At the waterfront

As I was visiting the waterfront in Cape Town the end of December, I was thinking about what was lying ahead for me in 2012.

I was watching boats in the harbor that were involved with trading and realized that nothing happens unless an individual makes it happen. A harbor functions under strict regulations and rules of movement for boats. To a certain extent, I had freedom to manage my own destination through development or progression, although I would have to make choices (that are intrinsic to every decision).

Capetown waterfront

The waiter gave us the menu, and we ordered the most marvelous seafood platter. The fish, caught that same morning, tasted out of this world. Daily, fresh fish, born in the deep sea, are caught and brought to restaurants on the waterfront. Nurse leaders, on the other hand, are made, not born. They are developed through a never-ending process.

My husband Willem and me.

It is up to us to decide what it means to be a successful individual and leader in 2012. To be a good leader is a never-ending process of experience.

Still eating, I wondered how it was to be a fish freely swimming wherever you choose.

For Reflections on Nursing Leadership (RNL), published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International.