Exploring the Concept of Leadership from the Perspective of Physical Therapists in the United States

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions of physical therapists practising in the United States of the importance of leadership characteristics and of demographic traits and other factors that might be associated with perceptions of leadership in three contexts: workplace, health care system, and society. Method: An online questionnaire was distributed through snowball sampling to physical therapists practising in the United States over an 8-week period between October and November 2019. A total of 15 leadership characteristics were rated on a 5-point scale of importance. Results: A total of 278 physical therapists responded to the questionnaire. They rated communication and professionalism as the top two leadership characteristics across all settings. Self-awareness and business acumen were not perceived as important for leadership. No relationship was found between gender and self-declaration as a leader or between a participant’s practice setting and their rating of the importance of leadership characteristics. Conclusions: Our results further the discussion of leadership in the physical therapy profession. They highlight a comprehensive acceptance of leadership characteristics as important regardless of context. Further work will be necessary to transition this declaration of the importance of leadership skills to identifying the essential leadership skills for physical therapist education and clinical practice.