From the Canadian Business Journal January 12, 2012
Canada’s health care system is the envy of the world over, with leaders in medicine, research, surgery, and nursing. The foundation of this, and any, system, is, of course, education, and we here at CBJ are proud to feature on one of the best leadership development initiatives in the country, whose work has contributed greatly to the standard of care to patients in Canada.

Described as “a National Treasure” by the Canadian Nurses Association, the Dorothy Wylie Nursing and Health Leaders Institute (DWNHLI) was created in 2001 from a need for opportunities for leadership development for nurses. The objective was to prepare nurses to lead amidst the evolving challenges of complex health care systems and structures, to develop new modes of leadership and accountability, and to promote mentoring and retention. It is a two-part, seven-day, inter-professional, residential leadership Institute with an impressive cadre of highly respected speakers and facilitators.

With the improvement of the entire healthcare system in mind, the Nursing Secretariat of the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care provided the starting capital to U of T’s Nursing Effectiveness, Utilization, and Outcomes Research Unit to create a Nursing Leadership Institute in Ontario.

Judith Skelton-Green, Beverly Simpson and Julia Scott are the three independent nursing consultants who developed the DWNHLI curriculum. “Kathleen MacMillan was the Chief Nursing Officer in Ontario at the time of the Ministry grant”. Simpson, Skelton-Green, Scott & O’Brien-Pallas (2002) Building Capacity in Nursing: Development of a Leadership Institute, Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership, 15(3), 22-27) describes the process undertaken to develop the DWNHLI. Skelton-Green and Simpson both have continued their own practises alongside work at DWNHLI, while Scott now works as Vice President of Patient Services and is Chief Nurse Executive at Markham Stouffville Hospital.

From the beginning, says Skelton Green, “we strove to develop more and better leaders in health care across Canada. “There was [at the time] a fair number of opportunities for people in senior roles to understand leadership and how it was changing,” says Simpson, “but less so for directors, managers and informal leaders, and so we strove to put together an institute that would help people define what leadership is and look at their own personal development and opportunities to lead change in their organizations.”

The program was in high demand from the outset, with the nursing institute initially offering courses twice a year to 96 participants. In 2005, a separate, but similar, offering was developed for all health leaders. Today the programs are combined and offered annually, surviving the widespread cutbacks in health care in recent years. Since its inception, no less than 2,200 established and emerging health care leaders from across the country have attended the DWNHLI. In only its third year, the DWNHLI won the Ontario Hospital Association’s Ted Feedman Award for Innovation in Education

Key features
When asked what makes the DWNHLI so unique and effective, Simpson cites the experiential learning framework, an educational paradigm that favours experience over didactic instruction. “We designed the whole institute using an experiential design, so…that participants get an introduction to a piece of theory or curriculum about leadership and are then presented with an opportunity to apply the theory in an exercise or activity.

“We also developed a conceptual framework that is theory-based and looks at what it takes to be a leader in health care,” Skelton-Green continues. In the centre of this conceptual framework are three core areas of knowledge or expertise: Professional Competencies, Leadership Practices and Use of Self. The “Leadership Practices” are anchored in Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner’s work, described in The Leadership Challenge (4th Edition, 2007). “The Use of Self” focuses on effective use of the leader’s time and skills, and is anchored in the theory base of emotional intelligence. The framework then demonstrates that the three aspects of core knowledge and expertise are exercised through collaborative relationships to deliver client-centred care.

The program reaps benefits to its participants, such as Melissa Dougherty, Director Professional Practice, Queensway Carleton Hospital.

“The DWNHLI is a retreat for the nurse leaders’ soul; it allows time for self-reflection, refocusing, networking and rejuvenation. I feel a sense of clarity, energy and empowerment to head back to my organization.”

