History of Leadership Thought

• Trait Theories ( -1940s)

• Behavioral Theories (1940s-1960s)
• Contingency/Situational Approaches (1960s- )
• Contemporary theories

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Unit 6: Theories of Effective leadership &
Contemporary Leadership Styles
• Contingencies Theories
– Fiedler’s contingency theory
– Cognitive resource theory
– Path goal theory
– Situational leadership theory
– Multiple linkage model
• Contemporary leadership styles:
– Transactional leadership
– Transformational leadership
– Charismatic leadership
– Value-based leadership
– Spiritual and servant leadership
– Boundary spanning & team leadership
Contingency theories

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Fiedler’s contingency theory
• This theory states that there is no one best style
of leadership
• Leadership effectiveness is contingent on the
match between a leader's style and the
situational context.
• Using this model, you’ll identify your own
leadership style, assess the situation that
requires leadership, and determine whether
you’re the right leader.
Leadership styles are described as:
• Task oriented
• Relationship oriented
• Task-motivated leaders -Concerned primarily with reaching a
goal
• Relationship-motivated leaders - Concerned with developing
close interpersonal relationships
Fiedler’s Contingency Theory has two factors:
• Leadership Style: In this factor, you determine your style
of leadership.
• Situational favorableness: It is the second step that
determines a particular situation’s favorableness

• Fielder developed a scale called the least preferred co-

worker scale (LPC).
• The scale asks you to do the two simple things to
understand your leadership style-

• Think about the person who you’ve least enjoyed

working with.
• Then rate how you feel about this person for each
factor and add up your scores.
According to this scale-
• The more you rate the person you least like to work
with, the more relationship-oriented you are. i.e., High
LPC = Relationship-oriented leader.

• The less you rate the person you like the least working
with, the more task-oriented you are. i.e., Low LPC =
Task-oriented leader.
Situational favorableness: It depends on three distinct factors:

• Leader-Member Relations: This factor measures how much your

team trusts you. Greater trust increases the favorableness of the
situation, and less confidence reduces it.

• Task Structure: This factor measures the task’s performance. It

refers to the type of task you’re doing: clear and structured or
vague and unstructured. Unstructured tasks are viewed
unfavorably.

• Leader’s Position Power: This is determined by the level of

authority you display to reward or punish subordinates. The more
ability you have, the more favorable your situation. Fiedler
identifies power as being either strong or weak.
• Task oriented leaders tends to perform better in very favorable situation
and very unfavorable situation
• Relationship-oriented leaders tend to perform best in moderately favorable
situation
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Leaders and situations should be matched to
achieve maximum leadership effectiveness
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• During a crisis situation, such as a natural disaster response, a
task-oriented leader may quickly organize resources, assign roles,
and coordinate efforts to address the immediate needs and
challenges.
• In a manufacturing setting, a leader with a task-oriented style
might be more effective in a stable and predictable production
environment
• While a relationship-oriented leader might excel in situations
where the team faces frequent changes and challenges
Improving leadership effectiveness
Leaders cannot easily change their style so Fielder recommends
following things:
• Change the leader to fit the situation
• Change the situation to fit the leader
Criticism:
 One of the biggest criticisms is the lack of flexibility. Fiedler

believed that an individual’s natural leadership style is fixed.

Hence, the most effective way to handle situations is to replace
the leader. He didn’t allow for flexibility in leaders.
 LPC scores can fail to reflect the personality traits they are

supposed to reflect.
 The model’s validity has been disputed, despite many

supportive tests.
Cognitive Resource Theory
• Cognitive Resource Theory is a leadership theory that
focuses on the cognitive abilities and intelligence of
leaders in determining their effectiveness
• This theory emphasizes the impact of the leaders'
experience and intelligence on their response to stress
• Leaders should be trained in stress management so that
they can maximum utilize their intelligence and
experience
Cognitive Resource theory is based on the following assumptions:
• The success of a leader depends on certain factors like
Intelligence, experience, and other cognitive means.
• Leadership success is not based on cognitive capabilities only.
• Stress affects decision-making ability.
 Cognitive Resources

