The influence of project managers' leadership styles on project team performance in the construction industry

The purpose of the quantitative, correlational study is to evaluate the relationship between the leadership styles of 17 project managers in 17 project teams consisting of 6-9 members and the team members’ perception of the project managers’ leadership styles as the leadership styles relate to project team performance in the construction industry in the southeastern United States. A project manager’s leadership style is signified through the emergence of nine leadership characteristics: (a) charisma, (b) sharing responsibility, (c) continuous personal and team development, (d) a common vision, (e) mutually influencing relationships, (f) putting the interests of the group ahead of the interests of the individual, (g) risk-taking, (h) team collaboration, and (i) empowering others. The study hypothesized that teams in which the project manager exhibited high level of leadership characteristics would show higher levels of team performance. Seventeen project teams from the construction industry in the southeastern United States participated. The study consisted of three parts: a project leadership survey, a project manager survey, and the collection of team performance data. The results of the study from the 17 teams indicated that four of the leadership characteristics, continuous development, mutual influence relationships, risk taking, and collaboration, were consistently found in the project managers of top-performing teams. Project managers and team members recognize the responsibility for the performance of the team is the responsibility of the entire team rather than of a single individual. Through leadership training focusing on the nine characteristics of project manager leadership styles examined in the study, team performance may be positively affected.