Do Effective Leaders Use a Common Leadership Style?
How many behavioral options do leaders have? And what is the relationship between these various options and leadership effectiveness? Style Options. Numerous studies converge around two dimensions, task behavior and people behavior, but new evidence indicates a third dimension, development-oriented behavior. In a two- dimensional view of leadership behavior, the task dimension refers to the following actions: emphasizing the accomplishment of group goals, defining and structuring group-member work assignments, and emphasizing deadlines. The people dimension encompasses actions such as developing good interpersonal relationships, being friendly and approachable, and being concerned with workers’ personal problems. This two-dimensional view was popularized in the 1960’s by the managerial grid (see Exhibit 14-2 in text). Recent research has revealed a third effective leadership style: development-oriented behavior characterized by experimentation, innovative problem solving, and encouragi
