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Contigency Approach to Leadership Essay

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Statement of Understanding
Contingency and Situational Theories of Leadership

Successful organizations have one thing in common that sets them apart: dynamic and effective leadership (Hambleton, 1982). So what is it that makes them dynamic and effective?
Before diving into the different theories of leadership, I decided to spend some time understanding what exactly leadership is. To understand what leadership is I had to start with the root of the word “lead”. The definition of lead according to dictionary.com is to go before or with to show the way. This definition originates from the Anglo – Saxon lad or leadan meaning a path, a way, to lead, or to give a sense of direction (Peretomode, 2012). Nothing in this definition states …show more content…

This list took into consideration 16 bipolar adjectives on a scale of 1 to 8. Some examples of the adjectives listed in the study are friendly vs. unfriendly, introvert vs. extrovert, cooperative vs. uncooperative, etc. The answers to the surveys were totaled and converted into averages that represent the LPC scale (Pires da Cruz et al., 2011). Many investigations have been performed over the years to both validate and contest the LPC scale. Before the LPC scale , Fiedler used a measurement called the Assumed Similarity of Opposites or the ASO scale (Armandi, Oppedisano and Sherman, 2003). This measurement consisted for two scales, the Most Preferred Coworker (MPC) and the LPC. Survey participants first described their interaction with those coworkers they found the easiest to work with then the ones they found the most difficult to work with. The MPC scale was found to be very similar in results to the LPC scale so Fiedler (1965) came to adopt the LPC scale going forward (Armandi et al., 2003). Fiedler (1971) found that “task-oriented” leaders are more effective in very favorable and very unfavorable situation where as “relationship-oriented” leaders are more effective in situations of intermediate favorableness.
Fiedler (1972) stated that it is reasonable to classify situations by how much power and influence a particular situation gives to the leader. Most

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