The Theory Of Leadership And Expectancy Theory

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

Malik, S. (2012). A Study of Relationship between Leader Behaviors and Subordinate Job Expectancies: A Path-Goal Approach. Pakistan Journal of Commerce & Social Sciences, 6(2), 357-371.

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.).

Path Goal Theory is a contingency approach to leadership which under Mary Kay’s responsibility is to increase subordinates’ motivation by clarifying the behaviours necessary for task accomplishment and rewards. Under Path Goal Theory it must be formed by tangible award. Mary Kay increases her follower motivation by either (i) clarifying the follower’s path to the rewards that are available or (ii) increasing the rewards that the follower values and desires.

The path-goal theory focuses on motivating followers to achieve goals. It suggests that if followers believe there will be positive outcomes in their efforts, they will be highly motivated to do their work. Leaders, in this theory, use a style that compliments the follower’s needs in order to motivate them. Take the following situation as an example. I am newly hired as a sales manager and the morale in the department is extremely low. A few months ago the department’s profit in sales had been at the highest in decades. Multiple sales

J., & Mitchell, T. R. (1974). Path– goal theory of leadership. Journal of Contemporary Business, 3, 81–97.

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).

My leadership philosophy is consists of multiple leadership theories. Leadership theories can be leader-centered or follower-centered. Leadership theories focus on the leader’s personality and skill abilities. The psychodynamic approach is most similar to my leadership style because of its focus on personality. My leadership style is directive and task oriented. There are certain weaknesses in my leadership style which I know I can improve on. By incorporating the knowledge I have gained through this course I plan on applying the contingency theory to refine my leadership skills. The path-goal theory’s main emphases is on the relationship between the leader and follower which can help influence your subordinates. As a follower, I feel the relationship between the follower and the leader is tremendously important in the work environment in order to be able to complete tasks efficiently which is described in the leader-member exchange theory. In this essay I will describe my leadership philosophy which is comprised of the contingency theory, the path-goal theory, the leader-member exchange theory, and the psychodynamic approach theory and present a plan of action to improve my leadership and motivation skills.

Path-goal theory deals with the leader's style to motivate followers, to accomplish set goals (Northouse, 2010). The path-goal theory is simply the implication that a leader works with an individual to establish a goal. The leader does this by individual motivation to achieve the proposed goal, while working through obstacles that may hinder achieving that goal (Whitener, 2007). The basic assumption of path-goal theory is that the following motivates subordinates: the capability to perform the work, their efforts will result in a certain outcome, and the payoff will be worthwhile (Whitener, 2007). The path-goal theory is a pragmatic approach that the leader uses to motivate the followers to achieve the set goals.

Chapter sixteen discusses various leadership theories which can implemented by leaders to achieve success. The choice of leadership theory differs from leader to leader as they possess different vision and way of managing. A theory isn 't always perfect in itself, it is the endless effort of the leaders which makes the theory a perfect one. Two approaches of leadership that I prefer are Situational Leadership Theory and Servant Leadership Theory. Among many theories I prefer these two because I tend to practice those principles most of the time and I assume these are theories that I truly tend to continue in a long run.

This life cycle theory of leadership. It states that new employees need more task orientation then relationship. Whereas a mature employees can succeed with mutual respect and trust. The higher the relationship the easier it is for a manager to lead more in a relationship focus vs task orientation.

Leadership has been studied from a wide range of perspectives and thus it means different things to different people. Some people view leadership as the focus of group processes, some others view it from a personality or skills perspective, to some others leadership is an act or behavior, some school of thought describe leadership in terms of power relationship while some view leadership as a transformational process (Northouse, 2012). Looking at the various definitions of leadership, there are various terms that are important; including the fact that leadership is a process that involves influence and the attainment of a common goal, and usually occurs in the context of a group (Northouse, 2012). The path-goal theory is one of the

Over the years, scholars and management theorists have cultivated several leadership styles that they have encouraged people to apply and try to implement. However, most of these theories have shown various short comings. Typically, none of these styles has proven to work best in diverse situations. In the late 1960’s, the Situational Leadership Model was developed. In this paper, I will discuss the details about the situational leadership model. In detail, the paper begins with a defined introduction of what the situational leadership model is about and an interpretation of its origination. An outline of the model will follow after which a discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of this model will shortly follow.

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

Path Goal Theory is a theory proposed by Martin Evans and Robert House, which is then developed by Robert House himself which suggests how leaders of any organization can be effective towards their subordinates in order to achieve organizational goals. This theory was first introduced in 1971 which was created based on Victor Vroom’s ‘Expectancy Theory of Motivation’. The name ‘Path-Goal’ itself shows that the leader should clarify their follower’s performance and remove any obstacle which comes between them and their goals. It is best when the leader focuses on each of the