ABSTRACT
Management/Leadership ‘styles’ have been characterised and reported predominantly in the business management arena, over many years, and a number of HE studies have reviewed these. It is, therefore, important that a larger group of HE staff are allowed to consider these in order to help establish a fuller picture of what kind of behaviours the employees and the academic and PS managers themselves, at department level upwards, wish to see modelled by their supervisors.
Recommended manager characteristics are presented and some common management/leadership styles identified in studies and collections of the most important qualities and traits identified by employees are reported. The climate and culture created by and/or influencing a leader/manager are discussed further. Different approaches taken by researchers have, for example, tried to identify the collection of behaviours ‘critical to structuring a work environment conducive to enhanced employee performance’. Transformational, Authoritative, Servant, Transpersonal and Architect styles, along with beneficial aspects of others, are highlighted. Overlapping elements with the results of other large studies is also then possible. Business and management coach reviews, the LFHE’s leadership styles report and Business School experts evidence supporting, for example, certainty vs. humility, collective leadership and building relationships are some of the elements presented. Additional aspects not as commonly cited as important, emphasising the resulting benefits of these management styles and approaches, and providing additional useful comparators, are raised by the researchers showcased.
