Leadership and leaders must be differentiated. Both impact the system dynamics and outcomes, but leadership that enables the “emergent, interactive dynamic”4(p.299) determines the ability of the system to be creative and to learn and adapt to produce better outcomes. The essence of that dynamic has not been well described. Studies of nursing leadership behaviors and associated outcomes have been helpful in creating an evidence base for nursing leadership practice, but published reports have focused on the behaviors of individuals in formal leadership roles. There have been no qualitative studies exploring the interactive dynamic of leadership in a healthcare organization to promote the creativity, continuous learning, and adaptation that is essential to achieving positive outcomes in the complex system.
A recent descriptive phenomenological study using Colaizzi's method5 explored what enabling leadership felt like to those who had experienced it (unpublished data). The goal was to arrive at the essence of enabling leadership in successful organizations. Seven nurse executives were asked to respond and describe their experience with leadership that led to creativity, adaptation, and learning in an organization. Six themes emerged from the analysis of the interviews and provide insight into how the leadership dynamic engages the full capacity of the organization for creative, adaptive change and results.