“We build capacity in organizations because employers are required to send two or more people to an individual institute,” says Simpson noting that many organizations have sent dozens of participants over time. “They are asked to come [to DWNHLI] with a project or change initiative that they want to advance back home. We guide them through a framework on change leadership to get that project launched. The organization benefits from the effects of the change projects, as well as from the individual development of the people they send.”

Early in the decade DWNHLI offered leadership learning at a time when few opportunities were offered for nurses and other health care providers—not only has the DWNHLI been an innovator in the inter-professional development arena, it has constantly evolved to meet the demands of the current cadre of future leaders, and has elevated the work of nurses throughout the country, by optimizing the potential of nurse leaders.

Bringing Personal Leadership Development to the Next Level – Canadian Business Journal, January 12, 2012

Quotes from our colleagues
“Congratulations on this article! Dorothy Wylie helped us to think about leadership in new ways, made us “up” our game. All of you who imagined, designed, birthed and parented this wonderful institute can be proud of the tremendous success of it all. You changed the way we think about leadership development for nurses – – took us to a whole new game there too. Very well done!”
Michael Villeneuve, Scholar in Residence, Canadian Nurses’ Association

“Congratulations on the excellent article highlighting the positive work and impacts of the DWNHLI. PPNO very proud to support this fabulous opportunity for leaders and leadership.”
Sara Lankshear, President, Professional Practice Network of Ontario

“This is terrific. You have made such a significant contribution in building the leaders of today and tomorrow. Thank you.”
Judith Shamian, President, Canadian Nurses’ Association

Winter 2012
Happy New Year!
We hope that each of you enjoyed some special time with family and friends over the holidays and are returning to work rested and re-energized.

What’s happening at the Dorothy Wylie Nursing and Health Leaders Institute? Still going strong…….
Thanks to your ongoing support, we are pleased to report that we will be offering another combined program in 2012 – with the 4-day session May 22-25, 2012 and the 3-day follow-up October 10-12. Please see the 2012 brochure (pdf). Register here.

Want to take your personal Leadership Development Plan to a new level?
Over the years, we have had several enquiries from participants about how they can enrich the information for their personal leadership planning by engaging in a 360° Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI). In our consulting practices, we have arranged such assessments for a number of leaders in various organizations with whom we work and provided individual coaching on the meaning and value of the results. We are pleased to be able to offer this service to individual alumni. Learn more about this opportunity to enhance your Personal Leadership Development Plan.

In the News……
Sharing out insights from 10 years of experience. We have learned a lot from our time with you over the past 10 years … lessons that we believe will be useful to others involved in leadership development. So we wrote a paper about it, entitled “Promising Practices in Leadership Development”. The paper describes what we have learned from 23 offerings of the Institute – to over 2,200 existing and emerging health leaders, who have developed and executed some 900 leadership home-based projects! Specifically, the paper offers insights related to three key areas: a) the individual (the leadership aspirant or learner), b) the organization’s role in supporting leadership development, and c) leadership program design. The article is published in the Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership, Volume 24 (3).

Upcoming Presentations include:

• ‘Leadership Development through a New Lens’, to be presented at the Nursing Leadership Network (NLN) Conference in Toronto March 22 & 23, 2012.
• ‘Promising Practices in Leadership Development’, to be presented at the RNAO/ Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center International Nursing Conference, “Nursing: Caring to Know, Knowing to Care” to be held June 4 – 7 in Jerusalem, Israel.

Transitions
Congratulations to Kaiyan Fu, who recently accepted the position of CEO at Yee Hong Centre of Geriatric Care. Kaiyan starts her new role in February, 2012.
We are always pleased to receive and share messages telling us of changes or accomplishments for our alumni. Send your news to us at bev@beverleysimpson.com, judith.skelton-green@transitions-hod.ca or juliascott@rogers.com.

Special Thanks to our Sponsors
As always, we are grateful to our sponsors Johnson & Johnson Medical Products, the Nursing Leadership Network of Ontario (NLN), the Professional Practice Network of Ontario (PPNO), a voluntary group that brings together professional practice leaders from across the province for networking, collaboration and sharing, and Longwoods Publishing.

