Fiedler's contingency model

Assumptions

Fred E. Fiedler (A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness, 1967) was the first to systematically link a leader's style to the situation. Unlike situational leadership, Fiedler held that leadership style is relatively fixed - rather than changing one's style, it is better to match the leader to the situation or change the situation.

Measuring style: the LPC scale

Style is measured with the LPC (Least Preferred Co-worker) scale: the leader describes the person they found hardest to work with. Those who describe this person relatively favourably (high LPC) are considered relationship-motivated; those who describe them very negatively (low LPC) are task-motivated.

Situational favourableness

Three factors describe the situation (in order of importance):

1. leader-member relations (good or poor),
2. task structure (high or low),
3. position power (strong or weak).

This yields eight types of situation, from very favourable to very unfavourable.

Main conclusion

• In very favourable or very unfavourable situations task-motivated leaders perform better.
• In moderately favourable situations relationship-motivated leaders perform better.

Assessment

The model has substantial though mixed empirical support. Critics focused on the LPC scale (it is unclear exactly what it measures) and on the assumption that leaders cannot change style. Fiedler's lasting contribution, however, was to establish in research that effectiveness depends on context. See also path-goal theory.