President-Elect’s Report: From One to We

I was recently reminded of the sacred privilege nurses have when caring for patients, families, and communities and how quickly that privilege can become too heavy for one person to carry alone. While helping a colleague navigate care for elderly parents, they paused and said, “I am only one person.” Their words stayed with me, not only because they revealed the weight of caregiving, but because they named a truth many of us know deeply: even the strongest among us need the strength of others.

That moment reminded me why nursing leadership matters so profoundly, within and beyond any single setting. Leadership helps us see when one person’s burden must become a shared commitment, calling us to bring forward accountability, resources, compassion, and action. In that way, leadership becomes the bridge between individual capacity and collective impact.¹

As I reflected on the “only one”statement, I was reminded of Edward Everett Hale’s words:“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.”²

With ALSN, “only one ”becomes “we”. As the premier association advancing nursing leadership science through global collaboration, research, and education, ALSN offers a place where individual commitment is welcomed, strengthened, and transformed into shared leadership, knowledge, and influence.

I invite you to reach out to a board member today and choose one meaningful way to contribute: join an ALSN committee, mentor an emerging nurse leader, share your scholarship, or help advance one of our strategic priorities.Each offering matters. Each voice strengthens our collective purpose. ALSN’s influence grows when each of us claims the something we can do and brings it forward in service of something greater than ourselves. 

So, I ask you: What is “the something” you can do and how might “that something” help move us from one to we?

References:

1. Alsadaan, N., Salameh, B., Reshia, F. A. A. E., Alruwaili, R. F., Alruwaili, M., Awad Ali, S. A., Alruwaili, A. N., Hefnawy, G. R., Alshammari, M. S. S., & Alrumayh, A. G. R. (2023). Impact of nurse leaders behaviors on nursing staff performance: A systematic review of literature. INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, 60, 1–14. https://doi.org/: 10.1177/00469580231178528  

1. Hale, E. (ND). I am only one. Retrieved from: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/8183.Edward_Everett_Hale