Thesis advisor: Dorothy A. Jones / Understanding Chief Nurse Executive (CNE) influence is essential for the discipline of nursing. There are approximately 5000 CNEs in the United States, all are tasked with being the primary identifiable leader representing organizations in which they are employed and the nursing profession of which they are a part. In this capacity, the CNE is the gatekeeper for the advancement of the majority of the 2.4 million nurses practicing in the U.S. Literature suggests that early CNEs lacked influence and often were not recognized members of organizational executive teams. Today, after two decades of struggle, CNEs are identified as essential executive team members. However, they still self identify as being less influential than their C-suite counterparts, leaving us to question, "Having gotten to the table, now what?" This study was designed as an initial step toward answering this question through Validation of the Adams Influence Model (AIM). The AIM is a framework that can be used to understand the influence of the CNE in the acute care setting. The study exposed the AIM to a qualitative data set collected as part of an academic medical center's Survey of the Professional Practice Environment. Directed content analysis was used to categorize survey responses and identify influence content toward validation and refinement of the AIM's operational definitions. Study results validated AIM influence factors and influence attributes with some refinement. In addition to development of a refined AIM, study findings also helped identify continued research opportunities. These research potentials included the exploration of; influence instrument development, the influence process, differences between influence and power, and the relationship between CNE influence, practice/ work environments and patient outcomes. As a discipline, nursing must continue to understand the influence of the CNE. These individuals are leading the profession, at what pace and in what direction cannot be left to chance. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2008. / Submitted to: Boston College. Connell School of Nursing. / Discipline: Nursing.

Mentorship and previous leadership experiences have been found to serve as factors that contributed to counseling professionals becoming leaders. Historical influences, life philosophy, identity, and resilience also shaped leaders and guided leadership practices. Critical incidents (e.g., difficulties or successes in organizational management or addressing ethical issues); however, are also significant experiences that are considered “a powerful source of counselor development.” To date, researchers have explored critical incidents in counseling graduate students’ training. However, there were no studies that have focused exclusively on the role of critical incident experiences of nationally appointed or elected counselor leaders. Thus, it was not necessarily clear how such incidents contribute to or impede the development of counselor leaders. Therefore, the aim of this grounded theory study was to qualitatively explore critical incidents using the Critical Incident Technique (CIT). The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews to explore experiences that have influenced the counselor leaders’ development, practices, and effectiveness. Findings from this study represent the experiences of fourteen national leaders in the counseling profession. The present study contributes to the growing literature on counseling leadership and counseling leadership development. Specifically, the Model of Counselor Leaders’ Development and Meaning Making of Significant Experiences (MCLD) seeks to explain counselor leaders’ experiences in leadership. The overall premise of this model is that the following five components are interconnected and ultimately lead to outcomes within the organization and with the leaders’ own growth and development: Personal Factors, Professional Factors, Culture and Climate of Organization, Leader’s Knowledge and Skills, and Decision-Making and Problem-Solving.

Billions of dollars are invested annually on leadership development interventions within organizations. And while these leadership development programs are generally effective, as evidenced by meta-analytic findings, researchers and organizational leaders alike are perplexed by the fact that some individuals’ leadership abilities do not show improvement after participating in a leadership development program. Drawing from social psychology and implicit person theory, I extend implicit self-theory into the leadership domain to examine leadership mindset, the belief an individual has about the malleability of leadership ability, and its relationship to leadership growth. Individuals with a more incremental leadership mindset believe that through hard work and effort they can improve their leadership ability. Individuals with a more fixed mindset, conversely, believe that leadership ability cannot be purposefully changed. Implicit self-theory would suggest that individuals with a more incremental mindset will have more leadership growth than individuals with a more fixed leadership mindset. Using self-regulation theory as a foundation, I propose that the effect of leadership mindset on leadership growth will be transferred through three mechanisms: negative feedback-seeking, reflection, and fear of failure. I also hypothesize that the relationship between these mediators and leadership growth will be stronger for leaders who have more developmental opportunities. Thus, I hypothesize a second-stage moderated mediation effect whereby the effect of leadership mindset on leadership growth through negative feedback-seeking, reflection, and fear of failure is stronger when individuals have more developmental opportunities.

