Contingency Approaches

to Leadership Style

Rhansie Joana Q. David

Presenter
A future event or circumstance that is possible but cannot
be predicted with certainty.

CONTINGENCY

A provision for a possible event or circumstances.

CONTINGENCY APPROACHES
Approaches that seek to delineate the
characteristics of situation. It follows
and examine the leadership styles that
can be used effectively.
CONTINGENCY THEORY OF
LEADERSHIP
The contingency theory of leadership supposes that a
leader’s effectiveness is contingent on whether or not their
leadership style suits a particular situation. According to
this theory, an individual can be an effective leader in one
circumstance and an ineffective leader in another one. 
CONTINGENCY THEORY OF
LEADERSHIP
Contingency theorists says that no matter how successful a
leader is, there will always be a particular situation that
will challenge them.
The 4 contingency theories in
leadership
 Fiedler’s Contingency theory
 Situational Leadership theory
 Path-goal theory
 Decision Making theory
FIEDLER’S
CONTINGENCY
THEORY
Fred Edward Fiedler (1922)
 Leading expert on the study of
leadership and organizational
performance.
 Social organizational and industrial
psychology.
 Started his research into changing the
way that people think of leadership.

 In 1954, he develop the Least

Preferred Co-Worker Scale (LPC)
Fred Edward Fiedler (1922)
 In 1967, the publishing of his
famous book, “A theory of
Leadership effectiveness”.

 The first leadership theory to

measure member-leader
relationships.
FIEDLER’S CONTINGENCY MODEL
 a model designed to diagnose whether a leader is task-oriented
or relationship- oriented and match leader style to the situation

 The model states that there is no one best style of leadership.

Instead, a leader's effectiveness is based on the situation.
How can we use this Fiedler’s
contingency model?
1. Identify the leadership style
 It can be measured using the Least
Preferred Co-Worker Scale (LPC)
developed by Fiedler
The least-preferred coworker scale (LPC) is a management
heuristic that assigns an individual's leadership style as either
task-oriented or relationship-oriented.
ACTIVITY
Think about the person who you've least
enjoyed working with. This can be a person
who you've worked with in your job, or in
education or training.
Then, rate how you feel
about this person for each
factor.
EXAMPLE:
QUIET 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 TALKATIVE
IMMATURE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 MATURE
Let’s begin….
Unfriendly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Friendly
Unpleasant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pleasant
Rejecting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Accepting
Tense 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Relaxed
Cold 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Warm
Boring 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Interesting
Backbiting 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Loyal
Uncooperative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cooperative
Hostile 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Supportive
Guarded 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Open
Insincere 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Sincere
Inconsiderate 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Considerate
Untrustworthy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Trustworthy
Gloomy 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cheerful
Quarrelsome 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Harmonious
Lastly, just add up your scores.
Now, let us interpret what kind of
leadership style you possessed.
Leadership Styles
Leadership style
57 below Task-oriented leader
 “Low LPC leaders”
 Quick to organize a group to get tasks and projects done.

 Relationship-building is a low priority.

 Very effective in completing a task.
Leadership style
58-63 Mixed orientation leader

 Middle LPC

 “Independent leaders”
Leadership style
Higher than 64 People-oriented leader

 Relationship-oriented leader
 Recognizes the importance of developing strong and positive
emotional ties with followers.
 Focus more on personal connections, and they're good at
avoiding and managing conflict.
 They're better able to make complex decisions.
Next, we need to determine the situational
favorableness of your particular situation.
2. Situational Favorableness
Leader-member Relations

Task Structure

Leader’s Position Power

Situational Favorableness
Leader-member Relations

 This is the level of trust and confidence that

your team has in you.
 Situation is favorable for leading when
relations are good.
Situational Favorableness
Task Structure

 This refers to the type of task you're doing:

clear and structured, or vague and unstructured
 Work to be performed is clearly defined.
 Situation is favorable for leading when
structure is high.
Situational Favorableness
Leader’s Position Power

 This is the amount of power you have to direct

the group, and provide reward or punishment. 
 Fiedler identifies power as being either strong or
weak.
 Situation is favorable for leading when
power is high.
Lastly, we need to determine the most
effective leadership style.
3. Breakdown of the most effective
leader style
FIEDLER’S
CONTINGENCY THEORY
 Leaders mold themselves to the organization and don't try to force the
organizational culture to bend to them.
 While some people believe leaders are born, Fiedler's contingency theory
proposes that anyone can become a leader in the right situation.

 a leader's effectiveness is directly dependent on her relationship with her

employees. • To be successful, a leader must fit into the overall culture of
the organization.
SITUATIONAL
LEADERSHIP THEORY
Dr. Paul Hersey & Dr. Ken
Blanchard
 The theory of Situational Leadership was
developed in the late 1960’s by Paul Hersey and
Ken Blanchard.
 In the mid of 1970’s this theory was renamed to
Situational Leadership Theory.
SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODE
 “Hersey-Blanchard model,”

 Primarily concerned with the maturity level of a team members

 It suggests that the best option for leaders is to adapt their leadership styles to
fit their team members and their individual abilities. 

