The Association Between Anesthetist Leadership Styles and Their Resilience: A Single-Center Study

Abstract

To explore the association between the leadership styles and resilience of anesthetists in leadership roles. This prospective study of all anesthetists in leadership roles within a university teaching hospital in Melbourne, Australia, employed three validated, anonymous questionnaires (Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, and the Resilience Scale). Questionnaire data were summarized using descriptive statistics and presented as counts and proportions. Spearman's rank correlation was used to evaluate quantitative continuous variables to identify linear relationships. Of the 14 anesthetists in leadership roles, 14 completed all three questionnaires (response rate 100%). Ten participants (71.5%) displayed behaviors consistent with transformational leadership. Three participants (21.4%) displayed behaviors typically associated with transactional leadership, and one (7.1%) exhibited characteristics consistent with passive-avoidant leadership. Anesthetists with transformational leadership styles exhibited significantly higher resilience scores than those with transactional or passive-avoidant leadership styles. Those with transformational leadership qualities also had increased job satisfaction overall. Anesthetists who exhibit transformational and authentic leadership are likely to be more resilient than those with transactional or passive-avoidant leadership styles. Higher levels of resilience were also associated with greater role effectiveness and experiencing greater levels of job satisfaction.