Knowledge management requires new ways of understanding the influence of leadership processes in scientific production. In order to establish the relationship between leadership styles and the generation of knowledge within the research groups of the CES University in Medellín (Colombia), a cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted in which sixty-three participated (63) researchers from fifteen (15) research groups categorized in the National System of Science and Technology as high performance (categories A1 and A), transition (categories B and C) and recent (category D and uncategorized). The participants reported their perception regarding the leadership behaviors of the group directors and group performance (intra-role, extra-role and general) in which they are assigned by means of standardized questionnaires; likewise, there was information on the volume of publications of scientific articles of each group to consolidate their production. The results show a strong presence of transformational and transactional leadership, mainly in recent groups; There was also a low presence of non-leadership style, especially in groups in transition. In addition, it was identified that leadership styles are related to the perception of performance. With this it can be concluded that as groups increase their capacities and develop transformational leadership styles to be more efficient, better results are achieved in the generation of knowledge.