Spotlight on a Speaker
Dr. Jacoba Lilius is a relatively new addition to our guest faculty and brings her work on Compassion to the Institute. She is a warm and engaging speaker, perfect for a session on ‘Encouraging the Heart’! A little bit about Jacoba:

• She is cross-appointed in the School of Policy Studies and School of Business at Queen’s University, joining the faculty after receiving her Ph.D. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2006.
• As part of research collaboration with members of the CompassionLab www.compassionlab.com PLEASE LINK RON, she has developed a stream of research toward understanding the form and impact of compassion in work organizations. Most recently, this research has focused on how frontline healthcare workers balance attachment and detachment to clients that allows them to provide high-quality care while minimizing burnout.
• Her published work includes articles in Administrative Science Quarterly, Harvard Business Review, Journal of Organizational Behavior, and American Behavioral Scientist, as well as a book chapter in the Handbook of Organizational Studies.

Closing Thought
As we write this newsletter, 2012 has just begun. Whatever your plans or dreams for this new year, consider the following thought!
The 3 C’s in life are Choice, Chance, Change.
You must make the Choice,
To take the Chance,
If you want anything to Change!

The Dorothy Wylie / Health Leaders Nursing Leadership Institute is a two-part, 7-day, inter-professional, residential leadership Institute with a variety of highly respected speakers and facilitators.

Winner of the OHA/Longwoods/Microsoft Ted Freedman Award for Innovation in Education in 2003, the Dorothy Wylie / Health Leaders Nursing Leadership Institute brings together health care leaders from across Canada at the Bank of Montreal’s Institute for Learning for a concentrated program of study of leadership principles, models, behaviours, skills, and tools.

"A National Treasure" – The Canadian Nurses Association.

Over the years, we have had several enquiries from participants about whether and how they can enrich the information for their personal leadership planning by engaging in a 360° Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI). In our consulting practices, we have arranged such assessments for a number of leaders in various organizations with whom we are working. As a result of some recent discussions, we are pleased to advise you that we are now able to offer this service to individual alumni.

How do I get started?
If you wish to participate, please email Judith who will review the process with you, and provide a simple contract for you to sign.

How will the LPI be conducted?
You will be asked to identify 8-14 individuals who are willing to complete a confidential LPI for you. We will enrol both you and them in an on-line process to complete the 360° assessment – the outcome of which will be a comprehensive PDF report, which will be e-mailed to you.

How will I know what to do with the results?
Bev, Julia or Judith will be assigned as your coach. Your coach will make an appointment for a 90 minute telephone or skype call to review the results of the assessment and to assist you with determining how you will use this information to strengthen your leadership performance.

What will it cost?
We are prepared to offer the 360° LPI assessment, report and coaching for a special introductory price of $395 for the first 25 participants.

We look forward to seeing how and whether this offering meets your needs.

Greetings!
It is hard to believe that the summer is pretty much behind us, and that we are all gearing up for another busy work year. We hope that each of you was able to enjoy some special time with family and friends over the summer, and found ways to re-charge your batteries.

What’s happening at the Dorothy Wylie Nursing and Health Leaders Institute?
1. Still going strong
In May 2011 we welcomed 103 participants to our combined Nursing and Health Leaders Institute. This was our largest yet registration, and an enthusiastic group who engaged fully in both the serious and fun aspects of the program.

Thanks to your ongoing support, we are pleased to report that we will be offering another combined program in 2012 – with the 4 day session May 22-25, 2012 and the 3-day follow-up October 10-12. We expect that the 2012 brochure will be ready shortly, and we will send you an e-copy as soon as it is available. Of course, you will also be able to find it on the Health Leaders website.

