Style of emperor, short on staff (6)
I believe the answer is:
manner
'style' is the definition.
('manner' can be a synonym of 'style')
'emperor short on staff' is the wordplay.
'emperor' becomes 'nero' (Roman emperor).
'short' means to remove the last letter.
'on' says to put letters next to each other.
'staff' becomes 'man' (manning is a kind of staffing**).
'nero' with its final letter removed is 'ner'.
'ner' put after 'man' is 'MANNER'.
'of' is the link.
(Other definitions for manner that I've seen before include "Kind, sort" , "Way of doing something, or general attitude" , "Fashion, way" , "Demeanour" , "How something is said or done" .)