<p> The current educational workforce is made up of baby boomers, Generation Xers, millennials, and Generation Zers. Research on generational theory reflects variations in characteristics, work preferences and values among generations, yet there is little known whether teachers from these various generations need differing leadership practices to perform their best. This quantitative study utilized a cross sectional survey design collecting data from 502 Indiana teachers to identify the need teachers place on principals’ leadership behaviors and determine if any significant differences exist based on their generation, gender, the type of community they grew up in or the type of community where they currently teach.  Utilizing Kouzes and Posner’s (1985) Leadership Practices Inventory, participants rated their need for 30 leadership behaviors on a 10-point Likert scale. Overall, teachers from all groups rated they needed principals to exhibit leadership practice enabling others to act the highest with an overall mean score of 8.75 (SD=1.20) followed by modeling the way (M=8.40, SD=1.29), encouraging others (M=8.28, 1.46), challenging the process (M=7.63, SD=1.46), and lastly inspiring a shared vision (M=7.50, SD=1.57). Conducting an independent t-test to compare the means of gender groups and a one-way ANOVA to compare generations, community types and building types resulted in no significant differences in teachers’ need for leadership practices. The results of this study reinforce Kouzes and Posner’s five practices of exemplary leaders as relevant across generations yet leaves open questions for future study on how principals can capitalize on the strengths various generations bring to the school family. </p>

The purpose of this study was to investigate how generation Y in RGB (fictional name) describes different leadership preferences and to further evaluate whether RGB´s recruitment strategy aligns with those preferences. A targeted selection of organization was made followed by a targeted selection of participants which resulted in eight respondents (n=8). A qualitative approach designed as a case study was conducted. The study included both unstructured and semi-structured interviews. A pilot study was carried out to get a wider view and understanding of the complexity of the organization. A complementary interview was also performed since the organization showed an interest in comparing their recruitment strategy with the participants´ descriptions of leadership preferences. The distribution of the sample was six women and two men with varying occupational roles but with two things in common, social work and the exercise of public authority. The Pilot study, main data collection and the complementary interview was analyzed using elements from both thematic- and pragmatic analysis. The result of the study showed that the overall recruitment strategy in wide terms aligned with the leadership preferences presented by generation Y. Social competence, self-awareness and presence were central aspects which were mentioned by both participants, recruitment officer and HR-consultant.

Ledarskapsteori är ett viktigt ämne inom forskning, för att göra det möjligt att optimera prestation och trivsel hos medarbetare i organisationer. Det skapar även möjligheter för ledare att anpassa sig efter sina medarbetare och skapa trivsamma och produktiva arbetsplatser.   Denna studie undersöker sambandet mellan ålder och ledarskapspreferenser hos HR-anställda i Sverige. HR-anställda ansågs vara relevanta att studera då de har stor påverkan på hälsan hos alla anställda på en arbetsplats. Studien utfördes i form av en enkät som besvarades av 221 respondenter, där 21 frågor från instrumentet Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire, MLQ, besvarades. Frågorna mätte ledarstilarna Transformativt ledarskap, Transaktionellt ledarskap samt Laissez faire-ledarskap. Dessutom togs hänsyn till fyra olika generationsindelningar i studien; Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y och Generation Z. Dessa representerar åldern på den arbetskraft som befinner sig på arbetsmarknaden idag.   Resultatet visade på ett negativt samband mellan ålder och preferens för transformativt ledarskap, vilket indikerar att yngre personer föredrar ledare som är mer transformativa i sitt ledarskap. Det fanns även samband mellan preferens för olika ledarstilar, vilket tyder på att en ökad preferens för en av ledarstilarna indikerar en högre preferens för ytterligare en ledarstil. Studien ställer sig kritisk till generationsindelningar, då det inte fanns några signifikanta skillnader mellan preferenserna hos individer från olika generationer. / Leadership theory is an important subject within research, to create information and knowledge of how leadership preferences can differ between individuals. It also creates an opportunity for leaders to adapt their leadership to different co-workers and create healthy workplaces.   The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between age and leadership preference in HR-employees in Sweden. HR-employees was considered to be relevant since they are accountable for the health of all employees at a workplace. A survey was conduced, where the 221 respondents answered 21 questions from the questionnaire Multifactor Leadership Questionnare, MLQ. The questions measured the leadership types Transformative leadership, Transactional leadership and Laissez-faire leadership. Four generations were also considered; Baby Boomers, Generation X, Generation Y and Generation Z, which represent the age of the workforce in Sweden at the time the study was conducted.   The study found a negative correlation between age and preference for Transformative leadership, which indicated that younger people prefer leaders who are transformative in their leadership. There were also correlations between preferences for different leadership types, where a higher preference for one leadership type also indicated a higher preference for another leadership type. The study is critical to dividing and judging people based on generation, since there were no differences between the preferences in individuals from different generations.