Review of the Literature: A Global Perspective on the Impact of Leadership Styles on Organizational Performance

For the reason that it is widely presumed that the effectiveness of a leader has a significant impact on organizational performance, this, has led to heightened research focused on the relationship between leadership and organizational performance. Similarly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the theoretical aspects of this concept, evaluate various leadership styles, and examine evidence regarding the efficacy of leadership styles in optimizing organizational performance. Qualitative Content Analysis was used to analyze relevant journal articles, government publications and books in order to achieve three main goals: (1) exploring the concept of organizational performance in relation to leadership; (2) identifying methods for measuring organizational performance at its core; and (3) evaluating the effects of different leadership styles on organizational performance. The results indicate that the charismatic leadership style is the most effective when compared to other approaches in that it can increase employee morale and productivity, thereby improving overall organizational performance. Correspondingly, the transformational and democratic leadership styles are found to improve organizational performance. Furthermore, it is established that the situational leadership style is effective when it employs either the charismatic, transactional, and or transformational leadership approach. Therefore, this study recommends that leaders ought to: (1) utilise feedback from subordinates to assess their leadership impact; (2) reflect on their leadership journey; (3) use leadership assessment tools to identify their strengths and weaknesses for growth opportunities; and (4) employ leadership styles that maximize employee engagement and productivity preferably the charismatic leadership style