Leadership research has evolved into two broad streams;
trait research and behavior research [19]. Trait theories
assess the impact of personal characteristics such as age,
gender, personality, and experience on leader effectiveness.
Research in the behavior tradition has documented and
categorized different leadership styles. These theories suggest
that different behavior styles will be more, or less,
effective in different contexts and for different decisions
[19]. The two main behavior categories that have been
consistently supported in the leadership literature are task-
oriented behaviors and relational-oriented behaviors. Taskoriented
or ‘‘initiating structure’’ leaders are more concerned
with coordinating team activities, defining task
roles, determining standards of performance and assessing
performance. Relational or ‘‘consideration’’ behaviors
include showing concern, treating members as equal, being
open to input, and being friendly and approachable [20].
Consideration and initiating structures have ‘‘proven to be
among the most robust of leadership concepts’’, and have
been validated in a number of studies [21]. There have been
few efforts to integrate the two streams of research [19], and
since this study is concerned with improving RTW success,
we focus on potentially modifiable leadership styles rather
than more static heritable traits.