Leadership Experience Research Articles

Navigating challenges in school digital transformation: insights from school leaders in the Republic of Cyprus

ABSTRACT This research study explores the challenges and barriers in school digital transformation based on the perspectives and experiences of school leaders within the Republic of Cyprus. This study employs a qualitative research approach, using interviews to collect insights from 11 purposively selected primary and secondary school leaders. The identified obstacles to digital transformation primarily center around equipment and infrastructure, professional development, digital literacy skills, cybersecurity, lack of alignment with the curricula, and lack of time and support. Given the highly bureaucratic and conservative nature of the Cypriot educational system, this research aims to offer a comprehensive understanding of these challenges, highlighting their multifaceted nature and impact on digital transformation efforts. This study contributes significantly to the educational landscape by informing policy decisions, guiding educational practices, and shaping professional development initiatives in this context.

Contextualising women’s Leadership in Saudi Arabia: A Review of Significant Sociocultural, Political, Economic, and Normative Factors

This literature review examines the sociocultural, historical, and institutional factors that shape Saudi women’s leadership experiences, addressing a gap in existing research that is predominantly centered on Western contexts. While studies often focus on barriers, such as stereotypes, discrimination, and organizational bias, limited attention has been paid to the unique interplay of cultural norms, religious beliefs, and tribal affiliations that influence women's leadership in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Leadership development programs in healthcare organizations: What they are and how to assemble them.

In the highly competitive, perennially-changing healthcare industry, management prowess is vitally needed by those in positions of authority, but in isolation it is insufficient for delivering optimal results. Instead, management proficiencies must be complemented by leadership skills which amplify managerial efforts and outcomes. One avenue for building leadership acumen in healthcare organizations involves the establishment of leadership development programs. These programs generally assemble a range of opportunities permitting managers to learn about leadership and acquire associated proficiencies. Leadership development programs afford many benefits for healthcare providers, but in order to capitalize fully, thoughtful assembly is required. To shed light on this important topic, this article provides an overview of leadership development programs, noting a formal definition, stipulating associated benefits, and discussing options for assembly, all through the lens of Willis Knighton Health's leadership development initiatives and experiences.

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Understanding the experience of school leaders navigating parent engagement

‘Death by a thousand cuts’: Understanding the experience of school leaders navigating parent engagement

Educational background, professional experience, and research productivity of Canada's academic ophthalmology leadership.

The aim of the study was to assess the educational background, professional experience, and research productivity of the Canada's academic ophthalmology leadership. This cross-sectional study focused on leaders from ophthalmology departments at 15 Canadian universities, as well as the Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology (CJO) editorial board and the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS) board of directors. Ninety-one academic leaders were identified, which included 15 chairs, 9 vice chairs, 17 hospital chiefs, and 15 program directors. Additionally, the 10 members of the COS board of directors and the 31 members of the editorial board of the CJO were included. The duration of professional experience was the longest for hospital chiefs (26.63 ± 7.08 years) followed by chairs (23.86 ± 6.11 years) (p < 0.001). Chairs had the largest mean number of publications (87.13 ± 73.17), followed by vice chairs (70.89 ± 78.29) (p = 0.012). The most common residency programs attended by position holders were offered by the University of Toronto, followed by McGill University. Forty-three academic ophthalmology leaders graduated from U.S. fellowship training programs (48.3%). CJO editors were most likely to have a professor appointment (p = 0.002), fellowship training (p = 0.042), U.S. fellowship training (p = 0.007), a larger number of publications (p = 0.006), and a greater h-index (p = 0.001). Chairs followed by vice chairs demonstrated the highest mean number of publications and h-index. More than half of the academic leaders had fellowship training either in the U.S. or Toronto. Prospective ophthalmologists interested in academic leadership may leverage these data to strategically guide their professional careers.

Institutions of Care: A Qualitative Study with Ancestral Black Nova Scotian Nurses in Healthcare.

