Perception of Leadership Behavior of the School Business Manager

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the leadership behavior of school business managers as perceived by selected staff and super-ordinates. Perceptions of the leaders' behavior were measured by responses to the Leader Behavior Description Questionnaire. Board members, superintendents, business managers, and principals-supervisors reliably differentiated “real” and “ideal” Consideration and Initiating Structure with strengths of association (ω²) ranging from .212 to .550 of the variance accounted for. Only one of 24 cross-group comparisons was reliable; board members perceived the business manager's “real” behavior to be more considerate than did principals-supervisors. Thus, perceptions of the four groups were quite similar; in part the small samples and large variability (especially in “real” behaviors) accounted for this agreement.