Many leaders of nonprofit organizations (NPOs) lack strategies to replace leaders who leave the organization. An organization is in jeopardy of survival without an effective leadership development and succession planning strategy. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies NPO leaders use to develop future generations for leadership roles within the organization. Data were collected from face-to face semistructured interviews with 4 executives and 2 directors of a NPO in Texas and a review of documents including organization manuals, organizational charts, the employee handbook, and a management-in-training course. The human capital theory and succession theory were used as the conceptual framework for this study. Yin's 5-step process guided the data-coding process, and member checking was used to validate transcribed data. Data analysis consisted of coding, thematic analysis, and key word analysis, which resulted in 4 major themes: the need for a formal succession plan, removal of barriers to succession planning, investment in human capital, and practices and processes for succession planning. The implications of this study for social change include contributing to the organization's stability and profitability, which might allow the organization to provide services for the community and continue the development of human capital. Nonprofit leaders can benefit from the findings of this study by developing sustainable practices and improving strategies to implement succession planning.

In an attempt to raise the level of leadership competence and to increase the number of qualified candidates for leadership positions within post-secondary institutions, many colleges are supporting leadership development training for faculty and staff. This qualitative case study explores whether participating in a leadership development program resulted in career advancements that can fill leadership gaps. The study's framework, expectancy theory, suggests that individuals who participate in leadership development expect to become leaders. This exploratory case study sought to learn whether, upon completion of a comprehensive leadership development program, participants applied for, and assumed, leadership positions. The leadership program under study was attended by a cohort of 58 participants from a diverse set of 17 institutions across Canada. A purposeful sample of 12 individuals was drawn from this cohort and participated in structured interviews conducted by the researcher. Data were collected and coded to reveal their career progression. The results provided evidence that using leadership development programs to fill a leadership gap is productive, and that the effectiveness of this strategy is enhanced when institutions purposefully select and support participants through all stages of their leadership development. Participants who pursued leadership opportunities indicated the importance of institutional involvement in leadership development. Social change can be achieved by following the recommendations of this study as they illuminate participant expectations, beliefs, and values that help create effective leaders who are more capable of providing better learning environments for students.

Without adequate succession planning (SP) for executive directors, nonprofit organizations risk losing their mission and direction and their ability to sustain the quality of program and services and maintain superior leadership. The purpose of this study was to determine the degree to which SP was being developed and implemented in community action agencies (CAAs) in a southern state. This study also focused on the challenges that these organizations experienced from not implementing SP. This single case study design was based on the theoretical framework of organizational change, using Lewin's 3-stage model. Identified through purposive and snowball sampling, 17 participants from 5 CAAs in a southern state were interviewed using semi structured questions. Both primary interview data and secondary data were analyzed through constant comparison and the identification of themes and patterns, and verified through triangulation, member-checking, and pattern-matching. Secondary data consisted of succession plans, annual reports, bylaws, boards of directors' minutes, IRS 990s, and strategic plans. Findings revealed that 3 of the CAAs under study had a succession plan in place, while 2 did not. The challenges that these CAAs experienced from not implementing SP focused on 5 primary themes: organizational identity, sustainability, salaries, governance, and leadership development. The implications for social change include informing the southern state's CAA leaders, funders, and other stakeholders about the importance of developing written succession plans, integrating SP with leadership development and executive transitioning practices, and the long-term benefits of having these plans in place.

Learning and development (L&D) professionals in a Fortune 500 company were unable to determine whether managers who completed leadership development courses were transferring what they learned to their work practices. The purpose of this qualitative single instrumental case study was to uncover the factors that accelerated or impeded the transfer of training for employees in the workplace. The conceptual framework was social cognitive learning theory with emphasis on the triadic reciprocal causation model. Guiding questions were used to explore 2 areas: (a) how managers described their preparedness to transfer the training to their jobs, and (b) how managers described their perceptions of the transfer of training from the concepts learned in class to practical job application. Data were collected through one-on-one online interviews with 12 managers who had completed a leadership development course. Data analysis included organizing the data; reading them multiple times; developing codes, categories, and themes; and interpreting the findings. Over 90% of the participants stated that they felt prepared to implement the training after the class. However, only half reported a moderate to high level of confidence incorporating the training into their work. A 3-day professional development project was designed to heighten awareness of the benefits of advancing the transference and application of training with a strong focus on driving social change in the workplace through improved interpersonal skills between managers and their direct reports.