Success of a leader depends on these above factors

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Criticism:
 The theory is criticized due to the incorrectness in using factors,

i.e., intelligence. It has ignored different intelligence types based

on creativity, emotional intelligence, etc.
 The theory states the qualitative aspect of stress. There is no

arrangement of the quantitative part of measuring employee

stress.
 The theory didn’t define positive, negative stress types. Nor did

it explain their impact on different leaders and leadership styles

separately. A leader can be strong or weak based on different
situations.
 Path-Goal Theory
 Path-goal theory centers on how leaders motivate
subordinates to accomplish designated goals
 The theory is based on the idea that a leader's primary
function is to help subordinates reach their goals and
enhance their performance by clarifying the paths to
goal achievement
The theory specifies the following statements-

 Leaders should engage in different types of leadership

behaviors.
 Leadership style should best fit the working
environment.
 Leaders' behavior depends on the nature and the
demands of a particular situation.
 It is the leader’s job to assist followers in attaining
goals.
 Leaders should provide the direction and support
needed by the followers.
 Leaders should also ensure that their goals are
compatible with the organization’s goals.
Path-Goal Theory is not a detailed process but generally follows
three basic steps-

• Determine the employee and environmental characteristics.

• Select a leadership style.
• Focus on employee motivations that will help them succeed.
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Conditions of Leadership Motivation

Leadership generates motivation when:

• It increases the number and kinds
of payoffs
• Path to the goal is clear and easily
traveled with coaching and
direction
• Obstacles and roadblocks are
removed
• The work itself is personally
satisfying
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Directive Leadership:
 The leader provides clear guidance, instructions, and
expectations to subordinates.
 Suitable when tasks are ambiguous or when
subordinates lack necessary skills.

Supportive Leadership:
 The leader shows concern for the well-being and socio-
emotional needs of subordinates.
 Appropriate when tasks are stressful or mundane,
requiring emotional support.
Participative Leadership:
 The leader involves subordinates in decision-making
processes.
 Effective when subordinates are experienced and
capable of contributing to decisions.

Achievement-Oriented Leadership:
 The leader sets challenging goals and expects high
performance from subordinates.
 Appropriate when tasks require high levels of
commitment and effort.
Criticism:
 The theory leadership aspects it tries to incorporate are

complex. The behavior, motivation, and process to apply the

right leadership style are challenging.
 The theory lacks empirical research.

 The path-goal theory fails to explain how leadership behavior

correlates to followers’ motivation. The approach is only

directed towards the followers.
 The theory is complex. Hence, it is challenging to use it in every

leadership scenario.
 Leaders-Participation Theory
 Commonly known as the Vroom-Yetton Decision Model
 Developed by Victor Vroom and Philip Yetton in the
1970s and later refined by Vroom and Arthur Jago
 It is a leadership theory that focuses on how leaders
involve their subordinates in the decision-making
process
 This model helps leaders determine the level of
participation or involvement they should seek from
their team when making decisions
 This theory has proposed five different types of
leadership
 Autocratic I: The leader makes decisions independently
and communicates them directly to the team.
 Autocratic II: The leader ask for suggestions from
followers and makes decision alone.
 Consultative I: The leader do not meet with followers,
but shares situation, gathers input from them and
considers their opinions and ultimately makes the
decision alone.
 Consultative II: The leader meets with followers in a
group to discuss situation but makes decision alone.
 Group II: Decision-making is a collective process where
the leader and team members meet in a group and share
equal responsibility in the decision-making process.
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Criticism:
 Automation of the model process is weak, and it lacks the

personal factors of the leader.

 The model may not work for a large team or group of people.

 The model ignores a leader’s orientation preference. It only

considers the skills and willingness of followers.

