Leadership Style Preference and Associated Factors in Local Government Organizations: Case in Yabello Town Administration

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess leadership style preference and associated factors in local government organizations: the case of Yabello town administration. The study is mainly focused on the examination of the relationship between individual, organizational and environmental factors and preferred leadership styles. The sampling of this study comprised 287 respondents and included all permanent employees’ town administration using simple random sampling. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists (SPSS) and the Pearson correlation coefficient was used to test for the significance of the hypotheses. Quantitatively collected data was analyzed and presented using both descriptive and inferential statistics such as Mean, SD, correlation and regression analysis. The findings of the study reveal that all three factors individual, organizational and environmental are significantly correlated with leadership style in the study area. The result of the study also shows that environmental and organizational factors have significant and favorable effects on leadership style preferences, whereas, individual factors do not have significant effects. Based on the findings researcher concluded that particular leadership style exercised was determined by surrounding factors rather than personal inborn traits. Leaders should consider factors inside and outside of their organization for their effective leadership.