Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2017 in the subject Business economics - Business Management, Corporate Governance, grade: 1,0, University of Applied Management, language: English, abstract: What characterizes a good leader in the 21st century? To answer this question, it is important to look at the circumstances under which leadership is practiced today. Digitalization and social media are creating increased global competition in many industries. In an HR report by the Institute for Employment and Employability (IBE) and Hays AG, 80 percent of survey participants see managing change as the biggest challenge facing managers: Leading under constant environmental change. However, the increasing complexity of work processes, the perception of the role model function, the creation of transparency and the work-life balance, which is increasingly coming into focus for employees, also play a decisive role for good leadership in the 21st century. Corporate profits should continue to grow while taking these new aspects into account. This demands a great deal of tact from today's managers. For example, an open ear for the fears and wishes of employees. The latter prefer the "understanding comrade" to the "numbers-driven manager". Good managers are at the same time role models, visionaries, practitioners, diagnosticians, concept developers, conflict managers, designers, leaders and top decision-makers. At the same time, day-to-day operations are becoming less important for managers: Only eleven percent of the participants in the HR study still see it as an important task for managers. Personnel management is accorded greater importance than structural management. But how do these two leadership styles differ?