Leadership in Project Management: The disjoint between theory and practice

This paper reports the findings of a qualitative study investigating the leadership styles of project managers within knowledge-based organisations. Specifically, it seeks to answer the question of how corporate strategy influences the leadership style of project managers. Current thinking suggests that person-focused leadership may foster greater contribution to an organisation. However, the short duration of projects and the task-focus nature of temporary organisations deter person-focused leadership from evolving. Despite this, the study finds that there is evidence of person-based leadership in projects. The implication is that current thinking about project leadership is developing slower than practice.