The relationship between organizational performance and leadership style across organizations

The research study examined if any relationship(s) existed among leadership style and organizational performance and leadership style and gender. The central questions for this dissertation are: is there a relationship between (a) self-assessed leadership style of managers/owners and actual organizational performance as measured by: revenue growth, asset growth, income growth and overall performance/success compared to competitors; (b) leadership style of managers/owners as assessed by their followers and the organizational performance as perceived by their followers; (c) managers'/owners' gender and their self-assessed leadership style; and (d) managers'/owners' gender and leadership style as assessed by their followers. In order to answer these research questions, this researcher collected the data utilizing the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) from manager/owners ratings and followers' ratings within their organization. The study investigated the correlations between each of the variables of transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles. In addition, this researcher utilized a 1-to-3 Likert like rating scale to determine organizational performance ratings and asked for gender demographics during the survey. Statistical analysis revealed a negative correlation between transactional leadership style as rated by the managers/owners to asset growth, while followers' assessment of transformational leadership style of their managers/owners was positively correlated with asset growth and income growth.