(Aiken et al. 1998, Scott et al. 1999, Aiken 2002). The
research design used allowed to distil a few care-related
aspects that are positively affected by leadership development
and that are indirectly linked to the quality of
care. Optimizing patient-centred communication, continuity
of care and interdisciplinary collaboration can
contribute to enhanced quality of care.
Despite the positive direction leadership development
has taken thus far in our study, the process is not yet
finished. In striving to develop effective leadership, the
clinical leader is balancing between effectiveness and
ineffectiveness in line with ongoing processes inherent
to leadership development – i.e. the progression
towards transformational leadership. The differences in
CLP experiences observed among the team members
should therefore be interpreted within this balancing
context. One can expect CLP to have more impact,
necessitating ongoing research to further explore the
further impact of the programme.