Management and Leadership in Healthcare: Expectations, Conditions, Skills, and Reflections in a Leadership Program

Self-rated management and leadership performance will be assessed using the Leadership and Management Inventory-II (LaMI-II). The instrument consists of 25 items divided into two factors: management and leadership. Each item is rated on a five-point scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (to a very large extent).

Scores will be calculated for the management factor, the leadership factor, and the total scale. Raw scores will be transformed to values ranging from 20 to 100 by dividing the sum of the item scores by the highest possible score and multiplying by 100. Higher scores indicate more desirable self-rated management and leadership performance.

Changes in management, leadership, and total scores will be examined over time. Scores may also be compared within the study group according to demographic and work-related characteristics and whether participants have considered leaving or have left their current management position.

Thriving at work will be assessed using the 10-item Thriving Scale. The scale consists of two factors: learning and vitality, with five items representing each factor. Each item is rated on a seven-point scale ranging from 1 (totally disagree) to 7 (totally agree).

Mean scores will be calculated for the learning factor, the vitality factor, and the total scale. Higher scores indicate a higher degree of thriving at work, understood as the joint experience of learning and vitality.

Changes in learning, vitality, and total thriving scores will be examined over time. Scores may also be compared within the study group according to demographic and work-related characteristics and whether participants have considered leaving or have left their current management position.

Participants' reflections on the leadership development program will be explored through structured diary entries completed during the program and through focus group interviews conducted after program completion.

The diary entries will address participants' expectations of the program and their reflections on learning, insights, application of program content, conditions for participating in the program, and conditions for practicing management and leadership. The focus group interviews will explore these areas in greater depth and will be informed by the participants' collective diary reflections.

Diary entries and transcribed focus group interviews will be analyzed using qualitative content analysis. The outcome will consist of categories describing participants' expectations, experiences, learning, application, and perceived conditions related to the leadership development program and their management and leadership practice.

Participants will be asked whether they have considered leaving their current management position or have left the position. The study-specific questionnaire responses will be described and may also be used to compare self-rated management and leadership and thriving scores within the study group.