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Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Pecs , Pécs , Hungary
Leadership is important to startup success, yet it is often underestimated. Startups, which are defined by fast growth, limited resources, working in an environment of high risk and uncertainty and have a desire for innovation, rely mainly on the leadership of its founders or CEOs. This paper aims to study three leadership theories and its impact on a startup, ranging from trait and transformational to transactional leadership. Each theory provides a unique perspective on leadership approach, emphasizing human characteristics, behavioral interactions, and situational flexibility. The paper reviews existing literature about leadership and startups and makes intersection between those two domains. The findings show that trait leadership theory provides insights into the personality qualities of founders, which influence venture survival and direction in the early stage of establishment. While transformational leadership is a good in inspiring creativity and promoting shared goals in transient phase of startup growth. On other hand, transactional leadership gives stability and clarity in larger startups with established structure and bigger staff. As businesses progress through the stages of development, their leadership styles need to evolve to suit shifting demands. From the pursuit of smoothing challenges, networking and funding in the early phases to the formation of defined goals and performance management systems in the long run. This leads to emerging entrepreneurial leadership which is considered as adaptive leadership that is flexible and adapts leadership styles based on the status and situation of the startup firm
startups, trait leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, entrepreneurial leadership
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