Ancestral Black Nova Scotian (ABNS) nurses are a culturally distinct group yet, little is known about their experiences. Available literature suggests that ABNS nurses are underrepresented in nursing and that they encounter discrimination throughout the health system. Understanding the experiences of ABNS nurses facilitates addressing antiBlack racism in nursing and healthcare. This study sought to critically examine the leadership experiences of ABNS nurses in healthcare. This qualitative study was guided by Black feminist theory and involved one-on-one semi-structured telephone interviews with eighteen ABNS nurses. Critical Discourse Analysis was applied in the reading of interview transcripts to examine words used by participants in relation to nursing and healthcare. The findings are presented in two conceptual themes. Black Tax in Nursing captures the added physical, mental, and spiritual strain experienced by ABNS nurses navigating nursing and healthcare. Black Tax encompassed everyday microaggressions and systemic processes, including intra-profession tensions. Integrating into nursing was made increasingly difficult by a reinforcing network of gatekeepers, policies, and structural design. Nova Scotia Healthcare as an Archaic Institution depicts an antiquated "broken" paternalistic system that did not empower patients nor promote health. Additionally, nursing education was accused of reinforcing negative stereotypes, competency gaps, and mistrust with patients. Institution of Care show how ABNS nurses challenge institutional standards and norms in their approach to nursing. ABNS nurses navigate nursing and the health system by maintaining a community-oriented approach to health. Addressing anti-Black racism in nursing and healthcare requires attention to multi-level processes within institutions.

Proposed Family Business Leadership Transition Strategy At Pt Sma

Effective leadership transitions are critical to the continuity and stability of family businesses, especially during generational shifts, which often bring significant challenges in conflict management. PT SMA, a family-owned food manufacturer, recently experienced a leadership change from the founder to a younger, less experienced leader. This transition caused conflict among stakeholders due to inadequate succession planning and differing perspectives across generations. This study examines strategies to address these conflicts and challenges at PT SMA. Key conflict points identified during leadership transitions include adjustments in leadership style and strategic vision, which can have a negative impact on organizational performance. This study proposes a structured approach to effective conflict management, emphasizing the development of a clear succession plan, facilitating conflict resolution, aligning organizational culture, and effective change management. By implementing these strategies, PT SMA aims to achieve a smoother transition, minimize conflict, and promote organizational stability. The findings will provide valuable insights for PT SMA and similar family businesses on the success of transition management and its impact on continued success. This study highlights the need to address challenges such as employee turnover and strategic disagreements, which can lead to dissatisfaction among long-term employees. Ultimately, effective conflict management is critical for new leaders to navigate these challenges and ensure a successful leadership transition. focus and advise on effective change management.

Leadership Training for Department Chairs: Integrating Formal Training, Experiential Learning, and Mentorship

The study explores the link between formal training, experiential learning, mentorship, and the leadership development of department chairs at a Canadian university. Employing a framework analysis approach grounded in transformative learning theory, data from 17 semi‐structured interviews revealed that formal training imparted essential knowledge and skills to new chairs. However, the training's influence on the chairs' development varied, depending on individual career stages and previous leadership experiences. Participants identified experiential learning as a vital element of their leadership development, with prior leadership roles providing a solid base for a successful transition. Mentorship emerged as a transformative instrument, offering timely developmental opportunities through exchanges with experienced leaders. The study concludes that strategically combining learning approaches can enhance institutional leadership capacity and facilitate faculty members' transition into department chair roles, particularly in the context of the post‐COVID‐19 pandemic and the ongoing leadership crisis.

Lessons From Implementing Research-Supported Practices to Address Psychiatric Illnesses in Two Countries.

Across the globe, psychiatric illnesses are common, painful, often disabling, and sometimes deadly. Although well-researched practices exist to address these disorders, most people with psychiatric illnesses do not have access to care that has been demonstrated to be effective. Practical clinical leadership experience and engagement in evidence-based practice (EBP) implementation research in Colombia and the United States have demonstrated that multisite EBP implementation is possible and that effective implementation improves outcomes for people who develop psychiatric illnesses. Implementation requires financial and policy support but is effective only if onsite operational leaders actively overcome practical, sometimes site-specific barriers. Operational leaders have the greatest impact when they focus on changing the flow of work to help clinicians offer the desired EBP in their day-to-day care. Discovery science may bring new solutions in the future, but implementing practices that have already been demonstrated to be effective can relieve patients' suffering now.

Sonographer Experiences of Interprofessional Ultrasound Education: A Qualitative Study.

Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) technology has evolved rapidly and is being embraced by many health professionals as a valuable clinical tool. Sonographers are now teaching ultrasound skills to other health professionals in the clinical setting, including doctors, nurses, midwives, paramedics, and physiotherapists. The purpose of this study was to understand the breadth of the opportunities, transitions, and challenges experienced by sonographer educators navigating new interprofessional teaching roles. Sonographers, who had participated in an initial phase Delphi study defining sonographer competencies in POCUS education, were invited to participate in a follow-up interview. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the interview data were thematically analyzed to understand the experiences and perceptions of participants. Twenty sonographer educators were interviewed. Participants were clinically experienced sonographers from Australia and New Zealand with diverse professional experience in clinical teaching, university academic, ultrasound leadership, health management, and corporate roles. The transition to teaching interprofessional cohorts of learners in different clinical settings was substantial. The experiences of sonographers undertaking these new roles were described under the themes of "sonographer perceptions"; "educator knowledge"; "understanding learners"; "teaching dynamics"; and "ultrasound evolution." This study is the first to describe the experiences of sonographers engaged in interprofessional POCUS teaching. The results provide insight into the training needs of sonographers in this emerging area and will be used to inform the development of continuing education resources.

Australian automotive workers and community leaders interview dataset following 2017 assembly plant closures

The Australian manufacturing sector saw the exit of the automotive industry in 2017 arising in mass retrenchment across its assembly plants and supply chain firms. In 2019, a large-scale program of research was launched to investigate the impacts of the closures on workers and community including a dedicated stream of qualitative work which took place in 2021. This work took the form of in-depth interviews that investigated the experiences of automotive workers as they underwent retrenchment, reskilling, re-employment and retirement. A further set of interviews took place in 2023 to investigate the experiences of community leaders in the areas affected by the assembly plant closures as they navigated a changing economic landscape. This dataset is designed to aid researchers and policy makers understand the complexities of individual experiences that complement the quantitative data collected during the broader program of work. In total, 73 automotive workers and 33 community leaders were interviewed.

“Let's Take the B*tch Down!”: A Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis of Race and Gender in HBO's Vice Principals

Purpose: In the HBO comedy series, Vice Principals, two white men vice principals respond to the hiring of a Black woman high school principal with physical, emotional, and workplace violence. The purpose of this study was to explore (1) white men educational leaders’ perceptions of a Black woman educational leader, and (2) their responses to being passed over for promotion by a Black woman. Methods: Using whiteness as property as the theoretical framework, this study uses a Multimodal Critical Discourse Analysis applied to the first season of the television series (nine 30-min episodes) to uncover the relationships and power dynamics between the three main characters. Findings: White men are the most likely to hold the high school principalship. The findings highlight how the series’ white male characters worked together to force the Black woman out of her role as principal, based on the assumption that either of them was more deserving of the position than her. Although fictitious, these examples parallel the real-world experiences of Black women educational leaders in today's public schools. Implications: This study contributes to scholarship about why Black educators may leave the profession, particularly highlighting the influence of unsupportive school contexts, and more specifically, the gendered racism experienced by Black women. Superintendent preparation programs can consider coursework that encourages aspiring district leaders to identify specific mentoring and support for Black women principals and principals from other marginalized backgrounds. Finally, this scholarship highlights how popular media can be a useful data source for educational leadership research.

Leaders of Academic Health Systems as Drivers of Climate Action and Sustainability

Climate change is killing people. Whether directly or indirectly through extreme weather events, excessive heat, rising sea levels, air pollution, changes in vector ecology, water scarcity, or reduced food production caused by climate change, the impact is an increase in human morbidity and mortality. The health care sector in general — and academic health systems in particular — are part of the problem, responsible for significant amounts of carbon pollution emissions. Various how-to guides and manuals aim to inform and instruct health system leaders on addressing climate change in their institutions. However, the authors note they are unaware of studies that have documented the enablers that propel and the barriers that impede academic health system leaders’ engagement in climate change efforts from the experience of these executive leaders themselves. In this article, the authors report the findings of a multi-institutional qualitative descriptive study exploring to what extent academic health system executive leaders think about, plan for, and lead institutional efforts to address climate change and reduce institutional greenhouse gas emissions. The study found variability in how executive leaders are engaged in and lead sustainability and climate-change efforts in their institutions and communities. Academic health systems that are reducing their institutional greenhouse gas emissions and improving their sustainability and resilience demonstrated five key elements associated with organizational transformation: (1) responding to drivers of change; (2) demonstrating leadership commitment; (3) driving improvement initiatives; (4) aligning organizational strategies and goals; and (5) integrating across organizational boundaries. In turn, these elements suggest a road map for other academic health systems that are not yet assertively tackling their carbon pollution. This study lends evidence to why academic health systems should — and how they can — address climate change through leadership action. Academic health systems can and should be leaders in the sustainability space because of the primacy of their missions to improve the health of people and communities; to this end, they must exercise their leadership role to influence the health care delivery, research, and health professions education domains.