 This style should be well adopted by the followers where they can and are
able to accept the responsibilities when carrying out a specific or assigned
task.
4 Maturity levels of the group
 M1; Incompetence or unwilling to perform an assigned
task. (LOW MATURITY)
 M2; Inability to complete an assigned task but is willing try the
task out. (MEDIUM MATURITY)
 M3; Competent to perform the task but has a mental
block. ( MODERATE MATURITY)
 M4;The group is positive where the members are willing to
perform the assigned task. (HIGH MATURITY)
4 Leadership styles in
Situational Leadership Model
 allows other team members to be
DELEGATING responsible for certain tasks or to lead
STYLE subgroups
 best suits a team of high maturity employees

PARTICIPATING  focuses on sharing ideas and decisions

STYLE  might apply it to moderately mature team
members
4 Leadership styles in
Situational Leadership Model
 the leader attempting to sell his ideas to the
SELLING STYLE group by persuasively giving task
instructions
 best used with employees who are confident but
unwilling to complete tasks. 

 used by leaders who frequently give explicit

directions and who supervise all tasks closely
TELLING STYLE
 best suits low maturity followers who are willing
but unable to act independently.
PATH-GOAL THEORY
Martin Evans & Robert House
 also known as the path–goal
theory of leader
effectiveness or the path–
goal model
 Developed by Robert house in
1971 and revised in 1996.
 The goal is to increase your
employees' motivation,
empowerment, and satisfaction so
they become productive members
of the organization.
Path-goal Theory
 Primarily concerned with identifying processes (paths) that will allow each team member
to meet their individual objectives (goals).

 Leaders who implement this model adjust their behaviors and expectations to positively
affect their team’s productivity.

 This goal requires the leader to be extremely flexible in their leadership style.

 They will have to find a way to meet each team member’s specific needs to assist
them in reaching their daily or weekly goals.
4 Leadership styles in Path-goal
Theory

The The
The The
Directive Achievement
Oriented
Participative Supportive
Clarifying Leader Leader
Leader
Leader
4 Leadership styles in Path-goal
Theory
 This style is used in situations where
the leader tells employees what is
The expected of them and instructs them
Directive on how to perform certain tasks.
Clarifying
Leader  The theory states that this style is the
most effective when the employees’
role and task are unstructured or
ambiguous.
4 Leadership styles in Path-goal
Theory
 This behavior occurs in situations where the
leader sets lofty goals for employees,
expects them to perform at a high level and
The
Achievement shows complete confidence in their
Oriented capabilities.
Leader
4 Leadership styles in Path-goal
Theory
 Leaders who use this style consult
with their employees and ask for their
input before making decisions.
The
Participative
Leader  This behavior would be well-received
in a workplace where the employees
are personally invested in the
outcome and results of their work.
4 Leadership styles in Path-goal
Theory
This style focuses on the satisfaction of
employees’ needs and considers their personal
preferences.
The A supportive leader is as concerned with their
Supportive employees’ mental health and well-being as
Leader they are with their productivity.
This style is suitable for work environments that
can be stressful or mentally challenging.
DECISION MAKING
THEORY
Victor Vroom & Philip Yetton

This model was originally

developed by Vroom and Yetton
in 1973 to help the managers
decide when and to what extent
they should involve the
subordinates in solving a
problem.
Decision Making theory
 “the Vroom-Yetton contingency model"
 It believes that decision making is a crucial element of leadership and
determines the relationship between the leader and their team members.

 Building and maintaining this relationship directly affects the

leader’s success.
Understanding the Model
When you sit down to make a decision, your style, and the degree of participation you need
to get from your team, are affected by three main factors:

DECISION QUALITY

SUBORDINATE COMMITMENT

TIME CONSTRAINTS
5 Leadership styles in Decision
Making Theory
AUTOCRATIC (A1) AUTOCRATIC (A2)

CONSULTATIVE (C1) CONSULTATIVE (C2)

COLLABORATIVE (G2)
5 Leadership styles in Decision
Making Theory
AUTOCRATIC (A1)

Leaders with this style believe that

whatever information they have is
enough to make the decision and
they require no additional input from
their team.
5 Leadership styles in Decision
Making Theory
AUTOCRATIC (A2)

This style is not as extreme as A1.

This type of leader consults with
their team as a group to gather
information and then makes the final
decision alone.
5 Leadership styles in Decision
Making Theory

This leader consults with their team

members individually to consider
everyone’s unique opinions. They
CONSULTATIVE (C1) will take suggestions seriously but
will make the final decision alone.
5 Leadership styles in Decision
Making Theory
This type of leader consults at a
wider level. They might organize a
team-wide meeting to discuss a
situation at length. They will gather
suggestions but will eventually make CONSULTATIVE (C2)
a decision themselves.
5 Leadership styles in Decision
Making Theory

This style focuses on reaching a consensus. These

leaders organize a meeting to discuss the situation
and then facilitate the discussion and ask every
team member for input. The decision is then made
together based on a vote.

COLLABORATIVE (G2)
DECISION MAKING THEORY MODEL
“The quality of leadership, more than
any other single factor, determines the
success or failure of an organization.”

- Fred Fiedler
𝓔𝓝𝓓 𝓞𝓕 𝓜𝓨
𝓡𝓔𝓟𝓞𝓡𝓣