Published October 24, 2018 
Rounds with Leadership: AACN LEADS: Your Leadership Journey Accelerated!
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
Those words from John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, underscore the important role leaders play in inspiring others to take action and realize higher levels of achievement. They also beg the question: Are you prepared to lead?
Senior executives, across industries and settings, must lead in an environment of volatility, uncertainty, and ambiguity. Leaders in academic institutions face even greater challenges that involve engaging internal stakeholders (i.e., students, alumni, faculty, and administration) as well as a wide array of influential external stakeholders, including legislators, practice partners, and funders. Academic leaders across healthcare disciplines must accomplish all of this while honoring the triad of mission objectives: education, practice, and research. Preparing nurse educators with contemporary leadership skills is fundamental to advancing the profession and infusing nursing’s voice into the national conversation on healthcare reform and innovation.
AACN has always been an important source for leadership development for all members of the nursing school enterprise. According to a recent assessment commissioned by the Board of Directors, 97% of member deans and other top administrators recognize AACN as a primary source for leadership development in academic nursing. These individuals are looking to AACN to provide high-level training in areas important to today’s leader, including developing and empowering others, communication, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, negotiation, and business operations.