Neither preference is right or wrong, just as no one type of leadership style is best for all situations. If you make people your priority and try to accommodate employee needs, then you’re more people-oriented.
If you prefer to lead by setting and enforcing tight schedules, you tend to be more production-oriented (or task-oriented). Others are very people-oriented they want people to be happy. Some leaders are very task-oriented they simply want to get things done. Your answers to these types of questions can reveal a great deal about your personal leadership style. When your boss puts you in charge of organizing the company Christmas party, what do you do first? Do you develop a time line and start assigning tasks or do you think about who would prefer to do what and try to schedule around their needs? When the planning starts to fall behind schedule, what is your first reaction? Do you chase everyone to get back on track, or do you ease off a bit recognizing that everyone is busy just doing his/her job, let alone the extra tasks you’ve assigned?
Balancing Task- and People-Oriented Leadership