title: Employee perceptions of managers' leadership over time.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This paper aims to explore if and how employees in a healthcare organisation perceive changes in their managers' leadership behaviour over time.
  
  
  METHODS
  An interview study was conducted with employees whose managers had participated in a two-year leadership development programme offered by their employer, Healthcare Provision Stockholm County. Qualitative content analysis was applied, and the interview discussions focused on areas in which the majority of the informants perceived that a change had occurred over time and their answers were relatively consistent.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of employees did discern changes in their managers' leadership over time, and, with very few exceptions, these changes were described as improvements.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The knowledge that employees perceived changes in their managers' leadership supports investments in leadership development through courses, programmes or other initiatives.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present findings contribute to a deeper empirical understanding of leadership as it is practised over time in everyday contexts among employees in healthcare organisations.
authors.affiliation: Learning, Informatics, Ethics and Management, Karolinska Institutet, Solna, Sweden and Industrial Management, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden.
authors.forename: Kristina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Palm
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ullström
authors.forename: Christer
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sandahl
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bergman
mesh_terms: D000288:Administrative Personnel; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D011361:Professional Competence; D036301:Qualitative Research; D013548:Sweden
keywords: Change; Employees; Health care; Leadership; Leadership development programme; Managers