Comparison of Leadership Traits among Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) in High-performing, Low-performing and Lean-Management Hospitals in the USA

Background: The effectiveness and efficiency of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is of critical importance to the performance of any organization, including hospitals. This aim of this study was to assess the impact of the leadership traits of CEOs on hospital performance in the USA.
Methods: We conducted a survey in 2010 on the leadership traits of CEOs at nine hospitals selected by quality-of-care performance ranking. The sample comprised three high-performing (HP) (top 20th percentile) hospitals, three low-performing (LP) (bottom 20th percentile) hospitals and three lean-management (LM) hospitals (40th–70th percentiles). For each of these hospitals, the survey information to allowed comparisons of CEO self-assessments and CEO follower assessments about various managerial parameters, and these were analysed against the quality-of-care performance indicators.
Results: Analysis of the CEO self-assessment survey failed to show any differences between traits of CEOs, but results from the follower survey revealed significant differences. These differences applied to comparisons between LM and LP hospitals, as well as HP and LP hospitals. No significant differences were found between LM and HP hospitals.
Conclusion: These results generally support the growing evidence that the leadership traits of CEOs have an influence on the level of performance among hospitals in the USA.