive and recognizes staff who further their education and degree. My preceptor does love, protect and honor her staff, has integrity, is honest and leads by example. She seems to know her person and position, offering opportunities for growth, believes in people, takes initiative, has vision and goals, and shares power. She knows her purpose listening and being receptive not reactive, and provision, honoring and protecting. She knows her perception and profession, identifying the unique differences in others.
Working with her has taught me valuable lessons of how I can be a servant leader, and many lessons of how I did not behave servant at all times and regret them. This process has also taught me the importance and difficulty if gaining a keen sense of emotional intelligence.
DelHousaye, D. & Brewer, B., (2004). Servant leadership: Seven distinctive characteristics. SBC Press: Scottsdale AZ