Leadership and Situational Context: Fiedler

The Fiedler model shows that effective leadership depends on how a leader's traits and the surrounding context interact.


LEARNING OBJECTIVE

  • Assess the value and efficacy of Fred Fiedler's leadership model


KEY POINTS

    • Situational contingency attests that different circumstances require different leadership traits.
    • The Fieldler model uses the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) test to measure leadership traits.
    • A favorable situation for a leader has three components: good relations between the leader and follower, a highly structured task, and a powerful leadership position.

TERMS

  • Situational Contingency

    The theory that different leaders and leadership traits are required for different situations.

  • Favorable Situation

    Leadership contexts with good leader-member relations, high task structure, and high leader-position power.


Fred Fiedler's model of leadership states that different types of leaders are required for different situations. This situational contingency understanding of leadership suggests, for instance, that a leader in a strict, task-oriented workplace would have different qualities than a leader in a more open, idea-driven workplace. Fiedler subsequently enhanced his original model to increase the number of leadership traits it analyzed. This later theory, known as Cognitive Resource Theory (CRT), identifies the conditions under which leaders and group members will use their intellectual resources, skills, and knowledge effectively.

Source: Boundless
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