FIEDLER’S

CONTINGENCY
THEORY OF
LEADERSHIP
 INTRODUCTION

The Fiedler Contingency Model was created in the The model states that there is no one best style of This is the result of two factors – "leadership style"
mid-1960s by Fred Fiedler, a scientist who studied leadership. Instead, a leader's effectiveness is based and "situational favorableness" 
the personality and characteristics of leaders. on the situation.
 • It is important to realize that in Fiedler’s Contingency Theory your
leadership style is fixed. You cannot change your style to suit the
situation. Instead, you must put leaders into situations that match their
style.
FA C T O R S
•   Important factors in fiedlers model are 
IN
FIEDLER'S
MODEL 1.  Identification of  Leadership Style
2.     Situational Favorableness
   
 • Identifying leadership style is the first step in using the model.
Fiedler believed that leadership style is fixed, and it can be
measured using a scale he developed called Least-Preferred Co-
Worker (LPC)
• High LPC = Relationship-oriented leader.
LEADERSHI
• Low LPC = Task-oriented leader.
P STYLE • Task-oriented leaders tend to be good at organizing teams and
projects and gettings things done. 
• Relationship-oriented leaders tend to be good at building good
relationships and managing conflict to get things done.
 • In this theory it very important  to understand the favorableness
of the situation you face. This is determined by how much
control over the situation you have as a leader (situational
control).
• This determined  further by three factors'
S I T U AT I O N A L
• Leader-Member Relations – This is the level of trust and
FAV O R A B L E N E S
confidence that your team has in you. A 
S
• Task Structure – This refers to the type of task you're doing:
clear and structured, or vague and unstructured. 
• Leader's Position Power – This is the amount of power you
have to direct the group, and provide reward or punishment. 
Fiedler identified power as being either strong or weak.
 • The advantages of Fiedler’s Contingency Theory of Leadership
are:
• It provides a simple rule of thumb for identifying which leaders
are best for which situations.
• Unlike many other leadership theories, it takes the situation into
account in determining the effectiveness of a leader.
• Both the LPC and the situational factors are easy to measure.
A D VA N A T G E S
 • The disadvantages of Fiedler’s Contingency of Leadership are:
• It’s not flexible at all. If your leadership style doesn’t match the
situation that’s it.  
• The LPC scale is subjective and so its possible incorrectly assess
your own leadership style.
• If you happen to fall in the middle of the LPC scale then there is
no guidance as to which kind of leader you might be.
D I S A D VA N AT G E S • Your assessment of the situation is subjective.
CONCLUSION
• Fiedler’s Contingency Theory of Leadership states that your effectiveness as a leader is
determined by how well your leadership style matches the situation.
• the theory is based on the premise that each of us has one and only one leadership style which can
be scored on the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale. 
• Using this LPC scale you are either a relationship-oriented leader or a task-oriented leader.
• According to Fiedler, task-oriented leaders get the best results when faced with strongly favorable
or strongly unfavorable situations.
•  In situations of mixed favorableness then relationship-oriented leaders get the best results.