Leadership Development in Higher Education for Public Health

OBJECTIVE
To determine concepts of public health leadership practices and behaviors which will provide a framework for course content in initial and continuing education for public health leadership and contribute to generating a substantive grounded theory specific to leadership in public health.

METHODOLOGY
The sample involved 12 school of public health deans and/or directors of graduate programs in community health/preventive medicine who each nominated five public health leaders. Each public health leader (N=22) completed the LPI-Self and had five "followers/subordinates" complete the LPI-Observer (N=79).

KEY FINDINGS
No statistically significant differences were found between LPI-Self and LPI-Observer scores, or between male and female public health leaders, or between leaders employed in public or private sector positions (on the LPI-Observer leaders in the private sector were viewed as practicing Encouraging more than public sector leaders).

"The practices and behaviors of the Kouzes and Posner framework have good emergent fit with the practices and behaviors of the respondent contemporary public health leaders as evidenced by the generally high and comparable LPI scores" (170). "Translation of the Kouzes and Posner practices and behaviors into concept terminology [by deans/directors] results in..... high — opportunity and collaboration; moderate — constituency, others, and example; low — risk, vision, communication, and recognition; and celebration — none" (170).