Archived Publications eBook: Confidence in the Development of your Futur | Page 6

High-Potential Leadership Characteristics
When asked to identify the critical characteristics
(traits, competencies/skills, knowledge bases, etc.)
that designate leadership readiness, the executives
reported an interesting set of responses. First, 89% (n
= 25) of the executives reported that high-potential
leadership characteristics are largely consistent across
nursing, physician, and administrative talent pools.
One CNO noted, “…I think in any leadership position,
the characteristics that I described are [important for
leadership roles] regardless of what type of leader you
are… the characteristics and the traits are leadership
traits, and it doesn’t really matter what industry you’re a
leader in.” Similarly, the CEO of a medical group
remarked, “[high-potential leadership characteristics]
are not unique to physician leaders, and in fact, we use
the exact 18 for the non-physician operator leaders as
we do for the physician leaders, because their jobs as
partners basically are very similar. We don’t see the
characteristics as being much different.”
Presented in the graph below, the executives described
a range of characteristics that identify an employee as
demonstrating potential for leadership success. The
highest rated competency was the ability to initiate and
lead change initiatives (93%), followed closely by the ability
to collaborate and develop relationships with others
(89%), exhibiting strategic insight or a ‘big picture’ view of
the organization (86%), possessing the drive for leadership
roles (82%), and demonstrating self-awareness of personal
strengths and limitations (82%). The executives also
described the ability to adopt an innovative approach to
thinking and problem-solving (79%), basic communication
and listening skills (79%), an ability to develop and coach
others (71%), willingness to seek feedback (71%), and
an awareness of organizational culture and politics
(68%) as important high-potential characteristics.
Overall, these high-potential characteristics are
consistent with prior research findings on leadership
readiness across healthcare leadership roles, including
nurse leaders (Huston, 2008; Picker-Rotem et al.,
2008), physician leaders (Hess, 2013; Howard et al.,
2012), and administrative leaders (Church & Rotolo,
2013; Dries & Pepermans, 2012; Silzer & Church, 2009).
High-Potential Leadership Characteristics
93%
89%
86%
82%
82%
79%
79%
Leads Change
Collaboration Skills
Strategic Insight
Self-Awareness
Drive to Lead
Communication Skills
Innovative Thinking
71%
71%
68%
64%
64%
64%
61%
Seeks Feedback
Develops People
Organizational Awareness
Learns From Experiences
Professional Credibility
Comfort With Ambiguity
Perseverance Under Adversity
18%
Budget/Financial Acumen
Values-Driven Decision-Making
Willingness to Relocate/Mobility
Time Management/Work-Life Balance
6
11%
11%
11%