Path-Goal Theory Of Leadership

Path-Goal Theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can change their style, as situations require. The theory proposes two contingency variables, such as environment and follower characteristics, that moderate the leader behavior-outcome relationship. The leader must consider follower’s valences, instrumentalities, expectancies, equity of rewards, and accuracy of role perceptions when assessing the requirements of his followers. Additionally, personal characteristics of subordinates determine how the environment and leader are interpreted. Effective leaders clarify the path to help their followers achieve organizational goals and facilitate the journey by reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. This approach assumes that there is one right way of achieving a goal and that the leader can see it while the followers can not. This casts the leader as the knowing person and the followers as dependent, thereby limiting the development of the follower. While the path-goal theory has some validity, Bass argues that better leaders integrate a task-oriented and relationship-oriented approach (Blake & Mouton, 1964) as well as demonstrate their ability to clarify the path to the goals (Bass, 1960, 1990). Furthermore, this transactional

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.

A1. Leadership Style Upon conducting research, it is clear that the definition of “leadership” is not agreed upon. It is fluid, based upon many perceptions, situations, and surroundings. According to Robinson (2010), adopting a specific style of leadership is rather futile as it is, “contingent on the personal traits of the leader, the people being led, and the nature of the activity.” Tools are available to help guide potential leaders in determining a preferred style of leadership. For example, utilizing the “Leadership Self-Assessment

Abstract: There are numerous definitions of leadership, all of which contain elements related to people (the leader and the follower(s)), communicating in person or by the written word, actions (organizing, directing, coaching, and/or motivating), and for a purpose (meeting a goal(s) or accomplishing a task(s)) (ADP 6-22) (Fisher 2015) (Bolden 2013) (Hogan 2005). Additionally, everything done occurs within a given context. Effective leaders are poised, proficient, pertinent, and practical in the application of the art of leadership. This means leaders are ready to engage the group with effective methods and

The path-goal theory’s focus is on the leader’s behavior that can allow for the employees to reach personal and organizational goals. A leader’s attitude has impact on the attitude of the staff. Leaders can reward employees when goals are met which can increase employee motivation, job satisfaction and overall productivity (Schultz, 2010). This theory identifies four styles of leadership as directive, supportive, participative and achievement-oriented (Schultz, 2010).

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.

The results for raw scores and percentile scores for each of the four frames (Figure 1) reflect the numbers hovering almost around 50 percentiles. As per tool assessment this result indicates almost balanced orientation towards all the frames. The characteristics of four structural frames are mentioned below:

09/21/2016 - The assessment is clear, organized, and demonstrates a clear understanding of leadership practices and goals. A detailed illustration is provided to describe a real-world business leader and identifies how leadership practices correlate with a scholarly leadership theory. Additionally, 3 long-term goals and 2 short-term goals that relate to professional leadership development are accurately provided in junction with the SMART goal criteria. A business scenario in which leadership practices where not effective is also presented. Great

It goes without saying that leadership delivers support and inspiration to their group members to attain desired results. In this global market competition is constantly intensifying and organizations are more fixated on engendering calculative outcomes, performance apprehension with personnel has elevated considerably. Effective leaders will impart a variety of desired support mechanisms to motivate employees and make them more productive as well as result oriented. Moreover, effective leader will assist in sustaining a vigorous and affable work atmosphere to facilitate the progressions of the organization.

The results of the self-assessments are not consistent. According to the Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment, I rated low on self-awareness. This is due to my inability to recognize my strengths and weaknesses. I did, however, rate high on internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency. Next, the LMX 7 Questionnaire, I rated high. This questionnaire was given to my supervisor and one of my followers. The results of my Path-Goal Leadership Questionnaire, I rated average in all leadership styles. I rated highest in the directive style. The Skills Inventory Assessment resulted in a high score in technical and human skills, and moderate in conceptual skills. Having a moderate score in conceptual skills results in my inability to see the goals of the organization. I should familiarize myself with the organizations aims and objectives and align my goals with theirs. Furthermore, the Leadership Trait Questionnaire scores averaged between a 3 and 4, the highest scores being in dependability and friendly.

I also believe that an effective leader plays a significant role in promoting and molding individuals’ readiness as it relates to motivation and commitment. As such, I developed my leadership assessment with these points in mind. The assessment focuses on 14 attributes that I believe are important not only for a leader to be successful within the parameters of the SLT, but for most any leadership model adopted by a successful leader in the modern business environment. The assessment was completed by Bobby, my manager of nearly six years, and by Katrina, my highest-ranking direct report of nearly four years. Each was asked to assign a candid rating to each attribute using a one-to-ten (worst-to-best) scale as well as to make notes or offer any suggestions so that I may incorporate it into my leadership style in an effort to improve the areas of weakness and become a better leader. In addition, I did a self-assessment using the same criteria. It should be noted that while Bobby offered both a ranking and narrative feedback, Katrina completed the assessment using the numerical ranking only. The results were consistent in some areas and mixed in others, but revealed some valuable information that I can use not only within the context of this course, but also as my career is better defined over time.

In order to roll out the leadership philosophy and goals for success we will need to use all the different levels of staffing to do so. The first position that will be used is the Chief Executive Officer, this role will be used to roll out the plan to the organization. This will be achieved by utilizing a mixture of conference calls, all employee meetings, and also email. By using these multiple different mediums we will be able to touch the different employees throughout the organization. The goal for this role would be to give a holistic view of the changes. Highlighting the key takeaways and the results after the goals have been achieved. The timeline for this step would be the starting point for the entire process. By offering the original opening statement and also continual updates throughout the process, once a quarter the company can come together to track progress. The specific item at this stage would be a roadmap of success. By presenting a clear concise roadmap would fall in line with the success goals that the company will need to follow in order to be successful.

Chapter 12 “Leadership” beings by defining leadership. They define it as the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals. They then jump straight into many different types of theories that coincide with leadership. The first is trait theories. This theory considers personality, social, physical, or intellectual traits to differentiate leaders from nonleaders. Although, it is not very useful until matched with the Big Five Personality Framework. Some essential leadership traits are extroversion, conscientiousness, openness, and emotional intelligence (Qualified). The only one I don’t agree with so much is the extroversion part. Traits like these can predict though leadership, according to the book and

This journal article on the path-goal approach theory is a study that carefully examines the rapport and connection amongst leaders and followers job expectancies. This model designed by House (1974) addresses the directive, supportive, participative and achievement –oriented components of leadership and subordinates. Additionally, it studies the conduct and character of leaders while investigating situational contingences that transform those behaviors. Therefore, the leader’s role in this model is to ensure that they provide guidance and support while demonstrating behavior that is motivational by inspiring followers to work diligently to achieve organizational goals that were carefully outlined to facilitate success. Hence, the purpose of this study was to test the validity of the path-goal theory with reference to expectancy theory. Conversely, it revealed that cellular companies gives adequate powers to its managers to offer incentives to individuals performing at high levels. However, a weaker relationship between the leader conduct and the followers’ job expectancy was the outcome. One exception noted was that of supportive leader behavior which was revealed at the conclusion of the study. Subsequently, the behavior of the leader had a tremendous impact on outcome. Leaders must assist subordinates throughout the path by eliminating road blocks along the way. The primary function of the leader in this research was to motivate subordinates and increase payoffs

This evaluation (style questionniare) is designed and used to determine two types of leadership behavior: task and relationship. The total figures shown above were obtained from the questionnaire by adding the total responses to odd numbered item (task) and also adding the responses on the even-numbered items (Relationship). ‘Seldom’ leaders have low marks. Based on the score, I am inclined to the democratic and laissez-faire leadership styles.