Maximizing impact: optimizing teams through leader development in health-care settings

Purpose The purpose of this study is to connect the effects of a leadership development intervention to team outcomes and show the leader is a conduit to improve teamwork behaviors of team members. The authors fulfill this purpose by describing and evaluating the effectiveness of a leadership development intervention in a health-care setting. Design/methodology/approach The authors describe and empirically evaluate a nine-month cohort-based leadership development initiative where leaders participate in multiple hands-on workshops and coaching sessions. During the intervention, leaders were provided opportunities to practice new skills and were encouraged to apply them to their team. Findings The findings suggest that through learning and practice, leadership behavior improved, and this behavior led to better follower and team outcomes. More specifically, leaders who were trained had followers who felt they had more guidance in developing their careers, and these leaders had teams who engaged in more teamwork behavior. Further, findings support that program engagement matters; participants must fully engage in the program for direct reports to experience benefits. Originality/value Connections between factors of leadership training and the effects on leader, follower and team outcomes are discussed further through teamwork theory. The authors describe the implications of the leadership development intervention from the perspective of both leaders and teams. In doing so, the authors connect the behaviors of leaders to teamwork outcomes by considering how the leader learned effective teamwork skills during the leadership development intervention.