Healthcare Managers/Executives/Administrators
OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine the leadership practices of consumers who are leading the development of statewide mental health consumer advocacy networks.
METHODOLOGY Fourteen statewide mental health consumer advocacy network leaders from 20 of the states receiving 2001 and 2004 Statewide Consumer Network grants from the Federal Center for Mental Health Services of the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services agreed to participate. Respondents completed the Leadership Practices Inventory and procured three-to-five respondents for the LPI-Observer. The typical respondent was female (71%), over 40 years of age (93%) and Caucasian (93%), with an average of 13 years of overall leadership experience, who had been in their current positions for 7.5 years, and had a small staff (57% had less than 10 people).
KEY FINDINGS Enabling was the leadership behavior that leaders viewed themselves as engaging in most frequently, closely followed by Encouraging, and then Modeling, Inspiring and Challenging. This rank order was the same from the perspective of Observers. No statistically significant differences were found between the observations from leaders (self) and their observers.
"As a whole, this study has shown consumer networks leaders are actively using the five leadership practices (p. 122).... Application of fundamentals of Kouzes and Posner's five leadership practices with close attention to the ten commitments would be a practical step toward strengthening statewide mental health consumer advocacy networks across the United States" (p. 138).