 Situational leadership Theory
 Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) was
developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth H.
Blanchard in the late 1960s and early 1970s
 This leadership theory suggests that effective
leaders adapt their leadership style based on
the readiness or maturity level of their followers
 Hersey and Blanchard identified four leadership
styles and four developmental levels, creating a
framework that matches leadership styles with
the needs of followers in different situations.
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 Situational leadership Theory
• Telling (S1): Directing and providing specific
instructions. Appropriate for followers with low
readiness or maturity.
• Selling (S2): Explaining decisions and offering support.
Suitable for followers with moderate readiness.
• Participating (S3): Encouraging collaboration and
shared decision-making. Effective for followers with
higher readiness.
• Delegating (S4): Allowing followers to take
responsibility and make decisions. Suitable for highly
mature and ready followers.
Leadership Style Leader Behaviour Follower’s interaction

Telling High task, Low relationship R1- Low

Selling High task, high relationship R2-Low/Moderate
Participating Low task, high relationship R3- Moderate/High
Delegating Low task, Low relationship R4-High

•R1 - Low Readiness: Followers have low competence and high commitment.
•R2 - Moderate Readiness: Followers have some competence but low
commitment.
•R3 - Moderate to High Readiness: Followers have moderate to high
competence and variable commitment.
•R4 - High Readiness: Followers have high competence and high commitment.

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• The key concept is that leaders should adapt their leadership
style to match the developmental level or readiness of their
followers.
• Effective leaders are those who can recognize the readiness
level of their followers and adjust their leadership style
accordingly.
• Leaders must be flexible and willing to adapt to the changing
needs of their team.
• Leaders may use a blend of styles depending on the
characteristics of the task, the capabilities of the followers, and
the overall situational context.
• Leaders should continuously assess the readiness level of their
followers to ensure an appropriate match between leadership
style and follower needs.
Criticism:
 This approach does not have a large body of research findings. It

does not justify the approach’s assumptions and propositions.

 It is unclear how subordinates move from low to high

development levels. It is also unclear how commitment changes

over time for subordinates.
 The model does not address how demographic characteristics

affect employees’ preferences for leadership.

 It does not highlight how leaders can use this model in group

settings.
 Multiple Linkage Model

• Multiple Linkage Model was developed by Gary Yukl

• It describes how managerial behaviour and situational variable

jointly influence the performance of individual subordinates and

the leader’s work unit
• It suggests that the behaviour of a leader becomes effective

depending on many situational variables

• The leader behaviors are composed of four variables-

Managerial behaviors, Intervening variables, Criterion variables,

Situational variables.
• The leader’s job is to correct deficiencies arising in the
intervening variables.
• In the long term, the position of the leader is to improve
situational factors.
Intervening variables
 Intervening variables consist of leaders’ behaviors that
immediately affect employees’ job performance
 A leader can influence subordinate performance by controlling
the intervening variables.
Subordinate performance is dependent on four intervening
variables:
 Ability to do the work.

 Task motivation.

 Clear and appropriate perceptions.

 Presence or absence of environmental constraints.

Work unit performance depends on six intervening variables:
 Member effort.

 Member ability.

 Organization of the work.

 Teamwork and cooperation.

 Availability of essential resources.

 External coordination with other parts of the organization.

Situational Variables: The situational variables that influence the

follower effort are-
 Formal reward system and

 The intrinsically motivating properties of work.

Criticism:
 There are no clear claims about which leader behavior

influences which situations.

