Begin by respecting yourself as a professional and a leader. By virtue of reading nursing journals, attending nursing related programs, certifying in your specialty, joining a nursing organization, writing and sharing ideas with other nurses, you demonstrate your leadership every working day. When you go to a conference and pay your own way because there is no longer an education fund at your hospital, you are demonstrating leadership. When you share what you learn with your co-workers, that is leadership. That question is answered when we examine just what it is that leaders do.
Leaders create values through communication.
The things they communicate about relate to common values that are important to others. They enlist others in a noble cause that gives meaning and purpose to the work at hand. Leaders also convey a vision of the future. They become catalysts in defining mission and encouraging others to help in propagating that mission. Leaders encourage responsibility.