Contingency Theories of Leadership

Contingency Theories of Leadership

1. Path Goal Model of Leadership

   • Leader's job is to clarify the path for their followers to achieve goals and assist followers in attaining their goals by providing the necessary direction and support
     • Leader needs to keep path clear and maintain follower's motivation by directing, guiding, and coaching subordinates.

2. Expectancy Theory of Motivation

   • Subordinates will be motivated if they believe that their effort will result in the required level of performance, achieving the required level of performance will result in a desirable personal payoff/reward, the payoffs for doing their work are personally worthwhile
     • Motivational Force = Expectancy x Instrumentality x Valence

3. Task Situations Requiring Leader Involvement

   • Ambiguous Situations
     • Requires direction
   • Highly Repetitive Situations
     • Requires leader support

4. Subordinate Characteristics

   • Strong Need for Affiliation
     • friendly and concerned leadership is a source of satisfaction, supportive leadership
   • Preference for Structure
     • Dogmatic and authoritarian, leadership provides psychological structure, directive leadership required
   • Desire for Control
     • External locus of control requires directive leadership. Internal locus of control requires participative leadership
   • Perception of their own Ability
     • as perception of ability goes up, need for highly directive leadership goes down.

5. Fiedler's Contingency Model

   • Least Preferred Coworker (LPC)
     • High score means coworker is relationship motivated
     • Low score means coworker is task motivated
   • Fiedler's Contingencies
     • Leader-member relations: Degree of confidence, trust, respect members have in their leader
     • Task Structure: Degree to which the job assignments are procedurized
     • Position Power: Degree of influence a leader has over power variables such as hiring, firing