Leadership profiles of managers in post‐communist countries: a comparative study

Abstract

This research sought to identify leadership styles of enterprise managers in four countries of the former USSR. The survey was based on the Bass and Avolio MLQ5x leadership styles instrument. Valid responses were received from 2,391 managers and employees at nine manufacturing enterprises located in Russia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and the Kyrgyz Republic. The results suggest that managers in these four countries used three well‐known leadership styles – transactional, transformational, and laissez‐faire. However, the laissez‐faire style was not prevalent. Overall, transactional contingent reward leadership was used more often than any other approaches. Charisma and individualized consideration received the lowest scores among the transformational leadership style dimensions. Tests of the relationship between leadership styles and managerial performance measures indicated that contingent reward and charisma had the strongest relationship with positive outcomes. Individual country leadership style profiles and implications for developing leadership training programs, and for the transfer of Western organization development approaches are discussed.