The Contingency Theory Of The Theories Of Leadership

Leadership is the process of influencing individuals or a group of individuals by providing purpose, direction with the support of others, and motivating those individuals with the purpose of accomplishing a certain obligation which is helpful to all individual that is involved.

What is leadership? Leadership by definition is the ability of an individual or organization to guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. Without leadership many would just follow one another's actions like blind sheep. Many of the powerful shifts in American history were started by men and women who made the decision to guide and instruct one another rather than being a follower.

New Oxford American Dictionary defines leadership; noun. the action of leading a group of people or an organization. This definition is generic and lacking. While it does technically explain a perspective of leadership it lacks in content. I define leadership; noun. the constant action or state of being a catalyst that inspires and creates an environment of momentum and desire to change. Others still define leadership as the ability to get a group of individual to complete a task or objective. That is leading, which is an adjective.

There are many ways to define leadership, but perhaps the most laconic as well as accurate definition is presented in Peter G. Northouse's Leadership: Theory and Practice book (Northouse, 2013, p.5): "Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal". Individuals, engaged in leadership, use influence to solve challenges, which the groups under their leadership face, in order to succeed in their common goals.

One definition of leadership states that it is a process by which a group is influenced and directed by a particular member of the group to reach a common goal (Northouse 2010). Many other definitions exist, suggesting that it is a concept as fluid and individual as leaders themselves (Curtis et al. 2011).

The contingency theory of leadership works to predict which style is best in which circumstance, because what may work in one situation, may not work in another. Imagine that as a CEO, Helena always applied a democratic based leadership style, but one day the company was faced with a dilemma that she had to address immediately. Without the ability to consult her employees, Helena has to make a decision, and this will affect the entire company. This would be an example of the contingency theory of leadership, being able to change ones leadership style to suite the situation.

To ensure leadership effective, several leadership theories are put forward and are adopted by different organizations. Some widely accepted theories include Trait Approach, Style Approach, Situational Approach, New Leadership Approach and Post-charismatic & Post-transformational (Western, 2013). Beyond doubt, they have their pros and cons, and they could play their role to guarantee the effectiveness of leadership as long as they are applied in an appropriate condition.

LEADERSHIP- THE POSITION OR FUNCTION OF A LEADER, A PERSON WHO GUIDES OR DIRECTS A GROUP.

According to Business Dictionary.com, leadership is defined as the individuals who are the leaders in an organization, regarded collectively. It also can be define as the activity of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do this. Leadership involves the establishing of a clear vision, sharing the vision with other so that they will follow willingly, providing the needed information, knowledge, and methods to realize the vision and coordinating and balancing the conflicts interests of all members and stakeholders.

What is Leadership? Leadership is the action of guiding others into the ideal direction. Leadership is not a quality given, it is something that you must learn and cherish to be able to experience it. There is no right or wrong definition of leadership; it all depends on the person’s vision of it. To display leadership, one must be unselfish and willing to help, they should be able to mentor, and one should be open-mindedness.

The Contingency Theory applied to factors unique to each situation to determine whether specific leader characteristics and behaviors will be effective. Researched findings credit Fiedler 's contingency theory as the first to specify how situational factors interact with leader traits and behavior to influence leadership effectiveness. This theory suggests high interest in the situation determines the effectiveness of task- and person-oriented leader behavior.

Leadership is the ability to influence followers to achieve common goals through shared purposes (Rost, 1993; Rost & Barker, 2000). Leadership is both art and science. (Weiss, 2015) Barack Obama is the definition of leadership.

Leadership theories are attempts to answer some of the question people have about leadership. These theories range from simple “armchair philosophies” about the personal characteristics and effect relationship between leaders and followers and situations.

In the textbook Leadership is defined as ‘the process of influencing an organized group toward accomplishing its goals’ (Hughes, Ginnet & Curphy 2015, p. 5). Leadership involves leader, followers, and situation.

For a quick review, the definition of leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group or individuals, to achieve a common goal.