Path Goal Theory Of Leadership

There have been numerous theories surrounding leadership, which attempt to explain which form is most effective in the workplace. A universalistic approach was once used to rationalize leadership and it was believed that successful leaders possessed certain common abilities and traits. However, today due to external factors such as globalization and advanced technologies, there has been an evolution towards a new paradigm of leadership. Subordinates want to feel empowered and engaged at the workplace and often the behaviors and relationships between leaders and their subordinates become important to understand in order to fully understand effective leadership. Contingency theories have been developed in which people began to look at the behavior of leaders in specific situations. Two such contingency theories are: Path-Goal and Hershey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory.

The book selected for the assignment is, ‘Be a people person: Effective leadership through effective relationships,’ by John C. Maxwell. Mr. Maxwell is an author, speaker, leadership expert who is internationally recognized and a pastor. He wrote books on leadership (The John Maxwell Company, n.d.). He has a doctorate in ministry and started his career as a pastor. After 14 years of preaching the word of God, he devoted himself to speaking and writing. He became a religious leader (Christian Books Previews, n.d.). Maxwell has recognized the role of interpersonal relationships in making and breaking a leader. He has also realized the importance of developing personal skills from the people (Victor Books, 2002). In his book, Maxwell explains how a person who follows can turn to a leader by connecting with people and relating to them from a biblical perspective. The author places 50 percent emphasis on others, 25 percent on self and the remaining 25 percent on God in his approach to the followers (Barnes and Noble, n.d.).

The leader behavior approach is the focus of what people do as a leader or leadership style rather than the characteristics leaders inherit as a leader. It is the assumption that the actions of a person opposed to their innate mental state. Because leaders can learn through teaching and observation; specific behaviors are the focus of a leader. An important study of this theory was conducted by the Ohio State University, and the purpose was to identify common leadership behaviors. The study and research uncovered that there are two linked groups of behavior.

There are a number of factors that will influence the style of leadership a leader may choose, such as:

Furthermore, there are different theories which give insights about why some leaders lead the way they do. One of these theories is the behavioral theory, it emphasized on what leaders do and their leadership styles. The behavioral theory explains three different types of leadership styles namely: autocratic, democratic, and laissez-faire. An autocratic leader makes plans, gives direction on how to execute them, and makes decisions for the group. These type of leaders are highly power control. They give little or no freedom to the members. Whatever they say is final. On the other hand, democratic leaders allow members to participate in the decision making. They seek opinions of the members. On the other hand, laissez-faire leaders allow members to do whatever they like. This type of leaders does very little planning or decision making thus fail to encourage others to do it (Weiss and Tappen, 2015 p.

Due to the path-goal theory being such a broad theory, it encompasses four different styles of leadership. The four leadership styles included are directive, supportive, participative, and achievement-oriented leadership. A directive leader under the path-goal theory will focus on their expectations that they have laid out for their employees, they will provide clear direction and believe that they have more power and information that their subordinates. Under a supportive leader, you will notice that they are concerned for their employees and their needs but also stresses the importance of the organizational tasks at hand. An achievement-oriented leader will focus on seeing their employees achieving results in their job. As mentioned in the Stojkovic book, the leader in this scenario “expects that workers will attempt to do their best and that if goals are set high enough and subordinates are properly motivated, they will achieve those goals.” (Stojkovic, Kalinich & Klofas, 2012, p. 203). Last but not least we have participative leaders, this style of leadership emphasizes collaboration between the leaders and subordinates, they feel they have equal power to their employees and will work with them in order to complete a task.

My second position on leadership is that a leader’s style depends on their followers and situation at

At the present time, leadership, especially effective leadership plays an increasingly significant role in the organization, which can be regarded as the process of affecting activities of an organized group in its efforts forward target setting and target achievement (Daft, 2011). From this perspective, organizations in every walk of life are in pursuit of effective leadership in order to ensure the competitive advantage (Schriesheim et al., 1999). Although there is no unique definition about effective leadership, precisely, in light of Lussier & Achua (2007), there are two basic requirement on effective leadership: for one thing, effective leadership will ensure that reach the target of the group can be reached effectively; for another, leadership can impose positive influence on the group members, and motivate them to Maximum their potentials.

it is being a leader who is ethical and who goes beyond self-interest to help the group. This questionnaire affects my own leadership because it tells me that I have the problem of being too laissez-faire when there are situations where I need to be more direct.

Identify and explain a workplace leadership and management role familiar to you. Describe how the role aligns with leadership theory.

While the behavioral paradigm severed for the basis of a new leadership theory, meta-analytic studies revealed that the behaviors of leaders are important for predicting leadership effectiveness (Derue et. al, 2001). In contrast, Zaccaro (2007) stated that while a situation is important in explaining variance in leadership behavior, it might not be as important when differentiating between leaders and followers. The relative stability or malleability to a specific situation may differ over time and between different leadership traits (Zaccaro, 2007).

The last challenge is that there is high employee turnover rate due to poor management in resource allocation which creates an unfavourable work environment. In this situation, the leader can use transformational leadership to change organizational structure. Leaders can perform as role model for followers to trust and respect them through their action. Leaders can also offer support to their followers and reward them for their better performance. In this way, the leaders can overcome the challenges.

There are many different leadership theories that have been proposed, tested, and studied over the years. Many organizations utilize these theories and practices to collect and analyze data within their own organizations which may allow them to find ways of increasing the effectiveness of their company. Although there are not any theories deemed completely perfect in leadership, many have been given lots of validity based on the and studies done involving them. This paper will analyze and discuss different leadership theories including; the contingency theory, the transformational theory, and the leader-member exchange theory. This paper will also discuss the most effective leadership theory in a current organization.

The Army defines leadership as influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation while operating to accomplish the mission and improve the organization (Schoomaker, 2007). The leaders in an organization use leadership styles that range from Charismatic to Transformational to motivate their subordinates to execute each task at a high level. They also use individual and organizational goals to establish an emotional connection between the individual, task, and the organization. The leader’s leadership style plays a vital role in keeping an individual focused. They use their emotional intelligence to understand their personnel and work to resolve conflicts. As the leadership style

Behavioral theory promotes the value of leadership styles with an emphasis on concern for people and collaboration. It promotes participative decision making and team development by supporting individual needs and aligning individual and group objectives. Behavioral Theories of Leadership, also known as “The style approach to leadership” focuses on the behavior of the leader and what leaders do and how they act. Learn about the two general kinds of behaviors; task behaviors and relationship behaviors and advantages of this approach to leadership. Learn more about this theory of leadership. What are Behaviors? Behavior is the range of actions and mannerisms made by organisms, systems, or artificial