Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
Lecture Notes
Chapter 6: Path–Goal Theory
Learning Objectives
6-2 Explain how the path–goal theory works.
6-4 Discuss the criticisms of the path–goal theory.
6-5 Explain how path–goal theory can improve one’s leadership.
Annotated Chapter Outline
I. Description
A. Path–goal theory discusses how leaders motivate followers to accomplish designated
goals.
i. Draws from research on follower motivations.
ii. First appears in the early 1970s.
a. Evans (1970).
b. House (1971).
B. Stated goal: Enhancing follower performance and satisfaction by focusing on motivation
and the nature of the work task.
C. Emphasizes relationship between leader’s style, characteristics of followers, and the
organizational setting.
i. Leaders must adjust their leadership styles to followers’ changing emotional
needs.
a. Done by choosing behaviors that complement or supplement what is
missing in the work setting.
ii. Leaders supply followers with the elements they think followers need to reach a
goal.
a. Can include information or rewards.
iii. Puts the onus on leaders to design and facilitate a healthy and productive work
environment.
D. Leadership can generate motivation in a number of ways:
i. Increasing the amounts and types of payoffs followers receive from work.
ii. Making the path to the goal clear and easy to follow through:
a. Coaching and direction.
b. Removing obstacles and roadblocks.
c. Making the work itself more personally satisfying.
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
E. Motivation in path–goal theory is conceptualized from the expectancy theory of
motivation.
i. Assumes that the central factors in motivating employees are the employees’
beliefs:
a. They are capable of performing their work.
b. Their efforts will result in a certain outcome.
c. The payoff for doing their work is worthwhile.
ii. Challenge of this theory for leaders is understanding the goals and perceived
rewards of each follower.
a. Leaders should find out what is rewarding to followers about their work,
F. Leader Behaviors
i. Several revisions have added numerous associated contingencies to the theory,
but there are four primary leadership behaviors which are foundational to
understanding path–goal theory.
ii. Directive leadership: Much like the “initiating structure” concept of the Ohio
State studies and the “telling” style in the Situational Leadership® model, this
behavior is focused on directing followers in task completion and setting clear
expectations for work.
a. It is thought that by providing explicit expectations and removing
ambiguity, followers will have the clarity needed to focus on their jobs.
iii. Supportive leadership: Resembles the “consideration” behavioral construct of
the Ohio State studies and consists of being approachable and attentive to the
well-being of followers.
a. Leaders using these behaviors go out of their way to make work
pleasant for workers, which provides followers with the confidence they
need to succeed.
b. Treating followers as equals and respecting them for their status is
another important quality of supportive leadership.
iv. Participative leadership: Inviting followers to share in decision making and
integrating their suggestions into decisions about how the group or organization
will proceed.
a. May increase group performance through member participation and
dedication to shared group goals.
v. Achievement-oriented leadership: Characterized by leaders who challenge their
followers to perform work at the highest level possible and seek continuous
improvement.
a. These leaders tend to be extremely confident that their followers are
G. Follower Characteristics
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
i. Strong determinant of how a leader’s behavior is interpreted in a given work
context.
a. Followers seek leader behaviors that bring immediate satisfaction or
which are instrumental to some future satisfaction.
ii. Need for affiliation: Followers with a high level of this need prefer friendly and
concerned leadership.
a. Supportive leadership is most effective for these followers.
b. Appreciate verbal recognition of hard work and individual attention
when they are in need of support.
iii. Preference for structure: Followers with a high level of this need tend to be
dogmatic and authoritarian, or they may have to work in uncertain situations.
a. Respond positively to directive leadership, which clarifies the path to
iv. Desire for control: The desire for control concerns followers’ understandings of
the role they play in their own lives, which is described by an internal or external
locus of control.
a. Internal locus of control: People with this quality believe they are in
charge of the events occurring in their own lives.
b. External locus of control: People with this quality believe that chance,
fate, or outside forces control the trajectory of their lives.
v. Self-perceived level of task ability: A follower’s understanding of their own
abilities and competence.
a. Need for directive leadership decreases as self-perception of ability
increases, and may even feel controlling and redundant if a follower is
completely secure in their competency.
H. Task Characteristics
i. Task characteristics: Three characteristics that impact the way a leader’s
behavior influences followers’ motivation.
a. The design of the followers’ task.
b. The formal authority system in the organization.
c. The primary work group of followers.
ii. These characteristics in themselves can be motivating.
iii. Some situations may not require a leader at all because the path to the goal is
apparent. These situations typically provide:
a. A clearly structured task.
