Situational Approach And Contingency Approach

The situational theory approach and contingency approach are both two major types of leaders approach that researchers have studied for several years. Northhouse (2013, p.99) stated that, “the premise of the theory is that different situations demand different kinds of leadership”. For simple understanding it means that leaders have to be able to switch and adapt their style as different situation arise. Situational approach is broken down into two main dimensions, which is the directive (task) and supportive (relationship) behaviours.

The directive behaviour as used by managers is a way of helping followers achieve their goals by giving direction, establishing goals and methods of evaluation, setting time lines, defining roles and showing

The supporting approach enables the leader to involve his or herself by encouraging and asking others input while giving the final decision. The coaching approach allows a leader to encourage a follower to make day-to-day decision. The delegating approach requires the less input and task from the social support from the leader, while motivating and improving the confidence of the follower.

Situational approach effects leaders to become more aware of their environment, using the Blanchard model leaders understand that more of the work is done by the followers and not by the leaders. Northhouse (2013, p.103) states weather “a person has mastered the skills to do a specific task and whether a person has developed a positive attitude regarding the task”.

The contingency theory influences the effectiveness to leadership style because the leadership is dependent on matching a leader’s style to the right situation Northhouse (2013, p.123). Northhouse (2013, p.124) stated that “contingency theory is grouped into three main factors”, which

The task structure is used to measure how clear a task is and this method empowers the leader more making it easier to track the progress of the work, while the position power is the amount of authority a leader has over his follower to either punish or reward them. This is effective if the leader has the power to hire, fire or increase wages of his followers Northhouse (2013, p.124). The effect that contingency theory has on leadership is that it enables a leader to determine what kind of co-worker is compatible with them using the LPC questionnaire by Fiedler’s contingency model, this model helps leaders understand that a high score means that the person is people-orientated and a low score means task oriented Northhouse (2013,