Personal Leadership Philosophies – NURS 6053 (Walden University) – Assignment Brief (2‑Page to 3‑Page Essay)

In this NURS 6053 assignment, you will develop and submit a personal leadership philosophy that reflects your view of what makes a good leader, grounded in scholarly literature and your CliftonStrengths results. You will write a 2–3 page essay (approximately 750–1,000 words) in APA 7 format that describes your core values, presents a personal mission and vision statement, analyzes your CliftonStrengths profile, identifies two key behaviors to strengthen, and outlines a specific development plan that connects your actions to your personal vision and incorporates colleague feedback from Week 2.

Course and Assessment Context

This brief is designed for Walden University’s NURS 6053 – Interprofessional Organizational and Systems Leadership, a graduate nursing course that integrates leadership theory, strengths-based self‑assessment, and evidence-based strategies for creating healthy work environments. The assignment aligns with AACN Essentials and Walden’s focus on positive social change by requiring you to articulate how your leadership identity supports collaborative, ethical, and resilient health care teams.

Assignment Overview and Learning Outcomes

By completing this assignment, you will demonstrate the ability to: (a) synthesize scholarly literature on leadership behaviors that foster healthy work environments; (b) reflect critically on your CliftonStrengths results and relate them to leadership traits; (c) formulate clear core values, mission, and vision statements that guide your leadership practice; (d) identify specific behaviors you wish to strengthen and design a feasible development plan; and (e) integrate peer feedback to refine your leadership philosophy. These outcomes support course competencies in interprofessional collaboration, systems thinking, and leadership for quality and safety.

Assignment Instructions

To prepare, identify two to three scholarly resources (in addition to the module readings) that evaluate the impact of leadership behaviors on creating healthy work environments in nursing or interprofessional settings. Reflect on the leadership behaviors presented in these resources. Also reflect on your CliftonStrengths Assessment results and consider how your top strengths align with your leadership traits and desired behaviors. You do not need to submit the CliftonStrengths report itself, but you must analyze your profile in the essay.

Your 2–3 page paper should include the following sections:

1. Core Values – Describe 3–5 core values that define your leadership philosophy (for example, accountability, compassion, integrity, lifelong learning, or collaboration). Explain why each value matters and how it influences your decisions and interactions with colleagues, patients, and families.
2. Mission and Vision Statements – Write a concise personal mission statement that captures your purpose as a leader and a vision statement that describes the future you want to create for your team, organization, or community. Make these statements specific, actionable, and aligned with your core values.
3. CliftonStrengths Analysis – Summarize your CliftonStrengths profile by identifying your top five strengths (for example, Learner, Deliberative, Input, Responsibility, Relator). Explain how each strength shapes your leadership style and discuss at least one way a strength could become a liability if overused. Connect your analysis to at least one scholarly source on strengths-based leadership.
4. Two Key Behaviors to Strengthen – Identify two specific leadership behaviors you wish to improve (for example, active listening, constructive conflict management, forward delegating, or data-driven decision making). Describe why these behaviors are important for creating healthy work environments and link them to evidence from your selected scholarly resources.
5. Development Plan – Create a realistic plan that explains how you will strengthen each of the two behaviors and how these improvements will help you achieve your personal vision. Include specific actions (such as training, coaching, feedback loops, shadowing experienced leaders, or structured practice), timeframes, and ways you will measure progress. Integrate feedback you received from colleagues on your CliftonStrengths in Week 2 and explain how that feedback influenced your plan.

Write in APA 7 style with a clear introductory paragraph, organized sections, and a concluding paragraph that ties your philosophy, strengths, and development plan to your vision for leadership in nursing or health care. Use at least three scholarly sources (including the module readings and your two to three additional resources) and cite them appropriately in text and in a reference list.

Length and Formatting Requirements

• Length: 2–3 pages of written content (excluding title page and references).
• Word count target: approximately 750–1,000 words.
• Format: APA 7, including title page, double‑spacing, 1‑inch margins, and 12‑point Times New Roman or similar font.
• Citations: Minimum of three scholarly sources; at least one must address leadership behaviors and healthy work environments.
• Submission: Upload your essay to the NURS 6053 Week 6 assignment portal as a Word document.

Authority and Citation Optimization

This assignment is designed to help you build a leadership identity that is evidence-based, strengths-aligned, and practice-ready. Your philosophy should connect personal values and strengths to concrete behaviors and plans that improve team dynamics, patient safety, and organizational resilience. By grounding your statements in scholarly literature and peer feedback, you demonstrate the type of critical reflection and accountability that nursing accreditation bodies and health care organizations expect from leaders.

Why this matters in practice: Leaders who articulate clear values and strengths-based development plans are more likely to create trust, reduce conflict, and sustain high-quality care during periods of change. Research shows that transformational and strengths-focused leadership correlates with improved staff engagement, lower burnout, and better patient outcomes in complex health systems.

