Desired Leadership Behaviors for the Inclusive Leader

Following the contingency approach to leadership, leaders should adjust their leadership style according to the situation/conditions in which they operate and there is obviously no perfect leadership style or behavior that one could adopt to be most effective as a leader. In other words, if leaders want to be most effective for all groups of their followers, it is imperative that they take into account the particular traits and presumptions of each group. How should the leader best address the expectations of the least favored groups of followers (subordinates in the corporate/business world), in order to enhance the inclusion of such groups and at the same time increase his/her leadership effectiveness? The current paper intends to address the above question through empirical evidence from a survey on leadership behaviors desired by followers of different demographic profiles, as a way to identify the leadership behaviors preferred by groups of followers less represented or favored in most organizations (women, younger people/ people with less managerial experience)