2. Want to take your personal Leadership Development Plan to a new level?
Over the years, we have had several enquiries from participants about whether and how they can enrich the information for their personal leadership planning by engaging in a 360° Leadership Practice Inventory (LPI). In our consulting practices, we have arranged such assessments for a number of leaders in various organizations with whom we work. As a result of some recent discussions, we are pleased to advise you that we are now able to offer this service to individual alumni. Learn more about your Personal Leadership Development Plan.

3. Don’t forget the project database
This is just a reminder that the project database is updated annually, and it is now available on the website in two versions: the project database full list and the project database abbreviated version, which only contains projects since 2005. Both files are now in PDF format, which appears small on your screen, but directions are provided for enlarging the font, and for searching in it. We encourage you to go the database any time you are starting a new project at your organization. The odds are good that some other DMNHLI alumni will have already done something similar, and would be pleased to share their experience and lessons learned with you.

What else is new?
1. Publications of Interest
Barry Posner and Jim Kouzes have just released a new edition of Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It; Why People Demand it. Credibility was Jim and Barry’s first book, and has been valued by leadership readers for many years. We know you will enjoy this updated version, which is available in most bookstores or online at Amazon.

2. Change Leadership Framework
Over the years, many people have told us that they use the Change Leadership Framework for projects with which they are involved. Some have asked for a link to the paper we published a while ago about leading change in healthcare organizations. Please use it if is helpful to you.
An Integrated Approach to Change Leadership.

3. An empowerment framework for nursing leadership development: Supporting evidence
Judith has recently co-authored an article entitled An empowerment framework for nursing leadership development: Supporting evidence in the Journal of Advanced Nursing (April 2011). This paper is a report on a descriptive study of nurse leaders’ perspectives of the outcomes of the British Columbia Nursing Leadership Institute – a program which uses many of the features of the DWNHLI – and which was described in our Summer 2010 Newsletter.

4. The Health of our Nation – The Future of our Health System
In 2011, the Canadian Nurses Association launched a National Expert Commission entitled, The Health of our Nation – The Future of our Health System. Timed so that its recommendations will be released during the lead-up to negotiations on the successor to The First Minister’s 10-Year Plan to Strengthen Health Care (2004-2014), commonly called “the Health Accord”, which expires in 2014, the Commission will recommend ways in which the system can be transformed to put the patient and family first, with a renewed focus on quality care in both community and institutional settings. The National Expert Commission website is one that all healthcare leaders will want to follow closely.

5. Transitions
We are always pleased to receive and share messages telling us of changes or accomplishments for our alumni. Here are a few recent ones:

• Barbara Mildon (who assisted in a number of nursing research presentations at the earlier Nursing Institutes) has been named VP Professional Practice & Research & Chief Nurse Executive, at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (formerly Whitby Mental Health Centre). Barb is also President-Elect of the Canadian Nurses’ Association.
• Bea Mudge (who attended an early Nursing Leadership Institute; sponsored numerous nursing and health leaders to attend our Institutes when she was VP Patient Services at Cambridge Memorial Hospital, and has served as an alumni coach for many projects over the last several years) has just been appointed VP, Best Practices, Education and Research and CNE at VHA Home Healthcare.
• Nancy Fram (who also attended an early Nursing Institute, and who sponsored dozens of nursing and health leaders to attend our Institutes when she was Vice President Professional Affairs & Chief Nursing Executive at Hamilton Health Sciences) has recently retired. She will be greatly missed!

Congratulations all!

We are also deeply saddened to tell you of the passing of Joan Lesmond. We had the pleasure of learning more about leadership with Joan during the week she was a DWNHLI participant in 2003, but she is likely better known to many of you as Past President of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. We knew Joan as a tireless leader, a visionary for a better world, a kind and gentle humanist and a dedicated scholar. Not long before her death, Joan’s many accomplishments were recognized with the 2011 YWCA Toronto Woman of Distinction Health Leadership Award. She has left an indelible legacy in the healthcare community.