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b. Strong group norms.
iv. Tasks that benefit from a leader’s involvement:
a. Unclear or ambiguous tasks where leadership involvement provides
structure.
b. Highly repetitive tasks, as leaders can assist in maintaining follower
motivation.
c. Settings with a weak formal authority system benefit from a leader
setting or clarifying rules and work requirements.
d. Contexts with weak or nonsupportive group norms that need a source
of cohesiveness and role responsibilities.
I. Revision to the path–goal theory:
i. 1996 reformulation includes four additional leadership behaviors, expanding the
total number to eight:
a. Work facilitation.
ii. The spirit of path–goal theory remains much the same: leaders need to support
followers by helping compensate for deficiencies in either the environment or
follower abilities.
II. How Does Path–Goal Theory Work?
A. Theoretically complex, yet pragmatic.
i. Provides direction about how leaders can help followers accomplish their work.
B. Directive style of leadership is preferred in these situations:
i. Followers are dogmatic/authoritarian.
ii. Task demands are ambiguous.
C. Supportive style of leadership is preferred in these situations:
i. Task demands are structured, unsatisfying, frustrating, repetitive, or
unchallenging.
ii. Leader outcome: Providing a sense of human touch for followers performing
mundane, mechanized activities.
D. Participative style of leadership is preferred in these situations:
i. Followers are autonomous and have a strong need for control.
E. Achievement-oriented style of leadership is preferred in these situations:
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
i. Task demands are ambiguous.
ii. Leader outcome: Challenging and setting high standards for followers to boost
their confidence in achieving their goals.
III. Strengths
A. Provides an understanding of how leadership behaviors affect followers’ satisfaction
and work performance.
i. One of the first theories to specify conceptually distinct varieties of leadership
(directive, supportive, etc.)
a. Prior research dealt exclusively with task- and relationship-oriented
B. Attempts to integrate motivation principles of expectancy theory into leadership.
i. No other leadership approach deals directly with motivation, but in path–goal
theory, it is a central focus.
C. Very practical in certain ways.
i. Demands that leaders clarify paths to goals and remove or help followers around
obstacles on the path.
ii. Reminds leaders that the main purpose of leadership is guidance and coaching.
IV. Criticisms
A. Complex and integrates many different aspects of leadership and related contingency.
i. Interpretation can be confusing.
ii. Daunting to incorporate all factors recommended simultaneously.
iii. Broad scope makes it difficult to test empirically, so little to no complete
research is available.
B. Received only partial empirical support.
i. Effect of leader directiveness on follower satisfaction when a task is ambiguous:
a. Statistically significant positive effect in some studies.
ii. Not all aspects have been equally addressed by research (particularly
participative and achievement-oriented leadership styles.)
iii. Several iterations of path–goal theory have caused some confusion in the
literature.
C. Does not account for demographic differences in how leadership is enacted and
perceived.
i. Research on the impact of gender on directive, supportive, and participative
leadership has not been integrated into path–goal theory.
a. Eagly & Johnson (1990) found women are more participative and men
are more directive.
Northouse, Leadership 9e
SAGE Publishing, 2022
b. Also determined that women who use a directive style are negatively
perceived compared to men using the same style, particularly if a job is
“masculine.”
ii. Race has also been shown as a potential factor that interacts with gender:
D. Fails to explain the relationship between leadership behavior and follower motivation.
i. Does not explicitly describe how to elicit motivation in followers using the
different styles.
a. Does not, for example, explain how directive leadership in ambiguous
tasks increases follower motivation.
ii. Leader is left with an inadequate understanding of how leadership will affect
follower expectations.
E. Presumes leaders possess the advanced communication skills necessary to swiftly
change leadership behaviors to maximize the effectiveness of follower interactions.
i. These shifts may be viewed as inconsistent and confusing by followers.
F. A leader-centric approach that treats leader behavior as the primary means of
motivating followers.
i. Assumes a one-way relationship: the leader affects the follower.
V. Application
A. Few management training programs are based on this theory.
B. However, it provides a set of general recommendations based on the characteristics of
followers and tasks.
i. A guide to becoming more effective leaders.
ii. Suggests which behaviors to emphasize and when including:
a. Clarifying goal behavior.