Dynamics of Leadership Styles and Their Impact on Optimum Employee Yield
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.18034/ajtp.v12i1.759Keywords:
Leadership Styles, Transformational Style, Authoritarian Style, Participative Style, Optimum Employee YieldAbstract
Leadership style refers to the approach used to set direction, implement plans, and motivate employees effectively. This study was conducted to understand various leadership styles that help overcome challenges and problems faced by human resource managers in achieving optimal performance and employee engagement, or maximum employee output. It also influences employee motivation, behavior, and, most importantly, the organization's ventures. The purpose of this paper is to explore how transformational leadership impacts employee efficiency, examine the effects of participative leadership, and evaluate how authoritarian leadership influences maximum employee output. The significance of the study lies in providing a comprehensive view of these leadership practices and their relationship with optimal employee yield. Using a qualitative research design, the study employed a phenomenological approach to analyze ideas and perspectives from various authors. The findings suggest that transformational leadership facilitates the identification of necessary changes, the development of effective strategies for guiding growth through encouragement, and the implementation of change by ensuring alignment within the team. Participative leadership encourages employees to participate, offer ideas, and freely discuss issues, thereby improving decision-making. Regarding authoritarian leadership, it was observed that total control over decisions can disengage employees and is mainly helpful for short-term projects.
Downloads
References
Adair, J. (2010). Leadership for innovation: How to organize team creativity and harvest ideas. Human Resource Management International Digest, 18(6). http://doi.org/10.1108/hrmid.2010.04418fae.003
Adeyemi, T. O. (2010). Principal's leadership styles and teachers' job performance in senior secondary schools in Ondo State, Nigeria. International Journal of Educational Administration and Policy Studies, 2(6), 83-91.
Ahmad, N., Hussain, A., & Tariq, M. S. (2014). Linkage between leadership styles and employee performance. International Journal of Accounting Research, 42(1836), 1–9.
Amabile, T. M. (2019). Educating leaders who make a difference in the world. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(1), 7–11. http://doi.org/10.1177/1745691618804172
Andrew, J. D. (2001). Leadership: Research findings, practice, and skills.
Asadullah, A. B. M., Juhdi, N. B., Hossin, M. I., & Abdullah, A. B. M. (2019). A qualitative study on the self-motivation as a tool to reduce conservatism, negative mindset, lack of self confidence, and to overcome inner conflict among the employees of bangladeshi (RMG) Factories. JoMOR 2019, VOL 1, NO 1. doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3228932
Asadullah, A., Juhdi, N. B., Islam, M. N., Ahmed, A. A. A., & Abdullah, A. (2019). The effect of reinforcement and punishment on employee performance. ABC Journal of Advanced Research, 8(2), 47–58.
Bailey, J., & Axelrod, R. H. (2001). Leadership lessons from Mount Rushmore: An interview with James MacGregor Burns. The Leadership Quarterly, 12(1), 113–121. http://doi.org/10.1016/s1048-9843(01)00066-2
Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership: Good, better, best. Organizational Dynamics, 13(3), 26–40. http://doi.org/10.1016/0090-2616(85)90028-2
Bass, B. M. (1997). Does the transactional–transformational leadership paradigm transcend organizational and national boundaries? American Psychologist, 52(2), 130. http://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066x.52.2.130
Bell, C., Chan, M., & Nel, P. (2014). The impact of participative and directive leadership on organisational culture: An organisational development perspective. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 5(23), 1970. http://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n23p1970
Brockhoff, K. (2006). On the Novelty Dimension in Project Management. Project Management Journal, 37(3), 26–36. http://doi.org/10.1177/875697280603700304
Burns, J. M. (2003). Transforming leadership: A new pursuit of happiness. New York: Grove/Atlantic
Burns, J.M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row
Busse, R., & Regenberg, S. (2019). Revisiting the authoritarian versus participative leadership style legacy: A new model of the impact of leadership inclusiveness on employee engagement. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, 26(4), 510–525. http://doi.org/10.1177/1548051818810135
Cai, J. (2023). Effects of Leadership Styles and Organizational Strategy to Enhance Performance Efficiency. Journal of Enterprise and Business Intelligence, 12–22. https://doi.org/10.53759/5181/jebi202303002
Caillier, J. G. (2014). Toward a better understanding of the relationship between transformational leadership, public service motivation, mission valence, and employee performance: A preliminary study. Public Personnel Management. https://doi.org/10.1177/0091026014528478
Carasco-Saul, M., Kim, W., & Kim, T. (2014). Leadership and Employee Engagement. Human Resource Development Review, 14(1), 38–63. http://doi.org/10.1177/1534484314560406
Celestin, M., & Sujatha, S. (2024). Exploring leadership styles and innovation: How transformational leadership drives creativity and competitiveness in business. International Journal of Applied and Advanced Scientific Research, 9(2), 88–95.
