Leadership styles and employee expectations

Purpose: The article presents an analysis of management styles and their importance in shaping employees' expectations towards their superior in the company. The article aims to show the relationship between the company's leadership style and the expectations of employees regarding the performance of tasks. Design/Methodology/Approach: The study is based on a literature review and empirical research results carried out among 185 employees from 10 European companies operating in different sectors. The chi-square (χ2) statistics were used to investigate the relationships between the variables analyzed, while the V-Cramer and Pearson's C (contingency) coefficients were used to determine the relationship's strength. Findings: Based on the analysis, subordinates build their expectations associated with their tasks' performance and with the leader based on his/her leadership style. When leaders implement a situational management style, employees expect full freedom of choice regarding how to carry out tasks. However, when the superior represents an autocratic style, employees expect guidelines regarding the performance of tasks rather but do not want their work to be constantly controlled. The analysis also included the relationships between the analyzed data and the variables describing the employee's position, a type of company, sex, education, and seniority. Practical Implications: The results demonstrate that personality, qualifications, values, and management style of leaders affect both the current operations and long-term success of employees and the entire organization. This analysis helped determine the desired characteristics, competencies, and character profile of contemporary leaders. Originality/Value: The analysis allowed identifying the trends of changes in contemporary leaders' approaches in terms of their characteristics and style. Therefore, the study offers a valuable review of a wide range of issues related to leaders' characteristics, and it contributes to our understanding of the specificity of leadership in the business environment.peer-reviewe