This practical guide provides essential knowledge and tools for nursing and healthcare students and practitioners to develop their leadership skills, from the very beginning of their practice and throughout their careers.

The first section provides an overview of leadership in nursing and healthcare in today’s context, discussing:

• relevant theory, and values-based approaches such as congruent, compassionate and ethical leadership;

• the role of nurses and healthcare professionals in policy, social justice and decision making, and how leadership positively impacts quality of patient care and the healthcare professions;

• how we learn leadership skills, such as emotional and social intelligence, and experiential methods of learning, such as reflexivity, learning from experience and Action Learning.

The second section looks at the role of emotions and experiential learning in leadership development, and methods such as action learning, reflexivity, lifelong journaling and the use of narratives and the arts, to introduce a range of practical tools and methods for the reader to use in their own development. Strategies for the less experienced practitioner and for the more experienced practitioner are presented, including action learning and promoting wellbeing, and the book also highlights the evidence base the methods draw on. This creative text introduces vital tools and uses reflective activities and questions to support readers in building their leadership skills.

It is ideal for students and practitioners at all levels in nursing and healthcare interested in self-development.