Which leadership style emphasizes forming relationships over task completion?

The chosen answer highlights the importance of forming relationships in the workplace, which is a key characteristic of employee-oriented leadership. This leadership style prioritizes the needs, feelings, and personal development of team members, fostering a supportive and nurturing environment that promotes employee satisfaction and engagement. Leaders who adopt this style focus on building strong relationships with their subordinates, believing that such connections will enhance performance and contribute to the overall success of the organization.

In contrast, other leadership styles may not emphasize interpersonal relationships to the same extent. Production-oriented leadership, for instance, is primarily concerned with task completion and efficiency, often overlooking the personal aspects of team dynamics. Transactional leadership, on the other hand, focuses on the exchange between leader and follower—typically rewarding performance and compliance rather than cultivating relationships. While servant leadership also values relationships and prioritizes the welfare of team members, it does so with a specific focus on serving others and often includes elements of humbleness and community-building that differ from the employee-oriented approach.

Thus, the emphasis on relationship-building as a core component of leadership makes employee-oriented leadership the correct answer in this context.