Basic Approaches to Leadership - Contingency Theories - Assignment Example

? Basic Approaches to Leadership - Contingency Theories Basic Approaches to Leadership - ContingencyTheories Leadership has been a topic of research for many years and numerous theories have been formulated to explain it. Leadership is essential to achieve success in any aspect of life. Business, sports, politics, all needs leaders. All great deeds have been achieved by people who showcased extraordinary leadership skills and motivated their followers to achieve the common goal. Leadership is an “observable set of skills and abilities that are useful in any work society, community or society” (Kouzes & Posner, 2009). Leadership is best defined as - “the process of social influence in which one person can enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task.” (Chemers, 1997). Over the years, many theories of leadership have been proposed: trait theories, contingency theories, situational theories, behavioural theories, participative theories, management theories and relationship theories. This paper is aimed at understanding the various contingency theories of leadership and identifying the one which is most accurate. Contingency Theory of Leadership Contingency theory of leadership was one of the first leadership theories that accepted that there is no single leadership style or model that would best suit all situations. Contingency theories were formulated on the idea that leaders need to adapt to different situations and need to be flexible. Behavioural leadership theories are the basis of contingency theories. According to contingency theory, leadership depends on the numerous environmental variables such as the situational demands, qualities of followers, workplace culture, job at hand, overall environment and the leadership style itself (Lussier & Achua, 2009). Contingency theory is based on the following four assumptions: A leadership style is dependent on the demands of the situation and a single leadership style is not applicable to all situations. Leadership is not a born talent and it can be learned Leadership is successful on only when the situational contingencies are understood Effective leadership is possible only when there is a match between the leadership style, behaviour or personality and situational demands (Lussier & Achua, 2009) Following are some of the contingency theories proposed: Fiedler Model: Fiedler model was proposed by Fred Fiedler and was the first contingency model. According to this, the effectiveness of a group or its performance was dependent on the match between the leadership style and degree of control the situation allowed to the leader. Hence, the effectiveness of the leader depends of the leadership style and 3 key situational factors: relationship of the leader and the follower, position power and task structure (Robbins, 2009). Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory: The situational theory proposed by Hersey and Blanchard focuses mainly on the characteristics of the followers. According to this, the characteristic of the followers is the main element of the situation and is the deciding factor in the leadership behaviour/style adopted by the leader. That is, the readiness of the followers to carry out a task influences the leadership style. A different leadership style is needed when the follower’s task readiness is low (needs training and constant guidance) and when the follower’s task readiness is high (posses right skills and attitude along with willingness and confidence). Therefore, a leader needs to be flexible and adopt to the situation. A leader can adopt any of the four leadership styles (delegating, participating, selling and telling) depending on the situational factors (Daft & Lane, 2007). Leader-Member Exchange Theory: This is a very interesting contingency theory that argues that leaders try to establish a special relationship with a small group who possess similar attitude, demographic and personality characters as that of the leader. That is, leaders tend to form 2 groups of their followers, namely, in-group and the out-group. The in-group consists of the followers whom the leader believes has characteristics similar to that of his/her. These followers gain the trust of the leader and receive special attention and privileges from the leader. The rest of the followers fall into the out-group and receive less attention and rewards from the leaders. For the leader-member exchange theory to work, both the leader and the follower must invest in the relationship (Robbins, 2009). Path-Goal Theory: Path-goal theory is based on the principle that a leader’s job is to guide the follower on the right path and assist to accomplish the goal. That is, a leader’s job is to provide the followers with the information, support and resources necessary to reach the goals defined. Effective leadership is possible when the leader clarifies the path that the follower needs to take and removes or reduces the roadblocks in order to make it easier for the follower to achieve the goal. Four specific leadership behaviours have been identified which a leader can adopt: directive leadership, participative leadership, supportive leadership and achievement oriented leadership. According to path-goal theory, there are two classes of contingency variables that affect the behaviour of a leader. The variables are environmental factors that are independent of the employee (formal authority system, task structure, etc) and employee’s personal characteristics (ability, skill, experience, etc). Path Goal theory is the most accurate leadership theory as it takes into account situation variable which are both dependent and independent of the employees. Unlike other contingency leadership theories, path-goal theory focuses both on the environmental factors as well as the characteristics of the followers. Factors such as motivation, capability, difficulty of the job at hand, roadblocks and other contextual factors are taken into account and a variation approach is adopted in choosing the leadership style to be adopted. In contrast to other theories, path-goal theory assumes that a leader is flexible and depending on the situations can display one or all of the leadership styles. This is what makes this theory the most effective and accurate. For example, path goal theory is accurate in situations irrespective of the follower being highly capable or incapable of carrying out a job. In the first case, the leader can adopt a supportive approach and in the later directive approach to ensure that goal is achieved. Also when a routine task is being carried out, supportive approach is best suited and participative style would be best suited if the work being done is anon-routine task. Richard Branson, the British entrepreneur, is a good example of path-goal leadership style. As a leader, he is very flexible and can adapt to the numerous situations and motivate his employees to achieve the common goal. Contingency theory is most accepted leadership theory as it adds in more variables to earlier theories and accepts that there is no single leadership style and leaders need to be flexible. There are numerous contingency theories but path-goal theory is the most accurate one. References Chemers, M.M. (1997). An integrative theory of leadership. NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Daft, R.L. & Lane, P.G. (2007). The leadership experience. OH: Thomson Higher Education. Kouzes, J.M. & Posner, B.Z. (2009). The Student Leadership Challenge: Five Practices for Exemplary Leaders. NY: John Wiley and Sons. Lussier, R.N. & Achua, C.F. (2009). Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. OH: Cengage Learning. Robbins, S.P. (2009). Organisational behaviour: global and Southern African perspectives. Cape Town: Pearson Education South Africa (Pty) Ltd. Read More