Changing Leadership Behaviors in a Public Health Agency Through Coaching and Multirater Feedback

Public health managers' leadership skills can be improved through multirater feedback and coaching.

To explore to what extent participation in a coaching intervention influences leadership behaviors of first- and second-level leaders in a federal public health agency.

Team leads and branch chiefs in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC's) National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention (NCHHSTP) were invited to participate in the Coaching and Leadership Initiative (CaLI), which incorporates the US Office of Personnel Management (OPM) Leadership 360 assessment, 6 coaching sessions, and 2 in-depth interviews.

NCHHSTP is one of 16 CDC national centers, institute, and offices.

Staff serving as team leads or branch chiefs.

Two in-depth interviews explored CaLI's influence on leadership behaviors regarding the government-wide Leading People executive core qualification.

A total of 103 (93%) CaLI participants completed the OPM 360 feedback, 82 (80%) completed leadership coaching; 71 of 82 (87%) completed phase 1 interview, and 46 of 71 (65%) completed phase 2 interview. Eighty unique participants completed 1 or more interviews; all indicated that CaLI helped provide new perspectives, practices, and approaches that led to better communication and relationships, different approaches to conflict resolution, and awareness of individual leadership practices. Of the 71 participants who completed phase 1 evaluation, 66 (93%) said they made changes in developing others, 56 (79%) completed conflict management and team building, and 16 (23%) completed leveraging diversity. Of the 46 participants who completed both phase 1 and phase 2 interviews and among those who made changes post-CaLI, 23 of 26 (88%) sustained those leadership changes in developing others, 21 of 27 (78%) in team building; 24 of 34 (71%) in conflict management; and 5 of 10 (50%) in leveraging diversity.

This study demonstrates the benefits and effectiveness of using multirater feedback and leadership coaching for first- and midlevel public health leaders.