Matching the project manager’s leadership style to project type (Müller & Turner, 2007)
Müller, Ralf; Turner, Rodney J.: Matching the project manager’s leadership style to project type; in: International Journal of Project Management, Vol. 25 (2007), No. 1, pp. 21-32.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijproman.2006.04.003
Müller & Turner shortly describe 6 modern and 3 historical schools of leadership before they investigate if leadership styles have an impact on the success of projects and whether there are different styles needed for different projects. The 9 schools they outline briefly are
- Confucius - it’s all about relationships, moderation, values, and process
- Aristotle - it’s all about relationships, values, and process
- Barnard - it’s all about relationship vs. processes
- Trait Theory - leaders are born not made
- Behavioural Theory - leadership skills can be developed
- Contingency Theory - effective leadership depends on the situation
- Visionary/charismatic leadership - transformation vs. transaction
- Emotional Intelligence - your (gut) feelings matter
- Competency - all matters (traits, behaviours, styles, emotions, processes, intellect…)
Furthermore the authors link each item of their 3 dimensional leadership model (Emotional, Managerial, Intellectual) to project performance in different project categories. Their results show that in general IT projects motivational skills and a strategic perspective positively influence the project’s success. In the case of high performing IT projects Self-Awareness, Communication and Self-Development impact the success positively, whereas visionary capacities have a negative impact on the success.