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Chapter 5
Leadership: Situational Approaches
Chapter Overview
Situational approaches to studying leadership were a natural progression evolving from
the discoveries that: A) there is no set of traits that guarantees either effectiveness or
ineffectiveness as a manager, and B) there is no one best managerial behavior to engage
in for all circumstances.
In this chapter we discuss the rationale behind a situational approach to leadership and
Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, each student should be able to:
1. Describe situational approaches to leadership
2. Diagram and explain the Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum of Leader Behavior
3. Discuss Fiedler’s Leadership Contingency Model
Key Terms and Concepts
Situational Theories
Most leadership theorists today agree that the process of leading is so complex that no
one type of behavior on the part of a leader will be effective all the time. Effective
leadership and organizational behavior concepts and theories are situational, or
Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum of Leader Behavior
This is one of the earliest (1957) and most significant situational approaches to
leadership. In this approach, the leader looks at the situation and chooses one of seven
possible leader behaviors depending on the forces interacting between the leader, the
Fiedler’s Leadership Contingency Model
Fred E. Fiedler suggested that three major situational variables determine whether a given
situation is favorable to a leader:
1. Leader-Member Relations – personal relations with members of the group,
House-Mitchell Path-Goal Theory
Robert J. House and Terence R. Mitchell developed this theory to explain contradictions
in the Ohio State model.
This theory is named Path-Goal because its major concern is how the leader influences
Hersey-Blanchard Tridimensional Leader Effectiveness Model
In this model, the terms task behavior and relationship behavior are used to create four
basic leader behavior quadrants which are labeled high task and low relationship; high
Task behavior is the extent to which leaders are likely to organize and define the roles of
the members of their group (followers) and to explain what activities each is to do and
when, where, and how tasks are to be accomplished.
Relationship behavior is the extent to which leaders are likely to engage in dialogue
between themselves and members of their group (followers) by opening up channels of
Instrumentation
The Center for Leadership Studies developed two leader effectiveness and adaptability
description (LEAD) instruments to gather data about the leaders’ behaviors: the LEAD
Self and the LEAD Other. The LEAD Self is designed to measure self-perception of three
aspects of leader behavior: style, style range, and style adaptability. The LEAD Other
gathers information about leaders’ styles and is completed by the leaders’ followers,
superiors, and associates (peers).
Consistency and Leadership
Consistent leadership is using the style appropriate for the followers’ level of readiness in
such a way that followers understand why they are getting a certain behavior, or a certain
Attitude versus Behavior
The old definition of consistency purported that your behavior as a manager must be
consistent with your attitudes. Recent theories and models suggest that attitudinal models
Suggested Teaching Approaches
Discussion Questions
1. Discuss the Vision into Performance Model and one’s role as a linking pin, which
serves as a review of the previous week.
Assignments
1. In the dynamic world of leadership research, new approaches are being developed
continuously. Assign students a research project involving the identification of
Activities
1. Case Study
The written case study for this chapter focuses on the concept of consistency in
Exam Questions
1. Why study situational approaches to leadership?
Answer:
Most theorists now agree that the process of leading is so complex that no one
type of leader behavior will be effective all the time. The three main components
2. Compare and contrast the Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum of Leader Behavior
with Fiedler’s Leadership Contingency Model.
Answer:
The Tannenbaum-Schmidt Continuum illustrates a range of seven leader
behaviors from authoritarian or task-oriented to democratic or relationship-
3. Describe the House-Mitchell Path-Goal Theory and its view of appropriate
leadership styles.
Answer:
According to House and Mitchell’s Path-Goal Theory, a leader’s behavior is
motivating to the degree that it works to increase subordinate goal attainment and