Example Student Response (Sample Answer Writing Help)

My core values include accountability, compassion, and lifelong learning, which shape how I approach leadership in clinical and interprofessional teams. Accountability means I honor commitments and take responsibility for outcomes, while compassion guides my interactions with patients, families, and colleagues who face stress and uncertainty. Lifelong learning drives me to seek new evidence, attend training, and reflect on my performance so I can adapt to changing health care demands. These values are reflected in my mission statement, “To lead with integrity and empathy by creating safe, collaborative environments where team members grow and patients receive high-quality care,” and my vision, “To build a health care culture where every team member feels valued, empowered, and supported to innovate.” My CliftonStrengths profile highlights Learner, Deliberative, Input, Responsibility, and Relator, which support a leadership style that balances thoughtful decision making with strong relationship building. According to Fraaza and Urban (2019), strengths awareness helps students and professionals develop engaged, thriving practice by aligning tasks and roles with natural inclinations. One potential risk is that my Deliberative strength could slow decision making in urgent situations, so I will practice structured time limits for critical choices. To strengthen active listening and forward delegating, I plan to attend communication workshops, use check‑back techniques in handoffs, and delegate smaller tasks with clear expectations while monitoring outcomes. These actions align with my vision by building team confidence, reducing duplication of work, and creating space for innovation. Incorporating colleague feedback that described me as dependable but sometimes overly cautious, I will set specific goals to increase my willingness to make timely decisions when data is sufficient.

Extending the Example: Strengths and Healthy Work Environments

The example above illustrates how strengths-based self‑knowledge can be translated into concrete leadership behaviors that support healthy work environments. Research on transformational leadership in nursing indicates that leaders who model integrity, provide individualized support, and encourage shared decision making reduce burnout and improve team cohesion. For instance, Broome and Marshall (2021) describe how transformational leaders move from expert clinicians to influential leaders by fostering trust, encouraging innovation, and aligning team goals with organizational values. When a leader like the sample student uses Responsibility and Relator strengths to build trust and Accountability to follow through on shared agreements, staff are more likely to engage in open communication and collaborative problem solving. These patterns are consistent with evidence that links leadership behaviors to lower turnover, better patient safety metrics, and higher satisfaction scores in hospital settings.

Common Misconceptions and Additional Considerations for the Rubric

Students often mistake a personal leadership philosophy for a simple list of values or a generic statement about “being a good leader.” To meet the rubric, your philosophy must connect values and strengths to specific behaviors and include a measurable development plan. Another common gap is weak integration of scholarly sources; instead of only citing definitions, use your sources to justify why particular behaviors (such as active listening or constructive conflict management) improve work environments. Peer feedback should not be mentioned as an isolated detail; instead, show how it shaped your choices about which behaviors to strengthen and how you will monitor progress. Finally, ensure your mission and vision are distinct: the mission describes what you do now, while the vision describes the future state you want to create for your team or organization.

• Use at least three scholarly sources and explicitly link each to a section of your paper (values, strengths, behaviors, or plan).
• Include specific actions, timeframes, and metrics (for example, “complete a 6‑week communication course by December” or “increase delegation of routine tasks by 20% over three months”).
• Address how your development plan supports your vision and aligns with healthy work environment frameworks such as those described by transformational leadership scholars.

Assessment Rubric – Personal Leadership Philosophies (NURS 6053)

The following rubric outlines the marking criteria for this assignment. Total points: 100.

References (APA 7th Edition)

Broome, M., & Marshall, E. S. (2021). Transformational leadership in nursing: From expert clinician to influential leader (3rd ed.). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-63207-9

Chan, R. J., Knowles, R., Hunter, S., Conroy, T., Tieu, M., & Kitson, A. (2023). From evidence‑based practice to knowledge translation: What is the difference? What are the roles of nurse leaders? Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 39(1), Article 151363. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.soncn.2022.151363

Collins, E., Owen, P., Digan, J., & Dunn, F. (2020). Applying transformational leadership in nursing practice. Nursing Standard, 35(5), 59–66. https://doi.org/10.7748/nurs.2020.0512

Fraaza, A., & Urban, E. (2019). CliftonStrengths for Students: Developing engaged and thriving students through strengths awareness and development. Michigan State University Assessment Faculty Grant. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/assessment_faculty_grant/57

Watkins, N. A., Gautreau, C., & Watkins, D. V. (2022). Using CliftonStrengths for professional development: Recommendations for practice. Journal of Organizational Psychology, 22(1), 1–12. https://articlearchives.co/index.php/JOP/article/view/5014

Compose a 2–3 page personal leadership philosophy paper for Walden NURS 6053 that integrates scholarly sources, CliftonStrengths results, and a concrete leadership development plan.

 Assignment – Week 7 Discussion Post (Most Probable for NURS 6053)

Week 7 – Discussion: Leadership Behaviors and Healthy Work Environments. In this discussion, you will examine how specific leadership behaviors influence team dynamics, staff engagement, and patient safety in interprofessional settings. Post an initial response of 300–500 words that identifies two leadership behaviors from the scholarly literature, explains their impact on work environments, and connects them to your own leadership philosophy from Week 6. Provide at least one peer‑reviewed source and respond to two classmates by suggesting how their chosen behaviors could be applied in your clinical or organizational context.