Chan, S. C. (2019). Participative leadership and job satisfaction: The mediating role of work engagement and the moderating role of fun experienced at work. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 40(3), 319–333. http://doi.org/10.1108/lodj-06-2018-0215
Dalakoura, A. (2010). Differentiating leader and leadership development: a collective framework for leadership development. Journal of Management Development, 29(5), 432-441. https://doi.org/10.1108/02621711011039204
David, M., & Sutton, C. D. (2004). Social research: The basics (Vol. 74, No. 3). Sage.
Derecskei, A. (2016). How do leadership styles influence the creativity of employees?. Society and Economy. In Central and Eastern Europe ǀ Journal of the Corvinus University of Budapest, 38(1), 103-118. http://doi.org/10.1556/204.2016.38.1.7
Duan, J., Bao, C., Huang, C., & Brinsfield, C. T. (2018). Authoritarian leadership and employee silence in China. Journal of Management & Organization, 24(1), 62–80. http://doi.org/10.1017/jmo.2016.61
Emamgholizadeh, S., Matin, H. Z., & Razavi, H. R. (2011). Is participation in decision-making related to employee empowerment?. African Journal of Business Management, 5(9), 3504–3510. https://doi.org/10.5897/AJBM10.985
Emery, C. R., & Barker, K. J. (2007). The effect of transactional and transformational leadership style on the organizational commitment and job satisfaction of customer contact. Personnel Journal of Organizational Culture, Communications and Conflict, 11, 77
Fatima T, Safdar S, Jahanzeb S (2017). Participative leadership and employee creativity: Moderating role of need for achievement NUML International Journal of Business & Management, 12(1), 1–14.
Fiedler, F. E. (1972). The effects of leadership training and experience: A contingency model interpretation. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17(4), 453. http://doi.org/10.2307/2393826
Fletcher, A. J., & Marchildon, G. P. (2014). Using the Delphi method for qualitative, participatory action research in health leadership. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 13(1), 1–18. http://doi.org/10.1177/160940691401300101
Giorgi, G., Cupelli, V., Mucci, N., Arcangeli, G., & Perez, J. L. (2014). Do I just look stressed, or am I stressed? Work-related stress in a sample of Italian employees. Industrial Health. https://doi.org/10.2486/indhealth.2012-0164
Grimani, K., & Gotsis, G. (2016). The role of servant leadership in fostering inclusive organizations. Journal of Management Development, 985-1010. https://doi.org/10.1108/JMD-07-2015-0095
Grossman, G., & Sharf, R. (2018). Situational judgment tests and transformational Leadership: An examination of the decisions, leadership, and experience in undergraduate leadership development. Journal of Leadership Education, 17(1), 114–131. http://doi.org/10.12806/v17/i1/r4
Hannah, S. T., Uhl-Bien, M., Avolio, B. J., & Cavarretta, F. L. (2009). A framework for examining leadership in extreme contexts. The Leadership Quarterly, 20(6), 897–919.
