Leadership?

• Leadership is defined as “the ability to influence a group

towards the achievement of a vision or a set of goals”

Management is about coping with complexity (vs.) Leadership

which is about managing ‘what’s next’ (change) -It is about

developing a vision for the future

 Fiedler Model
• Effective group performance- proper match between
leadership style and the degree to which the situation gives the
leader control

– Assumes that leadership style is fixed

• Three Situational Factors:
– Leader-member relations: degree of confidence and trust
in the leader
– Task structure: degree of structure in the jobs
– Position power: leader’s ability to hire, fire, and reward
Fiedler’s contingency Model
Situational Favorability = f (LM relations,
Position power, Task structure)
 Fiedler’s Contingency Theory
• Task-oriented leaders perform better in situations very
favorable to them and very unfavorable (i.e., Cat. I, II, III, VII,
VIII)
• Relationship oriented leaders, however, perform better in
moderately favorable situations (i.e., Cat. IV, V, VI)
• In simpler terms,
– Task oriented leader = situations of high and low control
– Relationship oriented leader = situations of moderate
control
Illustration
• Tom has a low-LPC score
– In fact, Tom strongly values tasks over relationships
– Tom has a big title, but little authority in administering rewards
or punishments. This has hindered his positional power
– He has decent (but not strong) relationships with his staff
– Finally, some of the department’s standard operating
procedures are well defined and some are under development
or undefined
– As a result, we can reasonably conclude that the situation is
moderately favorable. As mentioned above, moderately
favorable situations benefit from a leader high in LPC. This
mismatch can predict why Tom would fail to be successful in his
leadership role

Anderson. P. (2016). https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2016/06/05/what-is-contingency-theory/

 Assessment of Fiedler’s Model

Problems
– LPC scores are not stable
– Leadership style is fixed
– Contingency variables are complex and
hard to determine
 Situational Leadership Theory
A model that focuses on follower “readiness”

“Readiness” DELEGATING DIRECTIVE

is the extent STYLE STYLE
to which HIGH MOTIVATION LOW COMPETENCE
people have HIGH COMPETENCE HIGH MOTIVATION
the ability
and
willingness to CONSULTING SUPPORTIVE
accomplish a STYLE STYLE
specific task LOW MOTIVATION LOW COMPETENCE
HIGH COMPETENCE LOW MOTIVATION
 Vroom and Yetton’s Leader-Participation
Model The model that
talks about how
Contingency variables leaders make
decisions by
Decision quality involving their
Acceptance followers
Timeliness
Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) Theory
Out Group
• Managed by
formal rules and
policies
• Receive less of
the leader’s
attention / fewer
exchanges
• More likely to
retaliate against the
In Group organization
•Members are similar to leader
•In the leader’s inner circle of communication
•Receives more time and attention
•Gives greater responsibility and rewards
 Charismatic Leadership

Dark Side of
Charismatic
Leadership
Vision
Unconventional
Behavior (articulation)

Sensitivity to Personal Risk

Followers (self sacrifice)
 Transformational Leaders
Inspire followers to transcend their self-interests for the
good of the organization
• Idealized Influence: provides vision, gains
respect and trust
Transformational • Inspirational Motivation: communicates
high expectations
• Intellectual Stimulation: promotes
intelligence, problem solving
• Individualized Consideration: personal
attention, equal treatment

• Contingent Reward: effort reward exchange

• Management by Exception (active):
Transactional searches deviation from rules
• Management by Exception (passive):
intervenes only when standards not met
• Laissez-Faire: avoids making decisions
 • Humble
Good to great: • Credit to team
Why some • Know how to ask for help
companies • Take responsibility for their
make the leap? mistakes (Personal humility)
• Disciplined, determined despite
difficulty (Professional will)
• Leading by Passion: demonstrate
what they believe
• Channel ambition into
organization-set successors
• Look out of window not mirror
(absorb mistakes)
• High standards of endurance, no
compromise