Answer :

COURSE: NURS 472

Introduction 

An 'aha moment' refers to the sudden reaction to an experience or some discovery. It is considered vital when it comes to professional and even in personal lives. The moment can have a powerful impact on an individual (Kounios & Beeman, 2009). In the NURS 472 course, we have been made aware of leadership and its importance in the nursing profession. We were given the opportunity to seek feedback from outside the college, to learn about our strengths and weakness, the areas where we need to work upon ourselves. I had sought feedback from my colleague and another person, and I will discuss it further and try to connect it with my present assignment. This part one of this assignment requires us to discuss an 'aha moment' that has been influenced by the course's learning or how the knowledge from the course helped me realize my 'aha moment'. I have tried to present my actual experience in such a manner that it fulfils the requirements of this assignment. I have further discussed my 'aha moment' in details and analyzed it. It has helped me grow as a person, learn about leadership and also ways in which I can improve myself. The second part consists of a leadership portfolio that is based on my learning from the course and 'aha moment'.

Part One

The description of ‘aha moment’

My personal 'aha moment' happened at my workplace. I am a person who always found it challenging to connect with other people and even working with them. I was always conscious of self, a personality that was an integral part of me since childhood. Whenever people used to correct me for some silly mistakes, I got emotional and personally took them. I always believed that I could be a good leader once I enter into my professional life (nursing) and deal with challenging situations with my smartness. In my workplace (a food store and home delivery service centre), I have to interact with the customers on a limited basis; so initially, I did not face many difficulties. However, a few weeks back, my senior informed me that my primary job role has been upgraded to deal with customer complaints, and based on my performance, my pay level shall be raised. It came as a shock to me. Dealing with the customers' complaints requires specific special skills like patience, calmness, compassion, decisiveness, humility. I was very nervous and wanted to convey to my senior that I cannot take up the job role, even if it costs me a brilliant opportunity to earn better. However, my colleague stopped me and asked me to think about it for a day or two; and then decide. I agreed; however, I was not happy and felt suffocated as I could not keep the uneasiness within me. The very next day, we were introduced to the NURS 472 course. The course mainly focuses on the leadership aspects, and thus, it seemed interesting to a person like me, who finds it difficult to interact with other people. When the new concepts were introduced, I started connecting some things with myself. It is vital to learn that people can always aspire to lead and bring personal and professional lives (Brungardt, 1996). The impact of the course made me question myself- "Why am I conscious of self? Who is stopping me? Is everyone else except for me is perfect, and I am not? Are not we all having some of the other fears? Why do not I overcome it?" This course was introduced when I struggled with myself as to how shall I convey to my senior my inability to accept the new offered job role. I did not say anything to my senior and took up the job of handling the customer complaints. However, it did not begin well. The first lady I dealt with was furious at us for delivering the eggs, out of which one was rotten. I realized that it is going to difficult and felt nervous. However, the moment I realized, as per Nwabueze (2011), calmness is a critical characteristic of a good leader; I listened to her and did not utter even a single word until she was out of her anger. I politely apologized for the disservice and inconvenience caused to her. I offered her to send the following order of the same quantity of eggs, free of cost, to which she agreed. While hanging up the call, she became polite and apologized if she was too harsh in the beginning. I thanked her for understanding and hung up the call. When I shared the incident with my senior, he applauded me as the client I dealt with often complained about little things. Thus, he said to me that you have some excellent convincing skills and should emphasize more on them. The moment I heard that I was full of joy. I could not believe that I dealt with someone that way. For me, this was my 'aha moment'. 

Analysis of the ‘aha moment’

My 'aha moment' has enhanced my confidence level, and the level of challenges I used to feel while interacting with other people has significantly come down. I always believed that only when I get into the nursing profession I will play a decisive role in leadership. However, the course and my 'aha moment' have made me realize that leadership is not based on professional conduct, but one should also have it while in school, college and even internship. Being confident not only helps you professionally, but it has profoundly impacted my personal life (Jackson et al. 2011). Today, I am learning to be firm while presenting my thoughts, talk to different people without fear of being judged and the most crucial thing; learning to be emotionally stable. I found it difficult to accept who I am and how I can be wrong and acknowledge that I need improvements. I am becoming a better person each day, which gives me self-satisfaction, not just at my workplace but even in college. My parents have been observing my behaviour while on call and are happy enough to know I am doing well. An individual needs to do what makes him happy; in my case, I am doing the same things that I did a few weeks back, but after the experience of 'aha moment' and learning from this course, I am in a better place today. Being a leader, one needs to be self-satisfied and calm from within and have the ability to deal with tense situations like coping with criticism (Cameron, 2012). This can also be called emotional intelligence; we learn to deal with our emotions and not let them influence our professional lives. Connecting the concept with my 'aha moment', I was faced with huge nervousness and a sense of fear while dealing with the lady who was upset with the service. The learning from Shankman et al. (2015) played a critical role there. I calmed my emotions and kept quiet until the lady vented out her anger. This worked well, and the matter got resolved. I can also relate to the five practices for becoming an exemplary leader Kouzes & Posner (2018). The practices include; Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to act and Encourage the heart. Under the practice of model the way, I am learning the art of finding your own voice and reflect and act. It is critical to know your own self and analyze better; thus, your thoughts must be reflected in your actions. I find Practice three, Challenge the Process, relatable to my 'aha moment' as I eventually took up the offer and prepared myself for the challenging task of handling the customer service. Also, practice five; Encourage the heart, as already discussed above, has been my constant approach as I am trying to gain confidence over my shortcomings mentioned initially. When it comes to leadership, it is a broad term and encompasses various aspects within (Cameron, 2012). It is not a personality one can attain in a day; it takes effort and commitment to improvement. As nursing students, we are learning the importance of leadership via the course as it will enable us to deal with challenging situations. The opportunity to seek feedback from outsiders gave me a true insight into my personality and added value to it, and acknowledged the weak points. For this course, I had to seek feedback from outside, for which I approached my associate Ms Radhika Arora and our mutual friend. Both these women have been doing well for themselves and hold good work experience, as already discussed in the analysis of seeking feedback. The feedback was critical in various aspects. Firstly, getting honest feedback is essential to improve yourself. Secondly, if one has people who are not just critiques but also the ones who guide and motivate, that is indeed a blessing. I have realized that I do hold the strength of interacting with the people; only the confidence was missing, which I am working on. I am in the constant practice of building my emotional stability. It is critical and will help me not just future professional life; but even now. Even though it is still an area of improvement for me, I need to learn more about emotional intelligence. I hope my current work profile and the learning of this course would help me do that effectively.

