By Anna Horner | News & Views

Cardiopulmonary rehabilitation (CR/PR) practitioners can take on more responsibilities and push for change in their workplace even without a formal leadership title. There are supports and resources available to empower CR and PR professionals to own a program or project no matter their current role, assures Yvette Gerdes, MS, RCEP, CCRP, Strategic Program Manager at Kroger Health.

“Most of my career has been trying to be courageous enough to step into leadership roles without a title,” explains Gerdes. “You hear it all the time: ‘I'm not the nurse, manager, exercise physiologist, etc., in charge, so I can't do anything.’ But you can. You just need resources, tools, and encouragement.”

Leading without a title involves developing problem-solving and communication skills. According to Gerdes, it’s important to pinpoint the issue that needs to be solved, identify target goals, and then determine how to achieve them. “Communication skills are necessary to present the plan to senior leaders to buy in, to let you move forward and work autonomously, to empower and support you,” she notes.

Professional growth and development are other components, and Gerdes points to resources from AACVPR, specifically the Leadership Development Academy and the Value-Based Care Committee. Case studies also detail how CR and PR staff developed programming or led a team without a title. “These case studies show how real people have gone through the journey and taken the first step forward to change their programs without being a manager, coordinator, etc., the changes that they made, and how that improved patient care and staff engagement,” says Gerdes.

According to Gerdes, leading without a title can be an opportunity for growth for CR and PR practitioners who don’t want to be managers, directors, or coordinators but want to make changes that will positively impact their programs and patient care. “Maybe you’re comfortable with your status, but you can see things that need to happen and want to make changes. Maybe you're in that next phase of the leadership journey and want to learn how to grow and become a leader so you can move forward and gain the title,” says Gerdes. “Or maybe you can see that your manager or program leader is swamped, and you want to take the courageous step to say, ‘I can do this for you. Let me own this. I know I can do it.’”

She adds, “It's also about mentoring the incoming CR and PR professionals and helping them grow instead of letting them stagnate. We all have a lot to offer and a lot of strengths. CR and PR programs can really grow if we start empowering people, and sometimes, you need to empower yourself.”