What is a contingency? According to dictionary.com, contingency is “dependence on chance or on the fulfillment of a condition.” What does that mean exactly? Well in regards to leadership and the contingency theory proposed by Fielder, one could assess that a leader who cannot truly change their behavior must find a fitting situation to apply their styles, then and only then can effective followers be found. In this case the effectiveness of the leader is dependent upon their approach, the influence of said approach on their followers, and on the situation.
Fielder’s position was firm; “different styles of leadership work best in different situations (Northouse, 2013).” That being said contingency is put upon the style and the situation at hand. Fielder put together a scale to measure individual leadership styles; Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale asked the taker to describe their ideal least preferred coworker by using bipolar adjectives. This either placed the individual on the High end of the scale, these individuals were motivated by relationships, or on the Low end where individuals were motivated by a task (Northouse, 2013). This information would be useful in placing a leader with a particular style into a situation where they could be most effective.
Fitting a leader into a situation may sound like an easy task, but there are three components to establish effective leadership and these are found by way of situational favorability. Before we dive into the components of situational favorability imagine for a moment what might be favored as a leader. For me, the first couple of things that come to mind are power, productivity, motivated performance, etc.. When we think about situational favorability we are looking at the influence a leader has over his or her followers; this influence is based upon the three components mentioned above, leader member relations, task structure, and position power (Northouse, 2013). Obviously relations between leader and members following said leader impact not only motivation and productivity, but in a way define the power that the leader holds. Task structure also impacts productivity and understanding what needs to be done influences motivation of the employee, but it also provides the leader with a sense of power in accomplishing a goal. Lastly, position power is what the leader can put into place to ensure that their followers remain motivated, satisfied, and productive; this can be seen through reward or punishment contingent upon the followers work. There is that word again, contingent, and it is applied through life because behaviors affect situations and situations also affect behaviors.
As Fielder suggests a leader may not fit into every situation, and they may not be able to change their behaviors to fit into every situation, but in essence utilizing the behaviors that can produce success are important when taking the situation into consideration.
Imagine now a world where individuals are put into areas that they do better in than others. Imagine the impact that the environment will have on them and those around them. Imagine how important relationships, task structure, and hierarchy of power are to continue to do better in a particular area.
Does this sound like life? Your life? Everyday work?
In life we are faced with many contingencies. Understanding that essentially everything is contingent upon something else can help us to not only lead our lives, but to gain position power throughout.
References
contingency. (n.d.). Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved September 30, 2014, from Dictionary.com website: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/contingency
Northouse, P.G., (2013) Leadership: Theory and Practice. California. SAGE Publications, Inc.