Leadership as a management competency in rural health organisations.

The management competency of leadership was measured on 34 middle and senior health managers from the Murray Health Service, using Situational Leadership Questionnaires. Using self-analysis, the managers found their leadership behaviours to be entrenched, inflexible and less effective than they might otherwise be. This conclusion was supported by results of the questionnaires completed on each manager by their followers. In almost half of the cases, followers had a different perception of their manager's leadership style than did the manager. This paper discusses these findings in the context of management assessment centres and the Charter for Change now facing all health organisations.