Nicki's Bio
Nicki Credland is a Reader in Critical Care at the University of Hull. She is a Fellow of the British Association of Critical Care (BACCN) after a six-year term of office as Chair of the organisation. She is taking over as Chair of the UK Critical Care Nursing Alliance in April. She is a specialist advisor in critical care nursing to NHSE. Involved in national and international research and education for critical care nursing Nicki was appointed Director for Nurse Education at the NHS Nightingale Hospital Yorkshire and the Humber during the Covid pandemic. She speaks widely about the critical care nursing workforce and has contributed to a number of national position statements and key documents around these issues. She won the Intensive Care Society Outstanding Leadership award in 2023. Nicki favours servant leadership but suggests there is a need to fluidly use some elements of the other styles in specific situations.
Follow Nicki on Twitter (X) here: @credland_nicki
A summary of our discussion
In today's episode of the podcast, I spoke to Nicki Credland who is currently a reader in critical care at the University of Hull as well as holds many other roles (see her amazing bio). I broke the ice by asking Nicki what has made her smile today which she replied "Looking out the window at the sun in France" which is where Nicki is based for a 9 month sabbatical.
Nicki then responded to a quote I put to her on leadership. Do check into the podcast to see what this was and Nicki's initial response.
Jumping into the main part of the podcast, Nicki gave her 3 points about how to be a better leader. These were to lead by example, be truly supportive, compassionate and actually listen to team members and lastly to build trust. Check these out on the podcast, it was great to hear all about them.
Nicki then told us about 2 examples of when leadership has gone well and these were her role as part of the pandemic response as a head of school and the chair of the British Association of Critical Care Nurses as well as her second example which was the Obama family and their time in office. I am sure you will love hearing about these two examples.
Lastly, as Nicki's 1 leadership style, she chose Servant Leadership. Give the podcast a listen and you can read more about this leadership style below.
We closed the episode by asking Nicki what she is most grateful for in life. Her response was as below:
"My daughter"
Listen to the episode below
Watch the episode below
Delve into Servant Leadership
This is a leadership that again is based on the idea the leader is not presenting themselves as the "boss" although they may well be. The style of leadership is much more about a team with a leader within it, who is as interdependent on the team members as they are on the leader.
Servant leadership can be cited as far back as the 1970s and is all about the leader having the desire to "serve" and therefore put the needs of the team members before their own needs and desires. Because of this desire to serve, this leadership style is often cited as being best placed in the public sector.
Team building is a massive element of servant leadership where the leaders will gauge each situation differently and utilise the team's strength as a whole as well as each member's strengths to then respond to said situations accordingly. There is also a large element of sharing of power and decision making along with promoting a sense of community within the team. Some of the literature on servant leaders refers to the leader as "first among equals" because they don't see themself as superior to the others in the team.
Servant leaders have a holistic approach to their work and leadership and are said to be role models to those within their teams with trustworthiness, honesty, empowerment and truly appreciate the "service" of others. Manz (1998) suggested regarding servant leaders "Wise leaders lead others to lead themselves"
Like all styles, there are disadvantages in the literature. Like other styles, again this style is said to lack empirical evidence and is therefore said to be more philosophical. Some literature even suggests the style is slightly paternalistic and even can be patronising depending on the members of the team the leader is leading.
Further reading on Servant Leadership
Websites:
Open access articles:
Footnotes
Why not take this fun personality test to find out your personality? Check it out here:
And also why not find out your leadership style based on a questionnaire? Try it here:
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