If you have a change in your professional life (change of job, new degree, etc) or if you change your contact information – or if you know of changes for your fellow alumni – please let us know! We are anxious to keep our database current so that we don’t lose contact with you, and are happy to share good news with your fellow alumni.

6. Update on our Strategic Alliance with the Canadian College of Health Leaders
Congratulations to Cheryl Williams (2004) who this year successfully completed her Certified Health Executive (CHE) through our strategic alliance with CCHL. She joins several other distinguished alumni who took advantage of this program previously.

We know that several more alumni are working towards their CHE, and we look forward to celebrating their success in the future. For more information about how you too can get involved, please link here Certified Health Executive (CHE) Program.

7. Special Thanks to our Sponsors

Johnson & Johnson Medical Products has been a steadfast supporter of the Dorothy Wylie Nursing Leadership Institute and the Health Leaders Institute for the last 9 years providing a generous donation that enables participation in the Institutes by graduate students and by small hospitals and agencies with modest education budgets. We are delighted to tell you that they have continued this support for 2011!

We are very pleased to advise you that we have this year also received sponsorship donations from the Nursing Leadership Network of Ontario (NLN), a large and very active interest group of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario and from the Professional Practice Network of Ontario (PPNO), a voluntary group that brings together professional practice leaders from across the province for networking, collaboration and sharing.

Spotlight on a Speaker
In this issue we are featuring Kathleen MacMillan, whose career has spanned nursing education, administration, education, research and policy. DWNHLI is forever indebted to Kathleen for obtaining the seed funding for the development of the Nursing Leadership Institute when she was Chief Nursing Officer for the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long Term Care. Over the years, many of you have heard Kathleen’s insights on leadership, from her own journey. This talk is always an engaging mixture of wry humour and profound take-aways.

Some things that you may not know about Kathleen include:

• Kathleen served as Executive Director, Office of Nursing Services, First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB), Health Canada
• the branch of the federal government responsible for health care delivery to Aboriginal communities south of the 60th parallel in Canada. In the time that she was in this position, Kathleen led the development and implementation of an ambitious and sophisticated Transformation Strategy, to ensure the sustainability of nursing services to First Nations, and was successful in obtaining millions of dollars of ongoing funding commitments.
• From 2005 Kathleen was the Dean, School of Health Sciences, Humber Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, the position from which she retired this past August. We were delighted to be present at a number of farewell gatherings where Kathleen’s contributions to healthcare leadership were celebrated by friends and colleagues.
• Kathleen is a Past-President and Honorary Life Member of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, and the recipient of a Centennial Achievement Award from the Canadian Nurses Association.
• Kathleen’s has now retired to her home in rural Prince Edward Island where she hopes to spend more time on other pursuits such as social history; reading; gardening; water colour painting; and writing. She also hopes to be the summer destination for her beloved grandchildren, so that they too can experience Canada’s “gentle island”.

Some closing thoughts
We often like to close our newsletters with some sort of thought-provoking message. This time, it seemed timely to include a quotation from Kouzes & Posner’s new release of Credibility (p. 201):

”The more we study leadership, the more we’re persuaded that leadership development is not simply about skill development. It’s also about character development. Consider what one sage wrote:

“Be careful of your thoughts, for your thoughts become your words;
Be careful of your words, for your words become your deeds;
Be careful of your deeds, for your deeds become your habits;
Be careful of your habits, for your habits become your character;
Be careful of your character, for your character becomes your destiny.

And we would humbly add:
Be careful of your leadership, for your leadership becomes your legacy.”

We hope that you have a stimulating and satisfying autumn. Please keep your notes and updates coming in.

Judith, Julia , Bev

The first session of the 2011 Institute was held at the BMO Institute for Learning in Toronto. 102 participants from several provinces were actively involved together from Tuesday morning to Friday afternoon. Several highlights included a Wednesday session with award-winning author and leadership researcher Barry Posner who generously provided a signed copy of the 4th Edition The Leadership Challenge to each participant. On Thursday morning, individual groups inspired us with their visions of a culture of excellence. Thursday evening Jacoba Lillius encouraged us with her work in the Compassion Lab at Queen’s University then everyone participated in a rousing karaoke and dance party that was one of the best. Friday morning Rick Lash joined us again for his wonderful session on Emotional Intelligence and the Leader’s Journey. We meet again in November.

