| Course | NU708 Advanced Systems Leadership: Transforming the Health Care Organization |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 10 |
| Paper type | Leadership development plan |
| Length | About 1,030 words, 6 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for NU708 Unit 10
From Unit Educator to System Leader: A Unit 10 Leadership Development Plan for the Year of a DNP Project
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
NU708: Advanced Systems Leadership: Transforming the Health Care Organization
Unit 10 Leadership Development Plan
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
The writer, hospital, scores and colleagues are composite and illustrative; the frameworks and instruments cited are real.
Where I Am Now
My eleven years at the bedside were all on medical-surgical floors, the last four as educator for the hospital's two medical-surgical pilot units. The pilot succeeded partly because I knew every nurse, could solve problems in the hallway and could teach the return demonstration myself. None of that scales. On eight more units I will not know the nurses, I will have no authority over their managers and I will depend on pharmacy, hospital medicine and information technology, where I have no standing yet.
The tenth domain of the AACN Essentials treats a nurse's growth as a professional and a leader as a competency area in its own right at the advanced level, with competencies that include reflective practice, a commitment to lifelong learning and leadership that develops others (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2021). The domain's emphasis on developing others is the part I have done least deliberately.
What the Inventory Showed
At the start of the course I completed the Leadership Practices Inventory, the 360-degree instrument developed by Kouzes and Posner, and asked my manager, two pilot champions, a pharmacist and a hospitalist to complete the observer version. Kouzes and Posner (2017) organize exemplary leadership into five practices, which in plain terms are setting an example, describing where the group is headed so that others want to come, questioning how things are done, helping others act on their own and recognizing what people contribute.
My highest self-ratings and observer ratings were for questioning how things are done and for setting an example. That fits: the pilot was a challenge to how discharges worked, and I taught the demonstrations myself. My lowest observer ratings were for helping others act on their own, and the lowest of all came from the pharmacist and the hospitalist, who rated me well below how the champions did. Their written comments said much the same: "brings finished plans," "could involve us earlier."
The people I most need for the spread are the ones who see me least as someone who shares the work.
The Unit 4 paper's conclusion, that my role in the spread is mainly enabling leadership in the sense Uhl-Bien et al. (2007) describe, points in the same direction. The pilot rewarded doing; the spread will reward connecting and letting go.
Goals, Activities and Evidence
Goal 1: Involve other departments before plans are finished. Over the next twelve months, every major change to the bundle will be drafted with at least one person from pharmacy or hospital medicine before it is presented. Activities: a standing monthly meeting with the hospitalist and pharmacist co-leads; draft documents shared at the outline stage. Evidence: the pharmacist's and hospitalist's observer ratings on helping others act, repeated at twelve months, rise to at least the level of the champions' ratings now.
Goal 2: Develop others to lead the bundle without me. By month nine, at least four champions will have led a unit's adoption without my presence at their huddles. Activities: monthly coaching with each champion; champions present their units' data at the nursing quality council instead of me. Evidence: four units reaching 80 percent adoption with champion leadership; champion self-ratings of confidence before and after.
Goal 3: Build financial and data fluency. By month six, I will be able to present the business case and its sensitivity analysis to the finance committee without the analyst's help. Activities: four sessions with the finance office's analyst; one hospital finance workshop; presenting the quarterly update myself. Evidence: the finance committee presentation at month six and the analyst's written feedback.
Goal 4: Practice reflective leadership. Each week I will write a few lines on one decision I made and what I learned, and review it monthly with my practice mentor. Activities: the log, monthly mentor review and one external course in coaching skills. Evidence: twelve monthly reviews completed and a written reflection at month twelve on what changed in my decisions.
Why These Four and Not Others
The inventory and the course pointed to other possible goals, such as public speaking and writing for publication, and both matter for the dissemination course at the end of the program. They are left for the next plan because the spread does not depend on them this year. A plan with four goals that are tied to the work in front of me is more likely to be carried out than one with eight that compete for the same hours.
Supports and Barriers
My practice mentor, the hospital's director of quality, has agreed to monthly meetings through the project. The chief nursing officer has protected four hours a week for the project, though not for coursework. The main barrier is time: the spread, the DNP project courses and my educator role will compete for the same hours. To manage that, I will hand two of my educator duties, new-graduate orientation on 6 West and the annual skills day, to a senior nurse I have been preparing, which is also an act of developing others.
