Abstract:
The study aimed to assess the leadership styles practiced in the four selected public
organizations of Amhara sayint Woreda Public organization; examine the relationship between
these leadership styles and the performance of the employees in the study area: look at the current status of employee’s performance in the selected public organizations; Find out the
factors that motivate leaders to use specific leadership styles and how leadership styles impact
on employee performance. This research used descriptive exploratory research design and mixed
research approach. The study population comprised all leaders and staffs in Amhara sayint
Woreda Public organization selected public organizations with 280 in number. 137respondents
were selected and both primary and secondary data were used. Data collection instruments
included two types of questionnaires (Leadership style and employee performance
questionnaires), interview, FGD and observation were employed. A total of 125 questionnaires
with five point Likert scale were distributed for employees and the response rate of 100% was
accomplished. To answer the research questions, SPSS software was used for quantitative data
analysis and the qualitative data was analyzed by transcribing the voice in to text and coding the
responses related with the research questions. The major findings of the study showed that the
status of employee performance in these organizations was low and all the three leadership
styles were practiced in the study area; Autocratic leadership is a major behavior in the selected
organizations. This has a negative relation with employee performance, and democratic
leadership style is less practiced but has a positive effect on employee performance. However,
laissez-faire leadership which is least commonly used had a very weak positive relation with
employee performance. As a result this study suggested that democratic leadership style do play
significant contribution on the enhancement of the employee performance of Amhara sayint
Woreda Public organization.
Therefore, further study is needed to analyze the relationship between leadership style and
employee performance in Ethiopia in different region context.