Part Two

Leadership Plan

Over the years, the importance placed in Leadership in the nursing profession has been increasing. The nurses have prime responsibilities like taking care of the patients and improving their health. Leadership thus plays a critical role in effective care delivery. The other challenging tasks may include providing direction, coordinating, motivating, conducting effective communication advocating for the patients. In complex cases, sometimes, the nurses have to make decisions that can profoundly impact patients' health; thus, nurses' roles cannot be dealt with separately from nursing (Nwabueze, 2011). The effect of the 'aha moment' and the course's learning have already been discussed above. I want to share how the understanding will be implemented in my professional life. I am under the constant practice of enhancing my confidence level while interacting with others. For instance, whenever colleagues asked me out for lunch or dinner at my workplace, I refused. Today, I ask them if they would join me. I have been trying to make initiatives from my end; because that is also a vital characteristic of a good leader. I am also trying to analyze the type of leadership that suits me the best. I realized that the style should be fair and motivating, as I realize the value of motivation and support that can enhance your skills (my colleagues' feedback). Thus, now I would like to share the Leadership Plan that can help me both professionally and personally-

1. Elevating emotional intelligence- It can do wonders. Once the person is confident while dealing with tense situations, it is easier to manage other circumstances (Shankman et al. 2015). Before dealing with others, I need to deal with the emotions that can have both good and bad impacts on me. I need to be calm most of the times and should hold the ability to listen to the other people altogether; before commenting. Being a nurse, I might make some mistakes while learning about practical scenarios in the near future. I will make sure that I do not take things personally and accept criticism. Criticism helps one become strong if the person is strong enough to process it wisely. Also, I am reducing my reluctance levels to communicate with other people and feel conscious about it. It has empowered my self-confidence, which will help me in the long run. 
2. Communicating well- Communication may be seen as just another way of interacting with others. However, in the case of leadership, it has a different role to play. It is essential to learn the essence of skills that communicate the message and make it follow, inspire, and execute the plans. While being a nurse, I might have to take on the leadership role at critical times (Riley, 2015). If I do not communicate myself well, it would not be just an error in my leadership skills but can also keep the patient's health at stake. Thus, every word must be clear. Moreover, inspiring others at critical times can calm the situation and raise the morale of the people. I will try to incorporate the qualities of a good and inspiring leader.
3. Engaging actively in Team- Even previously, I used to be a part of teams; in schools, at college and workplace. However, I felt nervous while suggesting anything. Now, I try to make the other people hear my voice—the recent incident from my life suits this development. At my workplace, I worked in a team of six people, out of which three were not well-known to me. We were given the task of preparing the customer service plan to upgrade the levels of service. I suggested my opinions without the fear of being judged. The 'aha moment' experience helped me immensely to tell measures to deal with demanding clients. Even in the nursing professions, nurses do work in teams, interact and communicate, assist one another, and ensure better patient outcomes. It requires active participation from my end and constant interaction with the team members. Also, being heard in early professional life is important to make your place. 
4. Constant Learning- Even after attaining enough advanced knowledge regarding the profession, the continuous effort to upgrade it using evidence-based practice is important (Mackey & Bassendowski, 2017). The world is constantly changing and at a faster rate. Thus, it is critical not just for us but also for us, but even after entering into our professional lives, enhancing learning and making it better.
5. Flexible Lifestyle- The initial years of practise will be challenging, as we know. The hours of practice will vary, but mostly, the schedules are tough to manage. In that case, I want to have a flexible lifestyle that can allow me to take long working hours and give my best.

Thus, I have discussed few critical aspects that I need to follow in my future leadership as a nursing professional. Also, these skills will help me become a good nurse and impact my current status of being a student. 

Conclusion

To summarize, it can be said that the purpose of this assignment has been quite fruitful for me. I would say that the realization of the 'aha moment' would not have been this important for me, in general. The assignment gave me an opportunity to investigate and learn about myself, my growth, and the areas where I still need to work upon. The analysis of my 'aha moment' strengthened my belief in self, and I realized that I, too, can be good at places where I previously used to be self-conscious. I now know that little steps towards achieving something can do great help, and thus, I am constantly working on the skills I listed in the leadership portfolio. I am quite opportunistic that those will help me not just in my professional but also personal life.