One of the things I have found myself doing these days after taking a few different leadership courses throughout my Penn State educational career is observing different leaders in action. It doesn’t matter what the situation is whether it is a formal or informal setting.
I was observing a Boy Scout troop that my son is apart of during various meetings they had about volunteering in the community and the troop leader had to get the boys to work together and accomplish their goals. In one meeting I attended the troop leader had to get the boys to concentrate and figure out how they were going to schedule and plan their community volunteering that year and where they would do it. “Path goal theory is designed to explain how leaders can help subordinates along the path to their goals by selecting specific behaviors that are suited to subordinates’ needs and to the situations in which subordinates are working.” (Northouse, 2013, pg 138)
To the boys this was a boring, mundane and a frustrating task to do since they are young boys are not sure what to expect and who don’t wish to work with such conditions. The boys needed a one on one or a small group approach that allowed them to feel connected. They needed that association to feel satisfied with their work. This is where a supportive leadership behavior comes in handy to achieve these goals. “Supportive leadership consists of being friendly and approachable as a leader and includes attending to the well being and human needs of subordinates” (Northouse, 2013, pg 140).
The troop leader was effective in providing this type of leadership and it gave the boys an incentive to get the work done and feel good about what they were doing. I find it important that a leader helps their subordinates under the task at hand and what is expected of them. The troop leader promised the boys pizza, soda and cookies after they were finished with the task providing their instrumentality. This makes the task valuable that allows for the condition of valence. The troop leader was very supportive and helped the boys out when they needed it and tried to make them interact with each other and understand that what they are planning to do is a worthwhile thing that helps people that helps them in a positive way.
I have found that when a leader provides rewards for a job well done, they are using the condition of instrumentality. The idea that the followers will perform better if they know they will be reward afterwards.
Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (Sixth ed.). Sage Publications, Inc.