Leadership
Same way all the time?
Contingency Approaches to
Leadership
 We know that there are some methods of leadership that are better than
others.
 BUT…
 Are there times when not every leadership style will work?
1. Fiedler’s Contingency Model
 Fred Fiedler believed that good leadership needed a match between
one’s style and the situation.
 He measured leadership with the least-preferred co-worker scale (LPC
scale).
 You are either task-motivated (low score)or relationship motivated (high
score).
 One or the other. He believes that you cannot really change your
leadership style.
 We have to find the best “fit” for our style!
 IDENTIFY A STYLE AND A SCENARIO IT WOULDN’T WORK.
1. Understanding Leadership Situations.
 Control is an important issue in determining the right fit. Three things to
consider.
 1. Quality of leader-member relations. How well does the group support the
leader?
 2. Degree of task structure. How well are tasks, goals, procedures, and
guidelines spelled out?
 3. Amount of Position Power. How well does the position give the leader
power to reward/punish employees.
Best fit = Task-Motivated
Leader
High-Control Situations
Leader-member
relations
Task Structure
Position Power
Strong
Weak
Moderate-Control
Situations
Low-Control Situations
Good
Poor
Poor
Low
Low
High
Low
Strong
Weak
Good
High
Best fit = Task-Motivated
Leader
Strong
Weak
Best fit = RelationshipMotivated Leader
Strong
Weak
1. Matching Leadership Styles and
Situations
 Fiedler proposed two theories.
 Prop.1: A task-oriented leader will be most-successful in favourable (highcontrol) or very unfavourable (low-control) situations.
 Prop.2: A relationship-oriented leader will be most successful in situations of
moderate control.
 Let’s look at some examples.
1. Matching Leadership Style and
Situation
 Xin is a leader of bank tellers. They like him, and they know exactly what
their job is and what needs to be done.
 Xin has the power to evaluate the employees’ performance, give them
raises, and give them promotions.
 This is a high-control situation that has good leader-member relations, high
task structure, and a strong position power.
 TASK-MOTIVATED LEADER is the good fit.
1. Matching Leadership Style and
Situation
 Now…pretend Jason is the chairperson of a committee asked to improve
relations between labour and management at a manufacturing factory.
 The goal is clear, but no one can say exactly how to do it. Task structure is
low.
 Because committee members are free to quit any time they want, the
chairperson has little position power. Not all members believe the
committee is necessary so leader-member relations are apparent.
 TASK-MOTIVATED LEADER
1. Matching Leadership Style and
Situation
 Finally, pretend Eyane is the head of a retail section in a large department
store.
 He was promoted over one of the popular sales clerks that he now has to
supervise. This makes leader-member relations poor.
 Task structure is high since the clerk’s job is well-defined.
 His position power is low because the clerks work under a seniority system
and a fixed-wage schedule.
 RELATIONSHIP-MOTIVATED LEADER
2. Hersey-Blanchard Situational
Leadership Model
 Unlike the Fiedler Model, this model believes that the best leaders do
change their leadership styles.
 They do this based on how mature their followers are.
 The maturity is shown by how ready the employees are to do a task.
 There are four leadership styles in this model:
High
Relationship Behaviour:
Support required
Low
2. Hersey-Blanchard Situational
Participating
Selling
Leadership
Model
Share ideas
Explain decisions
--------------------------------------------------------------------Followers 
able,
unwilling,
unable, willing,
Allowing
the group toFollowers
take responsibility
for task decisions.
 Delegating
insecure
confident
Low-task, low-relationship style.
 Participating  Sharing ideas, participative decisions with task direction.
Low-task, high-relationship style.
 Explain task directions in supportive and convincing ways.
Delegating
Telling
High-task, high-relationship style.
Turn over decisions
Give instructions
 Giving specific directions for tasks. Supervise closely.
 Telling
-------------------------------------------------------------------High-task, high-relationship style.
Followers able, willing,
Followers unable, unwilling,
confident
insecure
 Selling
Low
Task Behaviour: Guidance required
High
3. House’s Path-Goal Leadership Style
 Robert House believes that a good leader clarifies paths that followers can
use to achieve tasks and personal goals.
 They motivate and help followers move along those paths.
 They remove barriers.
 They provide rewards for task accomplishment.
 People who believe in this theory say that leaders should be flexible and
use the following four strategies at different times.
Follower contingencies
--------------------------------------Ability
Experience
Locus of control
3. House’s Path-Goal Leadership Style
 Directive Leadership
Leader Behaviours
------------------------------------------Directive
 Supportive Leadership
Supportive
Achievement-oriented
Participative
 Achievement-oriented
leadership
 Let followers know what is expected, give
directions on what to do and how, schedule
work to be done, maintain standards, clarify
your role.
 Make work more pleasant,
treat
followers as
Leader
Effectiveness
equals, be friendly/approachable, show
concern for well-being
 Set challenging goals, expect high
performance, demand improvement, show
confidence in ability to reach standards.
 Let
followers in on decision-making, consult
Environmental
contingencies
 Participative Leadership
with them, ask for suggestions, use the
--------------------------------------decisions when making decisions
Task Structure
Authority System
Work Group
3. House’s Path-Goal Leadership Style
 If job assignments are not clear, we need to clarify objectives and
expected rewards. (Directive)
 If worker self-confidence is low, we need to raise their confidence by
motivating them and offering assistance. (Supportive)
 If performance incentives are weak, we need to clarify individual needs
and identify proper rewards. (Participative)
 If task challenge is not high enough, we have to set goals and raise
aspirations. (Achievement-oriented)
3. House’s Path-Goal Leadership Style
 Substitutes for leadership
 These are things that could be going on that lowers the need for leader
involvement.
 1. Subordinate characteristics: Ability, experience, independence.
 2. Task characteristics: routine, availability of feedback
 3. Organizational characteristics: Clarity of plans, formal rules and
procedures.
 If these exist in an organization, the manager should not duplicate them.
Focus the time on more important things.
4. Vroom-Jago Leader-Participation
Model
 This model was designed to help a leader make the right decisions. They
have to fit the problem that needs to be solved.
 Three choices: authority, consultative, group.
 Authority Decision: Made by the leader, communicated to the group.
 Consultative Decision: Leader gets information, advice, opinions from
group, makes decision after.
 Group Decision: Group members make the decisions.
 Let’s look at some options a leader can make using this model:
4. Vroom-Jago Leader-Participation
Model
 Decide alone – AUTHORITY DECISION. Manager decides how to solve a
problem and tells the team what to do.
 Consult individually – CONSULTATIVE DECISION. Manager speaks with each
member and gets information. Decides after.
 Consult with group - CONSULTATIVE DECISION. Manager speaks with the
group al together, gets information, gets suggestions, decides.
 Facilitate – GROUP DECISION. Manager tells the problem to the team, helps
them talk about it, gets them to make a decision.
 Delegate – GROUP DECISION. Manager gets the group together, gives
individuals the authority to figure out the problem and solve it.
Leadership Model RECAP
 Fiedler’s Contingency Model
-Leadership styles don’t change. Things must be a good fit.
 Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Model
-Leadership styles change depending on maturity of the followers
 House’s Path-Goal Leadership Theory
-Leader’s clarify tasks and help employees move down the proper path.
 Vroom-Jago Leader-Participation Model
-Designed to help the leader choose the proper decision-making method.