"Leadership Styles" Questionnaire

Consider your own impression of the term "leadership". Based on your experiences, what is leadership?

Read the following statements, then use scales below to indicate the degree to which you agree or disagree
with each statement about leadership.

There are no right or wrong answers. The aim is to provide you with insight about how you define and view
leadership styles.

Leadership Styles

Strongly Strongly
Statements Disagree Neutral Agree
Disagree Agree

Employees need to be supervised closely or they 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

are not likely to do their work.

Employees want to be a part of the decision- 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

making process.

In complex situations, leaders should let 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

subordinates work problems out on their own.

It is fair to say that most employees in the general 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

population are lazy.

Providing guidance without pressure is the key to 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

being a good leader.

Leadership requires staying out of the way of 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

subordinates as they do their work.

As a rule, employees must be given rewards or 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

punishments in order to motivate them to achieve
organizational objectives.

Most workers want frequent and supportive 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

communication from their leaders.

As a rule, leaders should allow subordinates to 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

appraise their own work.

Most employees feel insecure about their work 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

and need direction.

Leaders need to help subordinates accept 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

responsibility for completing their work.

Leaders should give subordinates complete 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

freedom to solve problems on their own.
 Leadership Styles

Strongly Strongly
Statements Disagree Neutral Agree
Disagree Agree

The leader is the chief of the achievements of the 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

members of the group.

It is the leader's job to help subordinates find 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

their "passion".

In most situations, workers prefer little input 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

from the leader.

Effective leaders give orders and clarify 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

procedures.

People are basically competent and if given a task 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

will do a good job.

In general, it is best to leave subordinates alone. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Scoring
Add together the scores of items 1, 4, 7, 10, 13, and 16. These items measure authoritarian
leadership. The authoritarian score is:__________

Add together the scores of items 2, 5, 8, 11, 14, and 17. These items measure democratic leadership. The
democratic score is:__________

Add together the scores of items 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, and 18. These items measure laissez-faire leadership. The
laissez-faire score is:__________

Score Interpretation
This questionnaire is designed to measure three common styles of leadership: authoritarian, democratic,
and laissez-faire. By comparing your scores, you can determine which styles are most dominant and least
dominant in your own style of leadership. For each of the three scores, the use the following rubric:

If the score is 26 or higher, it is in the very high range.

If the score is 21 to 25, it is in the high range.

If the score is 16 to 20, it is in the moderate range.

If the score is 11 to 15, it is in the low range.

If the score is 10 or less, it is in the very low range.