Fiedler's Contingency Theory Essay

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. Fiedler’s Contingency Theory Fiedler 's contingency theory is one of the contingency theories that states that effective leadership depends not only on the style of leading but on the control over a situation. There needs to be good leader-member relations, task with clear goals and procedures, and the ability for the leader to mete out rewards and punishments. Lacking these three in the right combination and context will result in leadership failure. Fiedler created the least preferred co-worker (LPC) scale, where a leader is asked what traits can be ascribed to the co-worker that the leader likes the least. Fiedler 's contingency theory is a qualification or type of contingency theory. Contingency theories in general state that the effectiveness of leadership depends upon the situation, and • LPC scale is subjective, and characteristics are relative in contexts • Even according to Fiedler the LPC score is valid only for groups that are closely supervised and does not apply to "open ones" such as teams • It is questionable whether Fiedler 's contingency theory is valid in all situations, such as when neither the task is well defined and no choice of leaders is to be had, except ones with bad personalities. 2. Path-Goal Theory of Leadership Path-Goal Theory helps you identify an effective approach to leadership, based on what your people want and your current situation. In this article, we 'll look at Path-Goal Theory, and we 'll explore how you can apply it to your own

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