Introduction: Leaders in competitive settings guide organizations by addressing needs, managing expectations, and promoting teamwork. They must continually adapt and develop their skills. Conflicts, caused by differing values and beliefs, are inevitable, ranging from minor disputes to serious issues like misinformation or hostility. Slater notes that leaders spend about 20% of their time resolving conflicts. Thus, understanding leadership and conflict management is crucial.
Purpose: This study analyzes the relationship between leadership and conflict management styles, specifically examining how followers' perceptions of managers' leadership readiness relate to their perceptions of managers' conflict management styles.
Method: The study included 185 participants (67.6% men, 28.1% women), employees of a metalworking company, with ages ranging from 19 to 67 years old (M = 38.14, SD = 10.94). The evaluation protocol included the Multidimensional Scale of Leadership, the Leadership Cycles Questionnaire, the Leadership Antecedent Factors Questionnaire, and the Conflict Management Styles Questionnaire, allowing for the evaluation of leadership (cycles, styles, and antecedent factors) and conflict management styles. A cluster analysis was performed using the k-means method.
Results: Findings showed that: (a) followers perceived that managers should make their leadership philosophy, practice, and criteria clearer; (b) positive perceptions of managers' leadership were associated with higher levels of transformational conflict management style and lower levels of hesitant and competitive conflict management styles; and (c) leadership readiness profiles do not vary according to the followers' personal and professional characteristics (e.g., age, gender, type of contract).
Conclusions: This study highlights a gap between followers' and managers' perceptions of leadership, revealing more positive views on leadership readiness associated with better management styles. Managers should improve their leadership and conflict strategies. Followers also benefit, as leadership and conflict management are active, reciprocal processes that require engagement from both parties. Including both helps organizations foster collaboration and achieve sustainable, effective results.