True or False; if false, choose the answer that best corrects the statement.
Any leadership style can be successful and lead to good outcomes, under the right circumstances.

• A. True.
• B. False; Research suggests that democratic leadership always leads to higher levels of productivity.
• C. False; Authoritarian leadership consistently leads to the best outcomes.
• D. False; Democratic and authoritarian leadership are about equal, but laissez-faire leadership never leads to good outcomes.

Answer: (A)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the statement by identifying the key claim: 'Any leadership style can be successful and lead to good outcomes, under the right circumstances.' This suggests that leadership effectiveness depends on context rather than a single best style.
2. Step 2: Recall sociological and organizational research on leadership styles, which typically include democratic, authoritarian, and laissez-faire styles, and how their effectiveness varies depending on factors like group dynamics, task complexity, and environmental conditions.
3. Step 3: Evaluate the provided answer options by comparing them to research findings: democratic leadership often promotes participation and satisfaction but may not always maximize productivity; authoritarian leadership can be effective in crisis situations but may reduce morale; laissez-faire leadership can work with highly skilled teams but often leads to poor outcomes if guidance is needed.
4. Step 4: Conclude that the original statement is true because leadership effectiveness is situational, meaning that different styles can be successful depending on the circumstances, rather than one style always being superior.
5. Step 5: Therefore, the best correction to the false statements is to recognize the situational nature of leadership effectiveness rather than asserting that one style always leads to the best outcomes.