Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the leadership attributes and skills senior service experts (preceptors, 5-star administrators, trainers, and faculty) perceive as important for future senior service organization leaders to successfully meet the service needs of the older adults in 2020. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to identify the leadership attributes and skills perceived to be most important for administrators of senior service organizations. Methodology. This is a descriptive study using quantitative and qualitative data. A quantitative survey was done first and analyzed. Questions for the qualitative data were developed from the responses to the quantitative data. A total of 111 healthcare administrators responded to the survey. Findings. Based on the perceptions of the health care administrators and trainers, trustworthiness was the most important attribute and leadership agility is the most important skill a future healthcare administrator should possess in order to lead a senior service organization successfully. Healthcare administrators with a longer tenure of 10 years or more and 5-star facility administrators do not rate emotional intelligence, which is a very well-recorded leadership quality in recent years as highly as others. The study data support all 10 attributes rated in the study as very important to have in a future senior service leader. Eight out of the 10 skills selected for the study were also found to be critical for the success of a future healthcare administrator. Conclusions. Trustworthiness is the most crucial attribute for a senior service leader to be successful. Though relationship management competency is a highly valued skill necessary for a senior service leader, empowerment and leadership agility are also critical skills to be developed in a future senior service leader. Recommendations. Further research is advised: Descriptive studies of these attributes and skills should be replicated with national data. Further in-depth study of 5-star facility administrators and administrators with long tenure to clarify the findings of this study is recommended. Further confirmation of these findings with larger data set will be useful to impact the current curriculum used to train leadership by many organizations.