In my youth, I did not appreciate the importance of leadership. As I matured, I saw myriad examples of leadership changing history, attitudes, institutions, and the fabric of our daily lives. We have witnessed examples of leaders who have succeeded in making this a better world in which we and future generations could thrive. We have witnessed leadership that has the potential to destroy those futures.
When we focus our lens on our profession and the contributions of our leaders, I want to thank our Academy leadership at all levels. Many thanks to the Academy president, Cindy Miles, and the leadership team. I have the privilege of working with many of our committees and have experienced their tremendous volunteer efforts to improve our profession and the lives of the children and families that we serve. I am reminded that people continue to give to the greater good.
In this issue, we have fine examples of leadership. The Clinical Practice Guideline on Developmental Coordination Disorder, supported by the Academy, was created by leaders across many professions. Individuals who contributed opinions, edits, and commentary as this document was created to guide physical therapy practice. Clinical practice guidelines are an extraordinary amount of work over a long period of time. That type of sustained effort requires leadership. Our collective thanks are extended to Lisa Dannemiller, Melinda Mueller, Adrah Leitner, Erin Iverson, and Sandra L. Kaplan. This authorship team created a clinically accessible document that should guide current physical therapy practice for the next 5 years; until it is revised, as planned. A particular thank you to Sandra Kaplan. She has spearheaded the leadership team for the 2 current clinical practice guidelines that the Academy has supported. But in addition, she works with teams to create more guidelines, and she authored the article that serves as the “playbook” to create guides. She is a coauthor on 2 other articles in this issue that are reports of follow-through research based on the Clinical Practice Guideline on Torticollis. Thank you, Dr Kaplan!
As we face our collective uncertain futures, each of us can lead by example: wear masks, stay 6 feet apart, and wash our hands. Stay well and safe.
Linda Fetters, PT, PhD, FAPTA
Freeport, Maine
