64// Leadership, Dialogue, and Positioning: 3 Lessons From My First Year as Nurses Association President

I'm back. My last episode dropped in November 2025, right as I was stepping fresh into my presidency — and then life got busy in ways I couldn't have predicted. You don't really know the time and capacity you have until you're juggling all of it at once and have to recalibrate. So in this comeback episode, I catch you up on where I've been, what I've been building behind the scenes (a one-on-one coaching offer that goes deep into leadership positioning), and why so many of my conversations with graduate-prepared nurses keep circling the same ache: you're doing the work, showing up every day, and it's still not translating into a promotion. Then I get into the heart of it — three leadership lessons I've been sitting with since taking this seat. These aren't polished takeaways I've mastered; some I'm still evolving in. But each one shifted how I lead, how I have hard conversations, and how I think about positioning. If you're leading now — or you want to understand what leadership actually looks like when there's no manager title attached — these are for you. Because leadership is leadership wherever you go. Chapter Markers 00:00 — Why I paused: stepping into the presidency and recalibrating my time 02:00 — What I've been building: a coaching shift toward leadership positioning 05:00 — Lesson 1: Everyone has an underlying value driving their decision 13:00 — Lesson 2: Inclusivity has limits, and that's okay 16:30 — Lesson 3: The president facilitates, the board decides 21:00 — My pet peeve — and a word for the nurse who's feeling stuck 24:00 — What's next, and why I'm already thinking ahead 3 Takeaways Dialogue beats agreement. When you stop trying to win someone over and start getting curious about the value underneath their decision, you leave with more respect — and more room to work together on the next thing. Being easily offended just gets you distracted from the work that actually needs you. Inclusion isn't always the answer, and that's not a contradiction. "A nurse is a nurse is a nurse" falls apart the moment you need the right skill set matched to the right patient. Knowing when to include and when to set a boundary is its own leadership skill. Influential leadership means weighing in last. As president, I facilitate the conversation and let the board decide — I don't steer it with my opinion. That takes the pressure off making every call myself, and puts the pressure on making sure they have what they need to decide well. Got a Career or Work question? Send me a text right here. Support the show Trying to figure out your next career step?  Download my FREE  Nursing Career Growth Roadmap Tired of being overlooked for promotions? Book a Nurse Leadership Positioning Intensive—a 60-minute 1:1 session to pinpoint what's blocking your advancement and map out your plan to get there.