Hu, J., Wang, Z., Liden, R. C., & Sun, J. (2012). The Influence of Leader Core Self-Evaluation on Follower Reports of Transformational Leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 23(5), 860–868. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.05.004
Huang, X., Gong, Y., Liu, A., & Iun , J. (2009). Does participative leadership enhance work performance by inducing empowerment or trust? The differential effects on managerial and non‐managerial subordinates. Journal of Organizational Behaviour. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.636
Huertas-Valdivia, I., Gallego-Burín, A. R., & Lloréns-Montes, F. J. (2019). Effects of different leadership styles on hospitality workers. Tourism Management, 71, 402-420. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.tourman.2018.10.027
Islam, T., Tariq, J., & Usman, B. (2018). Transformational leadership and four-dimensional commitment: mediating role of job characteristics and moderating role of participative and directive leadership styles. Journal of Management Development, 37(9/10), 666–683. http://doi.org/10.1108/jmd-06-2017-0197
Ittner C, Larcker (2002). Determinants of performance measure choice in work incentive plans. SSRN Electronic Journal. http://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.283206
Jamak Amrollahifar, Guo Yajie, & Maruf, T. I. (2025). Ethical Dilemma in the Age of Automation: A Case Study of Leadership, Loyalty, and Organizational Change. IIUM Journal of Case Studies in Management, 16(2). Retrieved from https://journals.iium.edu.my/ijcsm/index.php/jcsm/article/view/315
Khalilov, T. (2025). The Role of Leadership and Managerial Skills in Strategic Planning. Journal of Information Systems Engineering and Management, 10(20s), 98–104. https://doi.org/10.52783/jisem.v10i20s.3014
Kim, S., & Toya, K. (2019). Leadership style required for the transition to servitization in Japan. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management, 30(2), 335–352. http://doi.org/10.1108/jmtm-02-2018-0034
Kraft, A., Sparr, J. L., & Peus, C. (2018). Giving and making sense about change: The back and forth between leaders and employees. Journal of Business and Psychology, 33(1), 71–87. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10869-016-9474-5
Kukreja, S. (n.d.). Types of leadership. Retrieved from Management study hq: https://www.managementstudyhq.com/types-of-leadership.html
Kumar, M. (2019). Championing equity, empowerment, and transformational leadership in (mental health) research partnerships: Aligning collaborative work with the global development agenda. Frontiers in Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2019.00099
Liu, S., & Ling, Z. (2025). How do authoritarian leadership and abusive supervision suppress employee voice? A meta-analysis based on cognitive and resource perspectives. Baltic Journal of Management, 20(2), 248–265.
Locke, E. A., & Schweiger, D. M. (1979). Participation in decision-making: One more look. In BM Staw (Ed.), Research in Organizational Behavior (Vol. 1).
Locke, E., & Latham, G. (2006). Current directions in psychological science. New Directions in Goal-Setting Theory, 265–268. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2006.00449.x
Lunenburg, F.C. (2012). Power and leadership: An influence process. International Journal of Management, Business, and Administration. 15(1): 1–9.
Maruf, T. I., Manaf, N. H. B. A., Haque, A. K. M. A., & Maulan, S. B. (2021). Factors affecting attitudes towards using ride-sharing apps. International Journal of Business, Economics and Law, 25(2), 60-70.attitude
McCauley Bush, P. (2012). Transforming your STEM career through leadership and innovation: Inspiration and strategies for women. Academic Press, Inc.
McCleskey, J. A. (2014). Situational, transformational, and transactional leadership and leadership development. Journal of Business Studies Quarterly, 5(4), 117.
Mesu, J., Sanders, K., & Riemsdijk, M. V. (2015). Transformational leadership and organisational commitment in manufacturing and service small to medium-sized enterprises: The moderating effects of directive and participative leadership. Personnel Review, 44(6), 970-990. http://doi.org/10.1108/pr-01-2014-0020
Morgan, J. (2020). The Future Leader: 9 Skills and Mindsets to Succeed in the Next Decade. canada: Wiley publishers.
Motyka, B. (2018). Employee engagement and performance: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Management and Economics, 54(3), 227–244. http://doi.org/10.2478/ijme-2018-0018
Nortje, A. (2010). Employee engagement through leadership: Leadership. Management Today, 18–20.