We are celebrating 10 years of partnership with J&J Medical Companies. JJMC has been so helpful in working with us to ensure that there are bursaries available for health care organizations with inadequate education dollars. Their support has enabled us to offer dozens of 2-for-1 bursaries to healthcare professionals to access leadership development opportunities. Contact Bev@BeverleySimpson.com to apply for a bursary.

Greetings Colleagues,
We are delighted to report that the Dorothy Wylie Nursing and Health Leaders Institute continues to prosper – thanks to the support of our attendees, their organizations and our faculty and sponsors. We are pleased to have the sponsorship of Johnson & Johnson Medical Products for the 8th consecutive year. Our May/November 2011 session, which is the 22nd offering of the Leadership Institute, is nearly full. So if you are intending to register any individuals please do so as soon as possible. Please register here: http://dwnli.ca/register/.

Nursing Leadership Network Annual Conference, Toronto March 24 &25
Julia, along with her colleague (and DWNLI alumnae) Nancy Fletcher are presenting at the 2011 conference later this month on “The No Outcome, No Income Tsunami, Are We Prepared? ” They will be describing the Markham Stouffville Hospital journey to enhance quality while simultaneously attempting to remove 1-3% of operating expenses. In this perfect storm of increased demands, decreasing revenue and increasing costs, we are sure it will be a standing room only session! To register go to www.nln.on.ca.

Leadership work in Africa
Judy is currently volunteering her time to offer two 2-day leadership development workshops to National Nursing Association leaders from 15 sub-Saharan African countries (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe). These nurse leaders are members of the Southern African Network of Nurses and Midwives (SANNAM), an organization that grew out of the 2000 International Conference on HIV/AIDS in South Africa, in response to concerns of nurses about the impact of the pandemic on nursing practice, and on nurses themselves. You may not know that since 2004, Judy has, in her own words “had the privilege and pleasure of facilitating SNNNAP’s partnership workshops, an uplifting part of a study tour organized to coincide with each CNA Biennial. The accomplishments of these developing organizations never fail to amaze and humble me, and the appreciation of Canada’s investment in their success always makes me very proud.”

For more information about SANNAM, you can check out the website www.sannam.org.za (Please note that this site has been blocked at times due to virus problem, so use with caution).

Alumnae in Transition
Congratulations to Rhonda Schwartz, on her appointment as Director of Quality, Safety and Best Practice at Baycrest in Toronto.
Congratulations also to Fay Lim-Lambie on her appointment as Director of Professional Practice and Research at Baycrest in Toronto.

Words of Inspiration for 2011
We are currently reading The Book of The Awakening, by Mark Nepo. The book is a series of inspiring thoughts and stories, including this one (paraphrased slightly for this newsletter).

“It was a snowy night, and Robert was recalling the time two springs ago when he was determined to paint the family room. Up early, he was out the door, to the hardware store gathering the gallons of red, the wooden mixing sticks, the drop cloths, and the one time brushes that always harden, no matter what you soak them in. He mixed the paint outside and waddled to the door with a gallon in each hand, the drop cloth under his arm, and a wide brush in his mouth. He teetered there for minutes, trying to open the door, not wanting to put anything down. He was so stubborn. He had the door almost open when he lost his grip, stumbled and wound up on the ground, red paint all over him.”

Amazingly, we all do this, whether with groceries or paint or with work. It’s such a simple thing, but in a moment of ego we refuse to put down what we carry in order to open the door. Time and time again, we are offered the chance to truly learn this: We cannot hold on to things and enter. We must put down what we carry, open the door, and then take up only what we need to bring inside.

