The Contingency Model 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 situational leadership theory is one of the theories that consider the leader function which suggests that there is no “one size fits all” approach to leadership. Depending on the situation, varying levels of “leadership” and “management” are necessary. However, leaders must first identify their most important tasks or priorities. Second, leaders must consider the readiness level of their followers by analysing the group’s ability and willingness. Depending on the level of these variables, leaders must apply the most appropriate leadership style to fit the given situation. Among the theories that suggest the role of a leader to promote the organisational group behaviours the Fred Fielder model which has introduced in 1960s and called the ‘contingency theory of leadership” in which the main idea of this early theory is that leadership effectiveness (in terms of group performance) depends on the interaction of two factors: the leader 's task or relations motivations and aspects of the situation. This is measured through the Least Preferred Co-worker scale (LPC) which has been set up to measure the leaders to identify a an individual they work with least well and to characterize this individual with ratings on a series of 8-point bipolar

Leaders have a “the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals” (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. 402). In the past leaders have been described by certain traits or characteristics. These traits can help an organization identify potential candidates who may be strong leaders. Later behavior approaches of leaders were identified that could be taught. In short, leaders could be made. Situations have an impact on which leader behaviors will be most effect at any given time. Several contingency theories have been formulated over the years to identify how situations influence leadership behavior. Each style has strengths and

The contingency approach, founded in the 1970’s differs from the behavioral approach. “Examining various situational variables is central to understanding leadership in organizations, according to the contingency theorist” (Stojkovic, Klofas & Kalinich, 2012). Fiedler’s Contingency Model is one of those contingency theories.

3) Contingency approach to leadership-this theory refers to the group atmosphere and to the degree of confidence, loyalty, and attraction the followers feel about their leader. If certain favourable situations occur then there has been a positive relationship between the followers and the leader which means that the task was clearly defined and there is a clear leader position power.

Research on leadership is a subject that has been approached in many different ways. Theories on leadership can be classified according to the type of variable that is emphasized the most. Three types of variables relevant to these theories include (1) characteristics of leaders, (2) characteristics of followers, and (3) characteristics of the situation (Yuri, G., 2010). In the textbook Leadership in Organizations, Yuri, G. classifies these theories into the following five approaches: (1) the trait approach, (2) the behavior approach, (3) the power-influence approach, (4) the situational approach, and (5) the integrative approach. This paper briefly discusses the situational approach of studying leadership.

Task Oriented Leader: Leaders that focus more on the task at hand than anything else. These leaders believe that if they want the task to get done right, they need to do it themselves. They have to be in charge and will seek out ways to get the task done quickly. When they assign their employees a task to do to, they have to supervise every step of the way.

The contingency model of leadership is based upon the relationship between three aspects of leader-follower-situation model. Apart from this contingency model, leaders are assumed to act in a flexible manner.

The approach is appropriate when the,” Third, the main focus of contingency approaches is on the specific style of leadership, matched to the scale of required change, rather than on a specific set of change action steps.’ (Akin, Dunford, & Palmer, 2009

According to Yuki, G. (2010) there are five different leadership approaches that are being researched. These five approaches are:

Building on the idea of Behavior Theories, Contingency Models of Leadership take in to account mitigating circumstances

During the 60s and 70s, behavioral theory and contingency theory materialized as prominent theories of leadership (Cox, 2007). Behavioral theory departed from trait theory in that it assumed leaders could be made instead of born with inherent leadership capabilities. Contingency theory also believed that effective leadership was situational. However, this theory became very difficult to research and measure in practice considering the difficulty in matching which particular behavior patterns would consistently result in effective leadership “in specific contexts or situations” (Cox, 2007, p.9). Hence, these years furthered the path in a continuum of evolving leadership ideas to establish the goal of leadership as indicative of transforming people and organizations in a literal, practical approach to achieve success. Combined, this compilation of traits, behavioral patterns, innovative strategy, knowledge integration, and diversity practices continue to enrich an understanding of leadership.

Fielder’s contingency theory argues the effectiveness of a leader is contingent to leader ship style and the extent the leadership situation gives him or her influence and control over outcomes.

The basic premise of Contingency Theory is that there is no one best way to organize a corporation, to lead a company, or to make decisions. There are too many external and internal constraints that will alter what really is the best way

This model of leadership requires the leader to identify the demands of the situation and then choose and implement the appropriate leadership response. The theory also lays emphasis on the readiness of the followers and their reaction to a specific task.