Marcia Zidle, a business speaker and leadership coach, recently published an article in her Making Waves: Leadership at All Levels e-newsletter – “What They Didn’t Teach You in Harvard Business School.” It’s a great reminder for nurses, as well:

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Here are 20 lessons, generated during a recent leadership program with mid level managers, that
can help your career … or even change your life:

1. An issue never communicated is never resolved
2. The boss isn’t always right, but he’s still the boss.
3. It’s impossible to know anything for sure about the future.
4. The customer isn’t always right, but he’s still the customer.
5. Perception is reality – whether it’s true or not – it’s their reality.
6. Manage relationships not just the work that has to get done.

7. Confidence comes from success, knowledge comes from failure.
8. The workplace is about business and profitability, not about you.
9. Don’t panic and do something stupid in anticipation of a bad event.
10. It’s ok to say I don’t know as long as the next thing you say is I’ll find out.
11. You can never delegate responsibility, you can only delegate accountability.
12. When you have problems with others, look inside yourself first for answers.
13. It’s not what you say; it’s how you say it, when you say it, and why you say it.
14. If you’re not passionate about what you’re doing, you won’t be successful at it.
15. If you’re miserable, quit and do something else. If you’re still miserable, it’s you.
16. Anger is never about what you think you’re angry about. It’s about something else.
17. It is impossible to know where you are going if you don’t know where you’ve been.
18. If you don’t know, say so. If you don’t know what you’re talking about, stop talking.
19. People won’t perform well for those they don’t respect. They’ll just go through the motions.
20. Whine and complain all you want; nobody gives a crap. Get off your duff and so something.

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Just as true for nursing as it is for business.