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Quizzes > Business & Finance

7 Leadership Styles Quiz: Test Your Knowledge

Quick, free leadership styles test. Instant results.

Editorial: Review CompletedCreated By: Maria Silvina AndreottiUpdated Aug 28, 2025
Difficulty: Moderate
2-5mins
Learning OutcomesCheat Sheet
Paper art illustration of diverse leaders on golden yellow background for leadership styles quiz.

This 7 leadership styles quiz helps you check your knowledge and see how each approach works on a team. You will get instant results to spot strengths and gaps you can work on. After you finish, explore our leadership style quiz, compare with a management style test, or practice with a leadership skills quiz.

Which leadership style is characterized by a leader making decisions unilaterally and expecting compliance from team members?
Transformational
Autocratic
Laissez-faire
Democratic
An autocratic leader makes decisions alone without consulting the team, expecting subordinates to follow orders without question. This style centralizes authority and can speed up decision-making in crises. However, it may reduce team creativity and morale when used excessively. .
Which leadership style involves team members in decision making and encourages participation?
Laissez-faire
Democratic
Autocratic
Transactional
Democratic leaders solicit input from their team and value collaboration before making final decisions. This approach can boost morale, increase buy-in, and harness collective expertise. It may take longer to reach consensus but often results in more creative solutions. .
Which leadership style grants team members freedom to make decisions with minimal direct supervision?
Pacesetting
Autocratic
Coaching
Laissez-faire
Laissez-faire leadership gives employees autonomy to set their own goals and methods, with leaders stepping in only when needed. It works best with highly skilled, self-motivated teams but can lead to a lack of direction if overused. This hands-off approach contrasts sharply with more controlling styles. .
Which leadership style focuses on inspiring and motivating followers to exceed expectations by articulating a compelling vision?
Servant
Transactional
Transformational
Charismatic
Transformational leaders build a strong vision and encourage followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the organization. They foster intellectual stimulation and personal growth through inspiration. This style often leads to high levels of engagement and performance. .
Which leadership style is primarily based on exchanges of rewards for performance and uses penalties for underperformance?
Transformational
Democratic
Transactional
Laissez-faire
Transactional leadership relies on clear structures of reward and punishment to manage followers. Leaders set defined objectives and reward employees who meet them while correcting those who do not. It emphasizes efficiency and short-term tasks rather than long-term vision. .
Which leadership approach adapts the leader's style based on the maturity and competence of followers?
Situational
Contingency
Path-goal
Servant
Situational leadership theory proposes that no single leadership style is best; leaders must adjust their behavior to the readiness of followers. The model identifies four styles - directing, coaching, supporting, and delegating. Matching style to follower competence and commitment improves performance. .
Which leadership style relies heavily on the personal charm and persuasive communication skills of the leader?
Laissez-faire
Bureaucratic
Charismatic
Autocratic
Charismatic leaders use expressive communication, confidence, and a compelling vision to inspire followers. Their personal appeal can generate high levels of loyalty and enthusiasm. However, overreliance on charisma may overshadow organizational processes. .
What is a common drawback of the pacesetting leadership style?
Reduces team collaboration
Creates lack of direction
Can lead to employee burnout
Stifles decision making
Pacesetting leaders set high performance standards and exemplify them personally. While this can drive quick results, it often leads to stress and burnout among team members. The relentless pace may undermine long-term morale. .
Which key benefit does the coaching leadership style primarily offer?
Development of long-term skills
Maintenance of status quo
Minimization of conflict
Immediate task completion
Coaching leaders focus on individual growth by providing guidance, feedback, and encouragement. This style enhances skills, builds self-confidence, and fosters a learning culture. While it may require more time investment, it yields sustainable improvement. .
Which leadership style is known for its ability to articulate a compelling future vision and align the team around it?
Bureaucratic
Servant
Transactional
Visionary
Visionary leaders paint a clear and inspiring picture of the future, motivating others to pursue long-term objectives. They excel at strategic thinking and aligning people behind new directions. This style drives innovation and change. .
How does servant leadership primarily differ from transformational leadership?
It concentrates on task completion over people
It emphasizes centralized decision-making
It focuses on rewarding performance
It prioritizes follower needs above organizational vision
Servant leadership places the growth and well-being of followers first, whereas transformational leadership centers on inspiring followers to achieve the organization's vision. While both can foster development, servant leaders emphasize empathy and stewardship. This people-first approach builds trust and loyalty. .
According to path-goal theory, which leadership style clarifies goals and removes obstacles to help followers achieve objectives?
Supportive
Directive
Achievement-oriented
Participative
Path-goal theory suggests directive leaders define clear expectations, structure tasks, and eliminate barriers. This style is effective when followers need guidance to understand what is required. Other path-goal styles focus on support, participation, or setting high standards. .
In Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) theory, what defines the 'in-group'?
Employees with high-quality exchanges and trust with the leader
New hires undergoing orientation
Contractors and external partners
Teams working on support tasks
In LMX theory, the in-group comprises followers who enjoy high levels of trust, access, and mutual influence with the leader. They receive more autonomy and support, often resulting in superior performance. Others form the out-group with more formal, transactional relationships. .
Which characteristic is central to adaptive leadership in complex and rapidly changing environments?
Encouraging experimentation and learning from failure
Rewarding conformity over innovation
Emphasizing strict adherence to policies
Relying solely on past successes
Adaptive leadership focuses on mobilizing people to tackle tough challenges through experimentation, learning, and adjusting behaviors. It requires agility, resilience, and the willingness to embrace uncertainty. This differentiates it from more static leadership models. .
What is a common critique of contingency leadership theories?
They assume all leaders must be charismatic
They focus too much on leader personality traits
They oversimplify the complexity of situational factors
They ignore the needs of followers entirely
Contingency theories recognize that leadership effectiveness depends on situational variables, but critics argue they reduce complex contexts to a small set of factors. This simplification can overlook cultural, organizational, and interpersonal nuances. While valuable, they may not capture real-world complexity fully. .
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Study Outcomes