La empresa como potencial sistema para el desarrollo regional sostenible y la paz: El Caso de FEDECOCO en la Costa Pacífica de Nariño

This paper analyzes the reinvention of enterprises as adaptive systems and contributors to territorial reconstruction, sustainable development and peace in regions with structural violence and armed conflict. The reinvention implied, first, describing and relating six challenges as interacting elements inherent to the transit of the enterprise as an actively integrated system in the regions, and, second, analyzing the subjectivities and experiences (in light of the challenges) of leaders who mobilize a triple territorialized power, the Federation, the productive systems and the agrarian society in the Pacific coast and the Caribbean Sea, with significant contributions to peace and development. In the analysis, the systemic paradigm was put in symbiosis with the hermeneutic paradigm, the first, accompanied by the bibliographic review to recognize and integrate the ideas-force (challenges) as part of the constitution of the system, and, in the second, with the practice of focal group, five interviews and observations that guarantee the analysis of the actors of the company.

Complexities in post-wildfire governance: lessons from Colorado’s 2020 wildfires

BackgroundThe increasing size and severity of western U.S. wildfires in recent years has generated greater attention towards post-wildfire response and recovery. Post-fire governance requires coordinating response and recovery capacities across jurisdictions, landscapes, and time scales. The presence of wildfire on federal public lands necessitates federal agency involvement in both suppression and recovery efforts, and program coordination with lower levels of government and non-governmental organizations. Using semi-structured interviews, we investigated experiences of leaders across the governance system with federal post-fire policies and programs following the record-breaking Cameron Peak and East Troublesome wildfires in the state of Colorado.ResultsOur research found that persistent administrative and coordination challenges exist within and among federal agencies in the post-fire response and recovery space. Challenges included cross-jurisdictional coordination of key emergency response programs, program rules that affect post-fire project timing and effectiveness, the absence of a formal federal post-fire response strategy, and program funding issues. These factors revealed and exacerbated scale mismatches between existing agency capacities and the post-fire landscapes that result from unprecedentedly longer, larger, and more severe wildfires occurring in the western USA. Non-federal and non-governmental organizations were instrumental in overcoming these challenges through coordinating response and recovery efforts across both federal and private lands. To improve the federal post-fire response capacity, study participants stressed the importance of broader cross-jurisdictional use of federal resources, longer timeframes for recovery activities, and reforming the federal funding process.ConclusionsOur findings revealed a persistence of post-fire coordination and funding issues within federal land management agencies, and current agency capacities remain insensitive to the scale of twenty-first-century post-wildfire settings. Addressing the mismatches between existing agency resources and the spatial and temporal scale complexities of post-fire environments will require broader federal support for existing programs along with re-envisioning the overall approach to the post-fire response and recovery process.

Systems Leadership: a qualitative systematic review of advice for policymakers

Background ‘Systems leadership’ research rejects the idea that complex policy problems can be solved by a few heroic leaders in the centre of government or at the top of organisations. Many people need to contribute to systems leadership by collaborating to harness the skills of actors across government and outside of government. At times, this proposition is vague and it is difficult to know who should change or what to do. We searched the academic and grey literature for further advice on how to foster effective systems leadership. Methods We conducted a qualitative systematic review (2024) of peer reviewed journal articles (Web of Science) and grey literature reports (Policy Commons, Overton). Each text had to inform advice on systems leadership. We used an immersive inductive approach to identify key sources of ideas, highlight common themes, and relate the results to insights from policy theories. Results 84 texts met the inclusion criteria (39 Web of Science, 34 Policy Commons, 11 Overton), then we included 80 snowballed academic and grey references (total 164). Some relate leadership to complexity theory, but most provide broad accounts of systems leadership that emphasise decentralisation and collaboration. These accounts describe high aspirations and essential skills but limited evidence from activity. Nevertheless, this literature helps us produce a coherent synthesis of common insights and advice on how to foster systems leadership. Conclusions We identify key features of systems leadership: reject heroic top-down leadership and central control in favour of collaboration across boundaries; develop attributes (e.g. humility), mindsets (e.g. big picture), and skills (e.g. facilitation) to act in complex systems (albeit without a common view on what a complex system is); and, seek organisational and political support for this approach. Some accounts identify barriers to systems leadership and negative experiences, while others redefine such obstacles as learning opportunities.

