Leadership Orientation and Stress Perceptions of American Business Students

Abstract

The leadership tendencies of people are likely to be influenced by their education and other personal traits. For example, it is expected that managers are likely to be more focused on building and maintaining strong relationships as they deal with people most of the time on the job. To explore the behavioral tendencies of working adult business students in the cities of Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Tampa, and Orlando, this study focused on comparing the leadership and stress perceptions of 813business students based on their education, religion, age, and gender. These respondents have a significantly higher score on relationship orientation. Females are significantly more relationship-oriented and less task-oriented than their male colleagues.The more educated respondents have a significantly higher score on the stress overload perception. Practical suggestions for stress managementalong with implications for the creation of a wellness program are presented.Investing in human capital can position the company above others in the marketplace as it helps with high morale and employee retention.

Key words: Relationship; Task; Stress perceptions; Healthcare; Wellness; Leadership