The Impact of Leadership Style on Global Management Practices1

A study was conducted to explore the impact of differences in leadership style on the practice of global leadership and management. Data were collected from 391 senior managers from a global organization and 1,701 of their direct reports, 358 straight‐line supervisors, and 266 dotted‐line supervisors. ANOVA results indicate that transformational leaders were rated significantly higher on all behaviors by their direct reports than were transactional leaders. Straight‐line supervisors rated transformational leaders significantly higher on managing change‐ and relationship‐management behaviors, whereas dotted‐line supervisors rated transformational leaders higher on learning orientation. Finally, transformational leaders were significantly more self‐aware (greater congruence in self vs. direct reports' average ratings) regarding the practice of these behaviors. implications for future research are discussed.