The government of Vanuatu ratified the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW) in 1995. Following the ratification, Gender Equity in Education Policy was developed in 2005 by the Ministry of Education of Vanuatu. One of the objectives was to increase the number of women principals. However, recent statistics on women in educational leadership in Vanuatu show a decline in the number of women principals. The low percentage of women in educational leadership in the secondary schools of Vanuatu indicates that gender equity in educational leadership is still far from being achieved. This study looks at how Vanuatu culture affects women's leadership in secondary schools and identifies ways in which women's leadership might be developed. Qualitative methods were employed to study the experiences of six women leaders and five aspiring women leaders in several Vanuatu secondary schools. The findings from the study indicate three main areas inherent in Vanuatu culture that significantly impact upon the leadership practices of the participants. The findings reveal the existence of entrenched cultural barriers in the education system, in the social structures of Vanuatu and in the attitudes of individual men, women and some students towards women leaders. These barriers, it seems, are the major impediments to women's advancement in educational leadership in Vanuatu secondary schools.

<p>In today’s tough business environment the need for good and efficient leaders are becoming more and more important. The businesses are in constant change, the world is more unpredictable and the competences of the employees are much greater today, which also calls for a new type of leader, a leader who not only is authoritarian, but also possesses soft skills. In this environment where there is this greater focus on leaders, leadership developments have emerged and increased in number over the last ten to twenty years. They try to develop leaders in all domains of their life, both professional and personal and the model we work with in this paper is Total Leadership, this model implies that you try to accomplish being a better leader throughout your whole life as a leader, to be whole, genuine and innovative, no matter career or position in life. The purpose with this essay is to investigate the outcome of leadership developments and see whether or not these leaders feel that they have become more efficient leaders. This was done by a qualitative research where we interviewed twelve leaders who had undergone a leadership development at a leadership development company called GestaltPartner. We reached the conclusions that all informants have had great value of the development and feel that they have reached a greater personal development that also reflects on their professional skills that in the end makes them more efficient leaders.</p>

<p>The aim was to study personal and organizational conditions for first-line nurse managers and to identify and assess the skills and abilities important for leadership and management. Interviews were conducted with 5 first-line nurse managers, 5 registered nurses, 5 assistant nurses and one head of department delineating their perceptions of current and ideal roles of first-line nurse managers. Factor analysis was conducted to estimate validity and reliability of the Leadership and Management Inventory, developed in the context of this thesis, in one sample of 149 registered nurses and one sample of 197 health care personnel. Interviews and questionnaires to study expectations, experiences and outcomes of two different development programmes for 13 first-line nurse managers in a Training Programme, 14 in a Leadership Development Programme and 14 in a Comparison group were conducted. Letters and questionnaires from 32 former first-line nurse managers were analysed to describe their reasons for leaving their posts. First-line nurse managers, registered nurses and assistant nurses’ descriptions of the first-line nurse manager’s role were corresponding; the main focus was on service on the ward. The head of department described the first-line nurse manager’s responsibility towards the staff with focus on development and co-operation. Analysis of the Leadership and Management Inventory resulted in three factors: “interpersonal skills and group management”, “achievement orientation” and “overall organizational view and political savvy”. Validity and reliability were considered acceptable. Expectations concerning the development programmes were generally met; improvements corresponding to the content of the programmes were reported. Reasons to leave were personal, organizational and linked to the relationship with the head of department. Conclusion: The first-line nurse managers’ individual experiences, skills, abilities and ambitions are important, but so are the conditions in which she/he practices her/his leadership and management. It is important that the interplay between person and organization functions well.</p>