The project manager's leadership style as a success factor on projects

The literature on general management research often identifies leadership style as a critical success factor impacting individual and organizational performance. In this paper, commissioned by the Project Management Institute, the authors survey the recent literature on project management to determine whether project management researchers consider leadership style a critical success factor when managing projects and whether they believe leadership style impacts project outcome. This paper opens by outlining the purpose of this study and describing the general management literature on leadership styles and competence, specifically in relation to four elements: 20th century leadership theory; team behavior; managerial behavior; and leadership competence. It then looks at the literature on project management and discusses the research on the relationship between a project manager's leadership style and competence and their project's outcome and success. It then identifies and explains six points concerning the project manager leadership style and competence that researchers have most frequently explored. The paper concludes by detailing this review's findings and by suggesting ideas on this topic that researchers could further explore.