Timeline
Months 1 to 3: start the co-lead meetings, begin the decision log and complete the first two finance sessions. Months 4 to 6: champions take over their units' huddles; finance presentation. Months 7 to 9: four champion-led units adopted; coaching course completed. Months 10 to 12: repeat the 360-degree inventory, write the twelve-month reflection and revise this plan for the project's implementation year.
Conclusion
The plan rests on one finding: my strengths are those of a leader who does the work, and the next year needs a leader who shares it. Its four goals, involving other departments early, developing champions, building financial fluency and reflecting deliberately, each come with evidence I can check, and the most important check is whether the colleagues who rated me lowest see a different leader in a year.
References
American Association of Colleges of Nursing. (2021). The Essentials: Core competencies for professional nursing education. https://www.aacnnursing.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Publications/Essentials-2021.pdf
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2017). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations (6th ed.). Wiley.
Uhl-Bien, M., Marion, R., & McKelvey, B. (2007). Complexity leadership theory: Shifting leadership from the industrial age to the knowledge era. The Leadership Quarterly, 18(4), 298-318. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2007.04.002
What the NU708 Unit 10 assignment asks for
The final unit of NU708 usually asks students for a plan for their own development as leaders over the coming year. Prompts typically expect an honest self-assessment grounded in evidence, goals that are specific and measurable, activities to meet each goal, supports and barriers, a timeline and a way to judge progress. Many sections ask students to use a competency framework, such as the AACN Essentials, and an assessment tool, such as a leadership inventory. Instructors want each goal to answer something the assessment revealed. Connecting the plan to the DNP project gives it a place to be practiced. The plan should be realistic about time, since the project year is crowded, and a short explanation of why some goals were left out often strengthens it.
Inside the NU708 Unit 10 example
The plan begins with the writer's history and why the pilot's skills will not scale. The AACN domain on personal, professional and leadership growth frames the assessment. Results from the 360-degree inventory follow, with the five practices restated in plain language and the gap between champions' ratings and those of pharmacy and hospital medicine, under a highlighted line about the people most needed, with a margin note on evidence-based self-assessment. A link to the Unit 4 paper confirms the direction. Four goals appear in bold, each with activities and named evidence, flagged by a second note. Public speaking and writing for publication are deliberately deferred, with the reason given. Supports, barriers and a quarter-by-quarter timeline lead to a conclusion that names the repeat inventory as the real test.
Reading the NU708 Unit 10 grading rubric
Rubrics for this plan reward the self-assessment first, scoring it on whether it uses evidence, such as an inventory or feedback, and whether it is candid about gaps. Goals earn credit when they follow from the assessment and are measurable, with a clear standard for success. Activities must be realistic and linked to goals. The evidence of progress is often scored separately, and plans that name a repeat measure or a specific deliverable do well. Use of a competency framework counts. Supports, barriers and a timeline show feasibility. Reflection on what was left out and why adds depth. Organization, professional tone and APA 7 citation of the frameworks and instruments complete the grade in most sections.
NU708 Unit 10 help from the desk
Development plans lose marks most often when the goals are ambitions without measures, such as "become a better communicator." Another common problem is a self-assessment that lists only strengths. Some writers set eight or ten goals and cannot show how any of them fit into a year already full of project work. Evidence of progress is frequently missing, so the plan cannot be checked. Plans also fall short when goals have no link to the assessment that came before them. Copying a framework's wording into the goals reads as filler. Start with the single most uncomfortable piece of feedback you received this term and write one goal that answers it. A custom plan can be built from your own assessment results and project.
Get an NU708 Unit 10 example written to your instructions
Send your goals, your strengths and gaps and the plan instructions with the rubric. A custom plan sets measurable goals, activities and evidence of progress. The first one is free and comes back within 24-48h. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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NU708 Unit 10 questions, answered
What belongs in a leadership development plan?
An honest assessment of strengths and gaps, measurable goals, activities to meet them, a timeline and how progress will be judged.
Should the plan be linked to the DNP project?
Usually, since the project is where many new leadership skills will be practiced.
How long is the plan?
Often three to five pages, depending on the section's instructions.
Where can I find a free NU708 Unit 10 sample paper?
The full NU708 Unit 10 leadership development plan is on this page, with a self-assessment from a 360-degree inventory and the AACN Essentials, four measurable goals, activities, evidence and a twelve-month timeline.
What gap does the NU708 Unit 10 sample find?
The writer's lowest ratings, for helping others act on their own, came from the pharmacist and hospitalist, the two departments the hospital-wide spread depends on most, so the first goal is to involve them before plans are finished.