{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Episode 430: Leadership Unlocked: Is It Your Time to Serve?","description":" \u201cIf you are considering board service, I would say take the leap. Start with your local chapter. It will give you some valuable skills that will help prepare you when you are applying for your national level. And I always say, if you want to do it, just do it because what\u2019s the worst that can happen? They can say no, but that doesn\u2019t mean that you will never serve on a board. I always tell people delayed is not denied,\u201d Cassandra Green, DNP, RN, OCN\u00ae, ONS member and past president of the Oncology Nursing Certification Corporation (ONCC) Board of Directors, told Evelyn Wempe, DNP, MBA, APRN, ACNP-BC, AOCNP\u00ae, CRN, NEA-BC, chair of the ONS Leadership Succession Committee (formerly known as the Leadership Development Committee), during a conversation about service on a board of directors. Wempe spoke with Green and ONS members Kristin Ferguson, DNP, MBA, RN, OCN\u00ae, CGNC, former treasurer and director-at-large on the ONS Board of Directors, and Yanka Campbell, DNP, RN, CPHQ, AGPCNP-BC, CNE, member of the Oncology Nursing Foundation (ONF) Board of Directors, about their experiences with board service. Music Credit: \u201cFireflies and Stardust\u201d by Kevin MacLeod Licensed under Creative Commons by Attribution 3.0  Earn 0.5 contact hours of nursing continuing professional development (NCPD) by listening to the full recording and completing an evaluation at courses.ons.org by August 28, 2027. The planners and faculty for this episode have no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies to disclose. ONS is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center\u2019s Commission on Accreditation. Learning outcome: Learners will report an increase in knowledge related to serving on a board of directors for a professional organization. Episode Notes Complete this evaluation for free NCPD. ONS Podcast\u2122 episodes: Meet the ONS Board of Directors series Episode 342: What It\u2019s Like to Serve on the Leadership Development Committee ONS Voice articles: Could Today Be the Start of Your ONS Leadership Journey? Nursing Leadership Unlocked Leading With Purpose Creates a Vision for the Future of Oncology Nursing ONS courses: A Guide to Chapter Leadership: Chapter President Training Board Leadership: Nurses in Governance Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing article: Rearview Mirror Leadership: Looking Backward to Move Forward ONS Board Self-Assessment ONS Leadership ONCC Board of Directors ONF Leadership Your Roadmap to Future Service on the ONS Board of Directors ONS Leadership Learning Library To discuss the information in this episode with other oncology nurses, visit the ONS Communities. To find resources for creating an ONS Podcast club in your chapter or nursing community, visit the ONS Podcast Library. To provide feedback or otherwise reach ONS about the podcast, email pubONSVoice@ons.org. Highlights From This Episode Campbell: \u201cJoining a board was a natural next step for me to maintain my connection to bedside nursing that I\u2019ve loved for so many years, and to find a way to give back to advanced practice nurses as well in this role. The Oncology Nursing Society and Foundation were especially meaningful for me because I knew firsthand the importance of having scholarship, research, funding, and leadership development programs that can really change the trajectory of a nurse\u2019s career. I realized I wanted to help shape the opportunities that were available to me for future nurses, and I just did not want to continue to do that through one-on-one mentorships, which I have done extensively throughout my career, but find a way to help more broadly toward guiding organizational mission and strategic objectives.\u201d TS 7:20 Green: \u201cEveryone was so welcoming on the board. Everyone was so friendly. One of the first things I remember our executive director Tony Ellis telling me is, \u2018Most of our new board members are really quiet and reserved at our first meeting. They just kind of keep things to themselves. They don\u2019t ask a lot of questions.\u2019 I don\u2019t know if they were prepared for me because I came in with guns a-blazing, and I had lots of questions. I was not quiet. I was very involved and very vocal. I still am, but that was one of the best experiences ever. Before that, I had never really been in a board setting other than my local chapter, and even then, I was just starting to be in that setting because I was the president of my local chapter and on the [ONCC] Board of Directors at the same time.\u201d TS 10:29 Ferguson: \u201cA nonclinical mentor I would absolutely identify would be Alec Stone, who used to be the ONS director of public affairs. \u2026 He helped me to learn a lot about health policy and advocacy and the impact a nurse\u2019s voice can have. Learning how to speak about my experiences in health care in public by doing programs like the Nurses in Washington Internship \u2026 or ONS\u2019s Capitol Hill Days ended up giving me a lot more confidence that I didn\u2019t know I would have in expressing my point of view and being very open and collegial and expressing my opinions. \u2026 This really lent itself well to my future board experience because, as Cassandra mentioned, board members have to speak their mind and speak up at the meetings.\u201d TS 12:11 Campbell: \u201cOne of the most unexpected benefits was when I reached out to my executive leadership team at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Johns Hopkins and said, \u2018I\u2019m being considered to serve on the ONF Board. This is going to require me taking time away from work to attend meetings, to attend some in-person meetings. And then it would be really wonderful at the institution if I\u2019m able to also financially impact the nurses who need to benefit from what I\u2019ve benefited from in my career.\u2019 Usually when you have those conversations, you are expecting to present a deck of PowerPoint slides to make your case, but the answer from my leadership team in participating in ONF and supporting the Board was an immediate yes. It was \u2018Yes, when can you start? Yes, what can we do to support you?\u2019 And really making sure that I had dedicated time to be fully present.\u201d TS 14:15 Ferguson: \u201cThere are many skills and experiences that can lend themselves to being a strong board member. \u2026 The ability to speak your mind clearly and express your thoughts, which really boils down to strong communication skills. We are lucky in our careers. We all have worked as nurses in different settings and health care, and nurses are naturally skilled and good at communication. We learn strategies like SBAR\u2014situation, background assessment, recommendation. Nurses every day are communicating in their places of work, oftentimes with patients who are sick and need education, or perhaps with new nurses they\u2019re teaching or mentoring. And they are communicating with non-nurses, as well, and nonpatients, so clinical roles and nonclinical roles. So nurses already have a good understanding of best practices when it comes to communication, and this can lend itself well to any board position.\u201d TS 21:04 Green: \u201cWhen you [come into a] leadership role, I think that\u2019s when we learn most about ourselves and what we expect. And be the leader type of leader that you want to be and the type of leader that you would like to work with so that you can make your experience valuable and pleasurable.\u201d TS 28:57 ","author_name":"The ONS Podcast","author_url":"http:\/\/onsvoice.libsyn.com\/website","html":"