Exploring leadership in health professionals following an industry-based leadership program: A cross-sectional survey

Aim: To evaluate the self-reported leadership practices and behaviours of health professionals following a leadership program and explore factors that impacted leadership style. Design: An online cross-sectional survey was conducted from August to October 2022. Methods: The survey was disseminated via email to leadership program graduates. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Form-6S was used to measure leadership style. Results: Eighty completed surveys were included in the analysis. Participants scored highest on transformational leadership and lowest on passive/avoidant leadership style. Participants with higher qualifications scored significantly higher in the inspirational motivation scores (p = 0.03). As years in their profession increased, there was a significant decrease in contingent reward scores ( p = 0.04). The younger participants scored significantly higher on the management-by-exception than older participants (p = 0.05). There were no significant associations with the year the leadership program was completed, gender or profession and Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire Form -6S scores. Most participants (72.5%) strongly agreed that the program enhanced their leadership development and 91.3% strongly agreed or agreed that they routinely apply the skills and knowledge learnt in the program in their workplace. Conclusion: Formal leadership education is important in developing a transformational nursing workforce. This study found that program graduates had adopted a transformational leadership style. Education, years of experience and age impacted the specific leadership elements. Future work needs to incorporate longitudinal follow-up to relate changes in leadership with impact on clinical practice.

Automated summary

The aim of this study was to assess the self-reported leadership practices and behaviors of health professionals after completing a leadership program and explore factors that influenced their leadership style. A cross-sectional survey was conducted online, and participants were graduates of the leadership program. The results showed that participants scored highest in transformational leadership and lowest in passive/avoidant leadership style. Higher qualifications were associated with higher scores in inspirational motivation, while years in the profession were associated with decreased contingent reward scores. Younger participants scored higher in management-by-exception compared to older participants.