The Leadership Styles in Academia: Four Faces of University Presidents

This study examined the leadership style of university presidents by using the Bolman and Deal leadership survey. This instrument determines if a leader predominantly uses a one style, two styles, multiple, or no predominant leadership style. Most presidents utilized a multi-style leadership approach (43.7%), followed by a paired-style (22.4%), then a single-style (20.9%), and finally, a no-style (13%). While the presidents utilized a multi-frame leadership style in a statistically significant manner, there was no correlation between the leadership style when comparing gender, race, age, or marital status. However, descriptive statistics infer that female, non-Caucasian, and presidents under the age of 60 more frequently employed the multi-frame leadership style. Presidents who adopt a multi-frame approach may be able to better address problems and seek opportunities for the institution.