Exploring the Experiences of First-Time Health Care Leaders in Critical Leadership Roles

Abstract

In health care, there is a shortage of experienced and skilled senior and executive health care leaders. Health care organizations are promoting and hiring individuals who may lack some of the requisite knowledge and senior-level leadership experience. Little is known about the lived experiences of these first-time senior and executive health care leaders during their entry into these roles.The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences, challenges, concerns, and perceptions of first-time senior-level health care leaders who have worked 6 months to 4 years in their first senior-level role in a health care organization. The following research questions guided this phenomenological qualitative study:1. What is the lived experience of a novice health care leader in a critical leadership role for the first time?2. How do these participants describe the challenges they faced and the leadership lessons they learned that influenced current actions in their roles?3. What professional development efforts might offer a needed foundation for the initial success of other novices promoted into similar positions?The sample included nine novice senior health care leaders. Data were collected using an interview, observation field notes, and artifacts. From these methods, four findings emerged: (a) first-time senior level health care leaders experienced daily personal feelings of inadequacy in their new roles; (b) multiple operations and requirements of multiple departments make up one system requiring multilevel leadership accountability; (c) organizational challenges for senior-level leaders in non-profit bureaucratic health care organizations are particularly discouraging and problematic; (d) individuals in middle-management positions who aspire to or are promoted to senior-level leader roles in health care organizations would benefit from mentoring programs and succession planning approaches.Major conclusions were that hospital boards and chief executive officers (CEOs) need to reduce the anxiety, fear, and uncertainty experienced in the initial novice leaders' transitions by providing structured orientations with assigned peer partners and assuring an on-going structured leader development program and structured mentoring and coaching programs to provide stability.%%%%Ed.D., Educational Leadership and Management – Drexel University, 2014