Chapter 2 of a revised volume on school leadership, this chapter reviews theories of leadership style--the way a leader leads. Although most experts agree that leadership style is important, they disagree concerning style components, leaders' capabilities for changing styles, the effects of personality traits on style, and the desirability of flexible styles. Style theories may be broadly categorized according to decision-making behaviors, views of subordinates, focus on work or people, and approaches to facilitating organizational change. Actually, effective leaderhip defies categorization; there is no ideal approach to fit all situations. Whether relation- or task-oriented, leaders need to adapt their styles to the management situation, to followers' maturity levels, and to other contingencies (role expectations, personality characteristics, time constraints, political considerations, and interpersonal tensions). Although leadership style theories differ significantly, all have implications for better leadership. Each can be used as a basis for training and selecting leaders and for enhancing one's own leadership style. (MLH)