 It is more of a general framework than a formal theory with

precise recommendations.
 Very few studies confirm this theory.
Transactional leadership
• Transactional leadership is based on exchanges
between leaders and followers
• This leadership style emphasizes the interactions
between leaders and followers
• It involves setting clear expectations, providing
rewards for meeting objectives, and
administering corrective measures for deviations
• Example: A manager who sets performance
targets and rewards employees with bonuses for
achieving them
 Essential features of Transactional leaders
• A transactional leader is someone who values order and
structure.
• These leaders recognize their followers’ desires and motivate
them to improve their performance.
• They encourage employees by rewarding them for achieving the
objectives.
• Military operations, large corporations are best fit for such
leaders. These are places that need rules and regulations to
complete objectives on time.
• Transactional leaders aren’t a good fit for creative and innovative
workplaces.
• This type of leadership sets defined ways to work for its
subordinates.
• These leaders’ preferred method of tracking employee
performance is through performance reviews.
Strength of Transactional leaders
• The expectations of the leader are spelled out in detail by
transactional leadership
• This style ensures that an organization’s culture is maintained
• Transactional leaders utilize interpersonal skills to inspire, guide,
govern, develop, teach, and influence follower
Weakness of Transactional leaders
• Innovative environments do not suit transactional leaders well
• Transactional leaders do not allow for much creativity, since goals
and objectives have been already established
• Transactional leaders do not encourage self-initiative
Transformational leadership
• Transformational leadership theory is a recent
addition to leadership literature
• Transformational leadership inspires and
motivates followers to achieve beyond their self-
interests.
• Leaders communicate a compelling vision, foster
a sense of purpose, and encourage creativity and
innovation.
• Example: A CEO who articulates a vision for the
company's future and inspires employees to
work toward that vision.
Essential features of Transformational leaders
• Transformational leaders are innovative thinkers with creative
skills.
• Charisma, motivation, and interactions are important for these
leaders.
• They use these methods to influence, increase performance,
build trust and understanding.
• Transformational leaders are highly committed, motivated and
bring significant change to the organization.
• They believe in people
• They can deal with complexity, ambiguity, and uncertainty
• They are visionaries
Elements of Transformational leaders
Creating a Strategic Vision:
• Develops a clear and compelling vision for the future.
• Articulates a vision that aligns with the organization's
values and long-term goals.

Communicating Vision:
• Effectively communicates the vision to all members of
the organization.
• Uses persuasive and inspirational communication to
convey the importance and benefits of the vision.
Elements of Transformational leaders
Modeling Vision:
• Acts as a role model by embodying the values and
behaviors associated with the vision.
• Demonstrates commitment, passion, and enthusiasm
for the vision.

Building Commitment Towards the Vision:

• Inspires and motivates others to embrace the vision.
• Encourages collaboration and teamwork toward the
realization of the vision.
Charismatic leadership
• Charismatic leadership is a new and distinct
paradigm.
• It came to the forefront of public attention
during the 2008 US elections.
• In the election, Barack Obama was elected
as the first African American president.
• He is believed to be charismatic, among
many other leadership attributes he
demonstrates.
Charismatic leadership
• Charismatic leadership involves leaders who
possess a magnetic and compelling personality.
• They inspire followers through their charm,
enthusiasm, and persuasive communication
• Charismatic leaders can believe more in
themselves than in their teams
• This characteristic can create the risk of
organizational collapse if the leader leaves.
• Example: Leaders like Martin Luther King Jr. or
Nelson Mandela, who captivated followers with
their charisma and conviction.
Essential features of Charismatic leadership
• Charismatic leaders are influential and confident
individuals with strong beliefs.
• They are change agents who communicate their vision
to others.
• These leaders set high expectations from their followers.
• Charismatic leaders understand the needs of their
followers.
• These leaders build enthusiasm among followers.
• Such leaders are good at recognizing the emotions and
moods of others.
Value-based leadership
• Value-based leadership centers on core
values that guide decision-making and
behavior
• Leaders prioritize ethical considerations,
social responsibility, and alignment with
organizational values
• Example: A leader in a socially responsible
company who prioritizes sustainability and
ethical business practices.
Essential features of Value-based leadership
Core Values:
• Leaders identify and articulate a set of core values that
reflect the principles and beliefs guiding the
organization.
• These values often align with ethical standards, social
responsibility, and the overall mission of the
organization.
Self-Reflection:
• Engages in regular self-reflection to assess personal
values and align leadership behaviors accordingly.
Self-Confidence:
• Demonstrates self-confidence in decision-making,
rooted in a strong understanding of personal values.
Essential features of Value-based leadership
Ethical Decision-Making:
• Value-based leaders prioritize ethical considerations in
decision-making.
• Decisions are guided by a commitment to fairness,
honesty, and the well-being of stakeholders.
Social Responsibility:
• Value-based leadership extends beyond the organization
to consider the impact on the broader community and
society.
Continuous Improvement:
• Prioritizes continuous improvement, adapting
leadership practices based on feedback and evolving
circumstances.
Spiritual leadership
• Spiritual leadership involves the infusion of
values and a sense of calling into the
workplace.

