Which Leadership Style to use? An Investigation ofConducive and Non-Conducive Leadership Style(s)to Faculty Job Satisfaction

The paper aims to investigate which leadership style(s) is/are moreconducive and which can be a barrier to faculty job satisfaction in aPakistani public university context. The study adopted qualitativeapproach to generate in-depth qualitative data. Fifteen facultymembers were interviewed from five campuses out of total thirteenunits of the chosen public university. The findings highlight that theparticipative leadership style and the behaviours associated withtransformational style and the first dimension (contingent reward) oftransactional leadership are perceived as conducive to faculty jobsatisfaction. Whereas, the practice of authoritative and laissez-faireleadership styles and the lack of exercise of leadership behavioursrelated to transformational and transactional (first dimension only)leadership are considered to be barriers to faculty job satisfaction. Acautious use of the findings is suggested because of the context specificnature of the leadership and its practices.