The determinants of the choice of leadership styles in academic libraries in Port Harcourt, Rivers State

Abstract

This paper determined what informs one's choice of leadership style in academic libraries in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria. . Survey research method was used to collect data to investigate the determinants of leadership style in academic libraries. A total number of 74 respondents who are the professional and para-professional staff of the tertiary institutions, libraries‟ under study formed the population of the study. The whole population of 74 was used as sample size since the population is small. Data were generated using questionnaire as instrument titled "Determinants of the Choice of Leadership Style in Academic Libraries (DCLSAL)"; consisting of six (6) item statements. The research question was answered using frequency counts and means. The following are the variables; the size of the organization, degree of interaction, personality of members, goal congruency, level of decision making and state of the system. The analysis showed that, all the above stated variables except degree of interaction were positively associated with the choice of Leadership style. This contributes to recent research in leadership that shows how degree of interaction is considered to be less important in determining the choice of leadership style adopted by heads of academic libraries. Recommendations were equally proffered since the choice of a leadership style adopted by a leader goes a long way in determining the success or failure of the academic library. The positive impact of the various leadership styles should be combined by leaders to enhance job performance of subordinate The findings of this study could be useful for theory and practice in understanding what informs one‟s choice of leadership style.

Keywords: Leadership, Style, Organization, Interaction, Library, Academic, Personality, Decision