Theories of Leadership
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The path goal leadership theory is a model that tries to understand the work motivation of every individual.
It states the work motivation of any individual is dependent on his/her assessment on:
1. Whether the effort would lead to good performance
2. The probability of a reward as a result of the good performance
3. The value of this reward
The Path-Goal Leadership Theory states that by clarifying the path to achieving good performance and removing pitfalls and enhancing personal satisfaction for the job, a leader is able to effective motivate his subordinate in work.
This often relates to the more managerial form of transactional leadership, where rewards for successful achievement are important.
However, path goal leadership does suffer criticisms for not being useful because it merely theorizes the model for motivation of employees and it talks very little about how leaders should act to maximise motivation for their employees.
For you as a leader, it would be not so necessary for you to learn about this theory.
This theory is more for the academics and researches to understand trends in leadership and a good understanding of this theory does not necessary make you a good leader.
It is however, good to know because by clarifying with employees about the above three factors because they aid you in the clarity of your presentation and expectations.
By reducing uncertainty to rewards through expectation management, you can truly motivate some people to work harder.
The Contingency
Theories of Leadership
The contingency theories of leadership basically state that there is no best style of leadership. Rather, it is the situation that will decide what kind of style would be the most effective in achieving the organizational objectives. » Fiedler’s contingency theory
Fred Fiedler was one of the foremost proponents of contingency leadership. He stated that the effectiveness of types of leadership styles was determined on three factors.
» Path-goal theory
The path-goal theory of leadership was developed by House, Evans and Mitchell. It proposes that a person’s motivation to complete any task was dependent on three factors
» Situational Leadership theory
Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard developed the situational model of leadership relates four different leadership styles to the follower’s confidence and ability to carry it out.
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