Ogbonna, E., & Harris, L. (2011). Leadership style, organizational culture, and performance: Empirical evidence from UK companies. The International Journal of Human Resources Management, 76–788. https://doi.org/10.1080/09585190050075114
Ostroff, C. (1992). The Relationship Between Satisfaction, Attitudes, and Performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 77(6), 963–974. https://doi.org/10.1037/0021-9010.77.6.963
Parry K. & Paresha Sinha. (2005). Researching the Trainability of Transformational Organizational Leadership. Human Resource Development International, 2, 165–183. http://doi.org/10.1080/13678860500100186
Rhee, K. S., & Sigler, T. H. (2015). Untangling the relationship between gender and leadership. Gender in Management: An International Journal, 30(2), 109-134. http://doi.org/10.1108/gm-09-2013-0114
Rouse, M. (2015). Authoritarian leadership. Retrieved from searchcio: https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/authoritarian-leadership
Sam, R., Li, X., Sok, K., Tieng, M., & Yoeng, H. (2025). Effective turnaround leadership practices in Cambodia: Perspectives from school principals. In Turnaround Leadership in Southeast Asian Countries: Leading School Transformation (pp. 77-98). Singapore: Springer Nature Singapore.
Schuh, S. C., Zhang, X. A., & Tian, P. (2013). For the good or the bad? Interactive effects of transformational leadership with moral and authoritarian leadership behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 116(3), 629–640. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-012-1486-0
Somech, A. (2010). Participative decision making in schools: A mediating-moderating analytical framework for understanding school and teacher outcomes. Educational Administration Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1177/1094670510361745
Suifan, T. S., Abdallah, A. B., & Al Janini, M. (2018). The impact of transformational leadership on employees’ creativity: The mediating role of perceived organizational support. Management Research Review, 41(1), 113–132. http://doi.org/10.1108/mrr-02-2017-0032
Vogel, D. J. (2017). Haas's research on leadership: An introduction. California Management Review, 5-7. https://doi.org/10.1177/0008125617735339
Walumbwa, F. O., & Hartnell, C. A. (2011). Understanding transformational leadership–employee performance links: The role of relational identification and self‐efficacy. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 84(1), 153–172. http://doi.org/10.1348/096317910x485818
Wang, H., & Guan, B. (2018). The positive effect of authoritarian leadership on employee performance: The moderating role of power distance. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, 357. http://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00357
Wang, H., Law, K. S., & Chen, Z. X. (2008). Leader-member exchange, employee performance, and work outcomes: An empirical study in the Chinese context. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 19(10), 1809–1824. http://doi.org/10.1080/09585190802323926
Wang, H., Law, K. S., Hackett, R. D., Wang, D., Chen, Z. X. (2005). Leader-member exchange as a mediator of the relationship between transformational leadership and followers’ performance and organizational citizenship behavior. Academy of Management Journal, 48, 420–432. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2005.17407908
Yan, J. (2011). An empirical examination of the interactive effects of goal orientation, participative leadership, and task conflict on innovation in small business. Journal of Developmental Entrepreneurship, 393–408. https://doi.org/10.1142/S1084946711001896
Yi, Cui, and Sarena Abdullah. "Investigating' Neo-Nanyang' Modern Ink Painting of Malaysia: Between Cultural Identity and Modern Expressions (1965-2023)." Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences & Humanities 33, no. 3 (2025)
Yukl, G. A., & Gardner, W. L. (2020). Leadership in organizations. (9th) Edition.
Zhao, R., & Sheng, Y. (2019). The effect of leadership style on employee engagement: The moderating role of task structure. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 07(07), 404–420. http://doi.org/10.4236/jss.2019.77033
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 American Observer Press

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Articles can be read and shared for noncommercial purposes under the following conditions:
- BY: Attribution must be given to the original source (Attribution)
- NC: Works may not be used for commercial purposes (Noncommercial)

