The Leadership Practices of Occupational Therapy Managers

OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to explore the leadership practices of current occupational therapy managers within the health care industry.

METHODOLOGY
From the population (N = 1,117) of AOTA and AMSIS registered members, 251 were contacted by email to participate and a total of 116 completed the Leadership Practices Inventory and provided demographic data (46% response rate). The typical respondent was female (85%), Caucasian (91%), with an annual salary in the range of $60,000 - $74,999 (38%).

KEY FINDINGS
The null hypothesis that occupational therapy managers do not exhibit percentile rankings of 70 or greater in the area of Model the Way was rejected; this was also true for Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Heart.

The author concludes: “Although the literature review and study design imply that occupational therapy managers lack key leadership skills required for health care management, the results of this study reveal the opposite. The study indicates that occupational therapy managers do exhibit five key leadership practices for managers” (p. 92).