Leadership is present in the commonplace acts.

Around the time that I was asked to write this column, the January 2003 issue of Canadian Nurse arrived in my mailbox. In the column “Nurse to Know,” Barbara Sibbald introduced us to Michelle Inder-Milley, a 25-year-old nurse from Newfoundland. InderMilley has a clear sense that nursing leadership lies within the purview of every nurse and that leadership is about making a difference. She talks about leadership potential that emerges from overcoming limitations, using one’s full potential and having a vision and passion for nursing. Her view is that nurses must be leaders for the sake of themselves, their patients and the profession. Leadership in nursing easily brings to mind images of nurse managers, executive nurses and nurses in academia. In these roles, leadership is formalized and integrated into the qualifications, expectations and professional development of the incumbents. If you look a little harder, it is not difficult to find examples of informal leadership in nursing when you consider nurses who go beyond their regular duties to organize educational events, participate in professional associations or volunteer in health-related community events. But Inder-Milley challenges me to think about how leadership in nursing practice is expressed at the very front line, where nurses in staff positions (without formal leadership roles) interact with patients and families. What are the leadership behaviours and attributes that we expect, recognize and seek to develop at this level? What is it that enables one young nurse to be clear and articulate about leadership, when so many others in the profession express discouragement and defeat? Across a wide range of literature there is no tidy, concise definition of leadership, but there is agreement that Leadership Is Present in the Commonplace Acts