Five principles to prioritise in small-scale surgical quality improvement: a qualitative study of the views of surgical improvement leaders

ObjectiveVariations in the quality and safety of surgical care remain persistent. Efforts to improve are needed, but are themselves variably effective, with often disappointing impacts. When compared with large-scale, multisite...

Navigating the COVID-19 crisis: astudy of healthcare leadership response in India and the USA.

The COVID-19 pandemic has reignited the debate on effective leadership during a crisis. The study examined healthcare leaders' experiences, challenges and responses amid the COVID-19 crisis in India and the USA. Thematic analysis culminated in developing a thematic framework that encapsulates the behavior of operational healthcare leaders in India and the USA to illustrate how they responded to the global pandemic. Twelve hospital leadership experiences were collected through in-depth Interviews. The study highlighted comparable experiences and leadership responses from the USA and India. Thematic framework induced from three themes and eight sub-themes to illustrate how leaders handled unknown challenges of the pandemic, which they countered with increased accountability as a leader, extended need-based networking with inevitable experience of self-role distance, leading to their pragmatic approach and reinforcement of self-belief. The study findings provide a way forward for revisiting existing crisis management frameworks and cross-cultural leadership theories in terms of behavioral aspects integration with the technical or operational aspects of crisis management. Healthcare leaders aiming to rebuild hospital systems would benefit from the study by incorporating identified skills such as coping with emotional labor, self-role distance, perseverance, pragmatic approach, networking with extended stakeholders, and extra-role behaviors into training and mentoring programs. Using a thematic analysis approach, the study's two-country research design identified a homogeneous leadership response despite a distinct countrywide context.

A qualitative analysis of PA leaders in Kentucky.

To describe Kentucky's physician associate/assistant (PA) leadership pathway and provide advice for individual leadership trajectories. A qualitative study using semistructured interviews and inductive coding methodology to identify themes of PA leaders. Participants were primarily female (76.2%), ages 35 to 44 years (52.4%), and White (90.5%). They were primarily nonclinical (38.1%), described achieving their current leadership role by pursuing opportunities (42.9%), showed emotional intelligence (61.9%), had grit (61.9%), and did not feel that academic success correlates to leadership (42.9%). Leaders also gave advice consisting of form connections, prioritize personal growth, develop an entrepreneurial mindset, and play to your strengths . Leadership is needed in healthcare and PAs are primed to serve in this role. Previous leadership experience is not a requirement, but organization, emotional intelligence, and grit are required. Future PA leaders should follow the playbook laid out by these leaders and begin today with investing in personal leadership development.

Healthcare information system support for leadership and management: Experiences of Finnish physician leaders by specialty from three cross-sectional surveys in 2014, 2017, and 2021.

In addition to their role in patient care, health information systems (HISs) produce data for process and quality monitoring, resource management, and strategic planning. However, few studies have focused on physician leaders as end users of leadership and management information systems (LMISs). The aim was to describe physician leaders' experiences with LMISs by specialty group from three national usability-focused surveys. The data were gathered via web-based questionnaires in 2014, 2017, and 2021 with 716, 728, and 831 physician leader respondents, respectively. The 2021 responses were compared across six specialty groups: operative, (non-surgical) medical, psychiatric, and diagnostic specialties, and general practice and occupational healthcare. Those not specialized or whose specialty was unknown formed the seventh group. Moreover, the results from the three study timepoints were compared within specialty groups. In 2021, 69.4%-84.2% indicated that they had to compile leadership and management data from several sources with 3.6%-23.7% finding this process easy. Furthermore, 3.7%-34.2% viewed that the available data supported research and innovation. Physician leaders in operative and diagnostic specialties and occupational healthcare appeared more satisfied with LMISs than did their colleagues in other specialties; for example, 41.9%-56.8% of these respondents considered that HISs help to monitor achieving the targets of their units, compared to 21.7%-34.5% in other specialties. Between the study years, the proportion of those content with LIMSs support for steering daily activities had increased, particularly in operative and medical specialties and general practice; otherwise, though overall improvements were modest. Despite the wide availability of HISs and LMISs, their full potential to support physician leadership and management has not yet been fulfilled. Physician leaders working in diagnostic, operative, and occupational healthcare specialties appeared to derive the most benefit from LMISs.