Full Range Leadership and Leadership Development Experiences in Public Parks and Recreation Organizations

Purpose: As the public parks and recreation industry grows, there is a need to develop leaders at all levels. The purpose of this survey study was to determine the self-perceived type of leadership professionals use in the public parks and recreation field and to examine the relationship between types of leadership development methods and transformational leadership. Research design, data, and methodology: Public parks and recreation professionals of all employment levels from throughout California were solicited to participate in the quantitative, self-administered, online survey. The survey consisted of three parts: Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire to determine the level of leadership each respondent uses from the Full Range Leadership model, leadership development experience questions, and demographic questions. The analysis included descriptive statistics such as mean scores and Spearman’s Rank Order Correlation. Results: Results indicate that transformational leadership is used more often by public parks and recreation professionals in California than that of transactional or Laissez-Faire leadership. Results also indicated that public parks and recreation professionals do use all three types to varying levels. Multiple relationships were found between leadership development experiences and self-perceived use of transformational leadership. Conclusions: These results can support public parks and recreation organizations, universities, and California Park and Recreation Society as they continue to provide leadership development to the profession.