  1. Understand the Seven Leadership Styles -

    Identify the core traits and behaviors of authoritative, transformational, democratic, coaching, affiliative, pacesetting, and laissez-faire leaders to build a foundational knowledge of each approach.

  2. Analyze Personal Leadership Tendencies -

    Evaluate your own preferences and natural inclinations through the 7 leadership styles quiz to pinpoint which leadership approach you most align with.

  3. Differentiate Between Leadership and Management Styles -

    Distinguish key differences between leadership styles and management styles to gain clarity on when to lead versus when to manage.

  4. Apply Appropriate Styles to Real-World Situations -

    Learn how to adapt your leadership approach to various team dynamics, goals, and challenges for improved outcomes.

  5. Reflect on Strengths and Growth Areas -

    Use quiz insights to recognize your leadership strengths and identify opportunities for personal and professional development.

Cheat Sheet

  1. Comparing Authoritative and Transformational Styles -

    Review Northouse's (2021) breakdown of authoritative leadership - where a clear vision drives performance - versus transformational leadership, which leverages inspiration and individualized consideration. Use the mnemonic "VIBE" (Vision, Inspiration, Behavior, Empowerment) to recall transformational traits quickly. After studying, take a brief "test on leadership styles" flashcard exercise to list two behaviors per style.

  2. Mastering the 7 Leadership Styles Framework -

    Refer to Goleman's six emotional intelligence - based styles plus the added collaborative style to understand directive, coaching, affiliative, democratic, pacesetting, and commanding approaches. Draw a simple table to compare key drivers, such as "pace" for pacesetting and "people first" for affiliative leaders. Challenge yourself with a "7 leadership styles quiz" to reinforce distinctions under timed conditions.

  3. Applying the Situational Leadership Model -

    Study Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership, which adapts directive and supportive behaviors to follower readiness levels (R1 - R4). Remember "DS" (Directive then Supportive) as a two-step guide: assess competence, then adjust your style. Test this concept with a quick scenario: identify which style fits a new trainee versus an expert team member.

  4. Using Self-Assessment Tools -

    Explore reputable quizzes like the Center for Creative Leadership's "what is my leadership style quiz" to benchmark your default tendencies against research-based dimensions. Note your top two styles and track scenarios where they succeed or falter to deepen self-awareness. Pair your results with reflective journaling for each leadership challenge.

  5. Linking Management Styles to Team Outcomes -

    Draw on Likert's management systems to see how authoritarian (System 1) vs. participative (System 4) approaches influence morale, productivity, and innovation. Create a simple matrix mapping style to outcome metrics (e.g., turnover rate, satisfaction score). Then, simulate a mini "what is my management style quiz" by scoring hypothetical case studies to predict team reaction.

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