What threshold are you having trouble crossing in your life? It might be at work, at home, in a relationship, or the doorway to greater peace. Is there something you need to put down?

Julia, Judy & Bev

In the middle of our cold winter 2011, I will be volunteering my time to offer two 2-day leadership development workshops to National Nursing Association leaders from 15 sub-Saharan African countries (Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Seychelles, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe).   These nurse leaders are members of the Southern African Network of Nurses and Midwives (SANNAM), an organization that grew out of the 2000 International Conference on HIV/AIDS in South Africa, in response to concerns of nurses about the impact of the pandemic on nursing practice, and on nurses themselves.   For more information about SANNAM, you can check out the website www.sannam.org.za (Please note that I have had this site blocked at times due to virus problem, so use with caution).

Since 2002, SANNAM has been a participant in the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Strengthening Nurses, Nursing Networks and Associations Program (SNNNAP).  In this wonderful initiative, CNA partners with 8 national nursing associations and one network of regional nursing associations around the world, to strengthen nursing’s contribution to the advancement of global health and equity.  SNNNAP activities are made possible by financial support of the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).  You can read more at http://www.cna-nurses.ca/CNA/international/partnerships/SNAAP/default_e.aspx

From 2004 onward, I have had the privilege and pleasure of facilitating SNNNAP’s partnership workshops, an uplifting part of a study tour organized to coincide with each CNA Biennial.  The accomplishments of these developing organizations never fail to amaze and humble me, and the appreciation of Canada’s investment in their success always makes me very proud.

In addition, in 2007 Michael Villeneuve and I went to Pretoria, where we offered the CNA Influencing Policy workshop to SANNAM members and to a group of national and provincial leaders from DENOSA (the nursing association of South Africa).  It was a great experience!

So, as I found myself at a time in life where the children were off the payroll and I did not need to work quite so hard, I offered to share some time to the SNNNAP program.  Given the history and reputation of the DMW-NLI and HLI, CNA approached me to ask if I would offer leadership development workshops to SANNAM.   We’ve been working at the planning and development of these workshops since last spring.

The process started by me identifying topics which I would feel comfortable leading.  We then conducted a survey of SANNAM members to see which topics they felt would add most value – both to SANNAM, and to their work in their own countries. The survey – and the time available – narrowed the number of topics to three: Kouzes & Posner’s Five Practices, Building High Performance Teams, and Influencing Policy.

In December, I went to Pretoria to attend SANNAM’s annual networking meeting (so that I could gain a better understanding of the activities and challenges that they are facing – both in their individual countries and as a network).  I stayed on for a week, working with the organization’s Executive Director to actually plan and develop the workshop and materials.   These have now gone for translation (SANNAM conducts its business in three languages: English, French and Portuguese).   SANNAM and CNA are very busy working with the host countries (South Africa and Zambia) to arrange the logistics (flights, hotels, translation, budget, etc, etc…) for all of the attendees, and we are very much looking forward to the actual events – which will take place in February and March 2011.  I hope to be able to share some photos and comments with you after I return.

Judith

Greetings Colleagues,

Thanks to your continued support we are delighted to report that we are offering another combined leadership program in May 2011. Please register early and notify your colleagues of this opportunity. Read the brochure, register, and Hold Spots here.

In this edition:

• What’s new about us?
• 10 years and going strong
• Updated website
• Julia shares her experience as a Wharton participant
• Bev’s is honoured with an RNAO Honorary Life Membership
• Spotlight on a Speaker featuring Rick Lash
• Ripples in a pond
• Downstream Research Project
• Update on our Strategic Alliance with CCHSE
• Role Changes
• A Special Thanks to our Sponsors
• Other information of interest
• BC Nursing Leadership Institute
• Leadership Resources

Summer 2010 Newsletter (pdf)

We hope that you have a safe and happy summer; please keep your notes and updates coming in.
Judith, Julia, Bev