Much has been written about leadership in business management, but very little research has been done on leadership in academic departments. Department chairs have the authority to make most departmental decisions, but rarely does formal training exist for this position. Therefore, there is a need to study how the leadership styles among department chairs at the university level may be affected by perceptions of those involved. This qualitative study compared the leadership styles of chairs on the campus of a small, southeastern university in the spring of 2002. Department chairs and faculty members were interviewed about their perceptions of leadership styles. (Contains 13 tables.)