Leadership styles and employees’ strategic thinking: does leader gender moderate these relationships?

Purpose – This study investigates the impacts of transformational, transactional, and authoritarian leadership styles on employees’ strategic thinking and examines whether leader gender moderates these relationships. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on empirical data from 203 employees from a higher education institution in Ghana, data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and the statistical package for the social sciences (SPSS). Findings – The results indicated that transformational leadership has a significant positive effect on employees’ strategic thinking. In contrast, transactional and authoritarian leadership styles showed no significant effect. Additionally, leader gender did not moderate the relationship between leadership styles and employees’ strategic thinking. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional nature of the study limits the ability to draw causal inferences and may not capture the dynamic nature of leadership interactions over time, limiting the ability to generalize the findings. Practical implications – The findings emphasize the importance of transformational leadership in promoting strategic thinking among employees. Institutional leaders are encouraged to adopt transformational behaviors to enhance strategic thinking skills. Social implications – Higher education institutions must create an inclusive and innovative culture that empowers marginalized groups to participate in strategic decision-making toward broader societal progress. Originality/value – This study makes a significant contribution to the leadership literature by investigating the often-overlooked moderating influence of gender on the relationship between leadership styles and strategic thinking. Studies using SET to explain gender, strategic thinking, and leadership within higher education settings in Ghana are woefully inadequate.