I would like to thank Professor Liz Robb, CEO of the Florence Nightingale Foundation for her amazing guidance and support throughout this this whole experience and the Burdett Trust for Nursing for their sponsorship, without which I would not have had the chance to undertake this great journey.
I was incredibly lucky to have such a wonderful Mentor in Sir Keith Pearson. Sir Keith has provided me with a sound baseline to help me to develop my leadership skills. In addition, Sir Keith helped me to network at a much higher level and enabled me to link in with key figures at a national level. He has tutored me in ways that have enabled me to grow and develop as a leader. Through our meetings, Sir Keith has given me the personal insights that will take me forward as a strong leader. Sir Keith is a truly inspirational Mentor.
I would also like to thank Liverpool John Moores University for their support and giving me the time to attend my scholarship activity.
This report outlines my experience and how I developed as a leader during my Florence Nightingale Scholarship. The report identifies the key activities and courses that I experienced some of which were prescribed by the Foundation and others that I identified as being specifically relevant to me.
This scholarship has been the most influential personal journey of my life; one that has struck at the very core of who I am and how I react and respond to the world around me. It has created great insights and made me challenge many of my strongly held beliefs and values.
The entered the scholarship with a basic understanding of what I thought I needed and wanted but soon realised that there were many aspects of my personal development that I had not considered. The initial profiling helped me gain this baseline appreciation of what I truly needed to focus on to improve my ability to be an influential leader.
At first, I found the choses and opportunities open to me were somewhat overwhelming; I would equate how I felt to that of a child in a sweet shop. The scholarship had opened up the whole world to me to choose what I wanted to do. It therefore took me a few months to navigate my way through the options and decide what I wanted to do. In the meantime, I emerged myself in the organised activities and began my meeting with my wonderful mentor, Sir Keith Pearson.
I felt (and was) so privileged to have such an eminent person as Sir Keith Pearson as my Mentor and knew from my very first meeting that I was extremely lucky. Sir Keith helped me to develop my thinking and begin to understand the fundamental elements of who I was and what I needed to be to grow as a leader. Through his guidance and counsel I was able to navigate my way to identify the opportunities I could create through the scholarship; this approach helped to inform the specific aspects activities I chose.
The framework provided within the scholarship enabled me to triangulate understanding my personal development needs. Professor Liz Robb, the CEO of the Florence Nightingale Foundation offered me guidance and support; the profiling activity with Sue Machell gave me tangible personal insights and Sir Keith provided me with great personal insights. This approach encouraged me to reflect and challenge my thinking and perceptions.
As a result, I chose a range of activities that have enabled me to become the leader I aspired to be. Through the scholarship I met all my objects which included gaining a Chair and becoming a Dean.
While on the scholarship I experience some turbulent times in my personal and professional life and had to deal with some challenging issues that were unrelated to the scholarship. However, the scholarship helped me through those challenges and provided me with a supportive framework that helped me to understand the dynamics I was encountering. Through this process I have become a stronger and more insightful individual.
My report outlines how the scholarship far surpassed my expectation; I feel proud and privileged to be associated with the Florence Nightingale Foundation and know that my experience will continue to enable me to grow and develop as a leader.