A comparison of leadership behaviors and competencies in high‐ and average‐performance teams

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in behaviors and competencies between leaders of high‐ and average‐performance teams. Data were collected for leaders of 27 organizational teams and analyzed by means of t‐tests and qualitative methods. Significant differences were found in only four categories of behaviors and competencies among the 26 assessed. Reasons for the small number of significant differences are explored. Differences found were in the categories of obtaining outside support, tolerating uncertainty, exhibiting personal and/or professional qualities, and confronting inadequate performance. High‐performance leaders received higher scores in the first two categories; average leaders in the latter two.