Feature
Linda Burnes Bolton’s True North
Remembering a titan of California nursing
We at Working Nurse were shaken recently to learn of the passing of longtime Cedars-Sinai CNO Linda Burnes Bolton, RN, DrPH, FAAN, who died January 11 at the age of 76.
Her career spanned decades of transformative leadership. Just a few of her prolific achievements include vice chair of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Initiative on the Future of Nursing, Modern Healthcare‘s “Top 25 Women in Healthcare,” and the American Academy of Nursing’s Living Legend Award.
Linda Burnes Bolton — “LBB,” as she was known to her colleagues — had a big reputation. But there was something unexpected about this formidable leader: She was tiny.
I first met LBB in January 2015, when I had the opportunity to interview her for our upcoming Nurses Week issue. I wanted to discuss contemporary nursing concerns, but I was also eager to better understand this fascinating, influential woman I’d heard so much about.
When I entered her office, I was surprised to see a diminutive figure coming from behind the desk. She had an impish spark in her eye, a firm handshake, and evidently enough energy to power several zip codes.
“I thought you’d be ten feel tall!” I blurted out.
She batted away my silly comment with a warm smile and asked how things were going at the magazine. I perched on the edge of the chair, surveying her office walls covered in plaques and framed accolades, and opened my notebook.
We embarked on a conversation about the nursing issues of the day, ranging from the value of the DNP versus the Ph.D. to nurse-managed mobile clinics to the Affordable Care Act.
But as we talked, the conversation veered in a different direction. Given her demanding role at Cedars, her extensive board and committee work, and her booked-years-in-advance speaking schedule — I asked, “How do you do it all?”
Her answer was rooted in two guiding principles: “True North” and “Lead Self.” True North is the thing we value most deeply, and Lead Self is the way we get there. We are all equal in being allotted 24 hours each day. How we use that time is determined by how well we lead ourselves.
She stressed the importance of creating filters to eliminate distractions and focus on what truly matters. “Every time you say yes to something,” she said, “ask yourself, ‘What am I willing to let go of to make this happen?’”
LBB understood that time is finite. “We must always question whether what we’re doing is just keeping us busy or is genuinely moving us forward,” she said.
She walked the talk. Her alarm went off at 3:45 am after just five hours of sleep, followed by 40 minutes of Jazzercise. By 6:30 am, she was at the hospital ready for a 14-hour day. She spent 30 minutes meditating after returning home each night, “to let it all settle.”
I asked what advice she would give nurses in finding their own True North.
“Identify the outcomes you want to achieve,” she said. “Ask yourself what skills you need to acquire and who can help you. Expand your network to find the support you need.”
After precisely one hour, LBB’s assistant tapped on the door to signal the end of the interview.
“Disruptive innovation,” LBB leaned in and said, as wise and cryptic as Yoda. “We must be open to letting go of old ideas in order to replace them with something better. This means sometimes having trust in old ideas.”
And with those sage words, I was released into the brilliant light of the Los Angeles afternoon
In this Article: Leadership and Management
