Leading a Leader Inspired Book Club: What Worked and What I Learned

By Shannon McCamish MSN, RN

When I began my master’s leadership practicum, I knew exactly where I wanted to focus:  supporting frontline nurse leaders who, despite their dedication, often feel underprepared for the relational and operational demands of their roles.

To better understand these gaps, I conducted a needs assessment survey with inpatient nurse leaders in the system I was working with, Brown University Health - Miriam. The results confirmed what I’d suspected and showed a strong desire for structured, relevant development. In response, I launched a leadership book club centered around Leader Inspired Work, a book I chose specifically for its practical, real-world approach to frontline leadership.

Our setup

We kicked things off with an in-person retreat for the 15 participants. This retreat introduced the book’s core themes and gave leaders the space to reflect on their leadership styles. From there, we met weekly in person for eight weeks, using Laudio’s Leader Inspired Work Book Club Guide to guide our conversations. Each session focused on 3 to 4 chapters, with participants using the reflection questions to ground discussion in real examples from their own work.

To evaluate the experience, I developed a pre and post-survey to assess self-reported confidence in key leadership areas such as feedback, communication, planning, and team collaboration.

The impact

The book club proved to be more than a reading group. It became a space for connection, growth, and peer support.

Ninety percent of the key areas of standard work that we surveyed participants’ confidence in showed improvements. The greatest gains were in:

• Defining a personal leadership style
• Communicating transparently
• Acting on feedback
• Creating a culture of safety
  
  

Three keys to success

When setting up a book club, many factors can shape the experience, including the location, the book itself, and the backgrounds of participants and facilitators. In my experience, three elements proved especially critical for creating meaningful impact with our leaders:

1. The right content
   Leader Inspired Work stood out because it was accessible, grounded in real-world scenarios, and immediately applicable. Leaders saw themselves in the stories and were challenged to reflect and act on what they read.
   
   
2. A needs-based approach
   Grounding our sessions in data from the needs assessment allowed us to focus on the most relevant topics. Even within each session, I selected discussion questions tailored to our group’s challenges.
   
   
3. In-person connection
   Leaders appreciated having a consistent, open space to connect with peers. Many shared how affirming it was to realize others faced the same struggles and to learn from each other’s experiences.
   
   

What I’d do differently

• Protect time more intentionally. While commitment was strong, attendance varied due to operational demands. In the future, I would advocate for protected time or align more closely with group schedules.
  
  
• Bring in co-facilitators. While I led most discussions, inviting other leaders to share their perspectives could deepen the experience and foster richer dialogue.
  
  
• Slow the pace. Covering fewer chapters per session would give participants more time to reflect and apply learnings (instead of covering 3-4 chapters a week over 8 weeks). This was a common suggestion in the feedback I received.
  
  

Looking back

This book club was one of the most meaningful parts of my practicum. It gave me a platform to apply my leadership training, brought me closer to my peers, and most importantly, offered real growth to a group of committed, passionate nurse leaders.