• Spiritual Leadership is when vision, hope or

faith, and altruistic love are integrated into
the workplace to improve spiritual
consciousness and provide employees with
a more meaningful work experience.
Essential elements of Spiritual leadership
Vision:
Employees find motivation in a compelling and broad-reaching vision
that describes the destination and steps toward a meaningful future

Hope/Faith:
Leaders instill confidence in the team's ability to realize the vision,
offering hope and faith that provide the inspiration and motivation
needed to persevere through challenges

Altruistic Love:
Altruistic love, based on shared moral values, is integral in spiritual
leadership, fostering mutual care, respect, and ethical behavior
within the organization, contributing to a triple bottom line of
people, planet, and profit.
Advantages of Spiritual leadership
• Belonging
• Recognition
• Mental Health
• Corporate Social Responsibility
Servant leadership
• Servant leadership is a leadership
philosophy in which the goal of the leader
is to serve
• The servant leadership style is based on the
idea that leaders prioritize serving the
greater good
• Leaders with this style serve their team and
organization first
• They don’t prioritize their own objectives.
Spears (1991) identifies 10 servant leadership
characteristics:
1. Listening
2. Empath
3. Healing
4. Awareness
5. Persuasion
6. Conceptualization
7. Foresight
8. Stewardship
9. Commitment to the growth of people
10.Building community
• The servant leadership style can amp up
an employee’s motivation and courage to
be more creative and innovative.
• This is because leaders give ownership and
some control to employees. Doing this
can:
• Strengthen the corporate culture
• Decrease voluntary turnover
• Draw out more engagement and
commitment from employees
Boundary Spanning leadership
• Boundary spanning leadership is the
capability to establish direction, alignment,
and commitment across boundaries in
service of a higher vision or goal

• Boundary spanning leadership focuses on

building bridges and facilitating
collaboration across different units or
organizations.
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Team leadership
• Team leadership involves aligning a group of people
towards a common goal and ensuring they have all the
support they need to achieve it
• Team leader always:
• Values the contribution of all team members.
• Focuses own efforts on working with the team to
achieve the desired results.
• Participates in activities that lead to a sense of
identity on projects.
• Motivates and inspires others to self-empowerment
and self-respect.
• Evaluates performance of the team in order to
ensure the achievement of the team’s objectives.
Guidelines for leading Team
Common Interest and Value:
• Emphasize shared goals and values to foster a sense of
unity and purpose among team members.

Use Rituals, Ceremonies, and Symbols:

• Employ rituals and symbols to build collective identity,
reinforcing a sense of belonging and shared mission.

Encourage Social Interaction:

• Foster an environment that encourages social
interaction, building companionship and strong
interpersonal relationships within the team.
Guidelines for leading Team
Communication of Group Activities and Achievements:
• Keep the team informed about collective
accomplishments, reinforcing a sense of pride and
shared success.

Increase Incentive for Mutual Cooperation:

• Implement incentives that promote mutual cooperation,
aligning individual efforts with the overall success of the
team.