Communicating Mission, Strategic Planning, and Professional Identity at a Nursing Retreat

Teamwork is used to help accomplish change and achieve goals. There are many different aspects of teamwork: tasks and achievements, devotion to work and responsibility, communication within the teams, team management (leadership), team organization, and team role and status in the organization.1 One aspect of teamwork, leadership, is vital to the achievements of the team. John Maxwell wrote, “The key to success in any endeavor is the ability to lead others successfully” (pg. ix).2 To become an effective leader, an individual must determine a personal leadership style, know the different characteristics and types of leaders, and develop strategies that emphasize the individual's leadership style. Leadership integrates the ability to empower the team, communicate with many different levels of an organization and have a vision for the end product.3 “Leadership is all about communicating the firm's mission statement or overall goal to employees and letting them see how their everyday contribution fits into the bigger picture”.4