Respond to Himanshu using one scholarly source…
Leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act toward achieving a common goal. Leaders show the way and influence the behavior of others by their actions and ideas. Leadership failure rates range from 40 percent to 60 percent, costing organizations millions of dollars each year. Researchers have been trying to formulate various theories to figure out what makes great leaders. In my opinion, the contingency theory of leadership most accurately explains effective leadership. According to Manning & Curtis (2018) “. Leadership contingency theory holds that the most appropriate leadership qualities and actions vary from situation to situation. Effectiveness depends on leader, follower, and situational factors” (p.21). As per the contingency theory of leadership, a leader’s effectiveness is contingent on whether or not their leadership style suits a particular situation. According to this theory, an individual can be an effective leader in one circumstance and an ineffective leader in another one. Contingent leaders are flexible in choosing and adapting to succinct strategies to suit change in situation at a particular period in time in the running of the organization. This theory was made popular by Fred Fiedler with his famous Contingency model, which paved way for further contingency theories and models with more details and understanding. According to Fiedler, task-oriented leaders get the best results when faced with strongly favorable or strongly unfavorable situations. Over the years, Contingency theory of leadership has been criticized for falling short in trying to explain why leaders with certain leadership styles are effective in some situations but not others. Contingency theory also fails to adequately explain what should be done about a leader/situation mismatch in the workplace. Contingency theory also fails to explain how leaders can change their behavior or style depending upon the situation or features of the group.
Reference
Cherry, K. (2017, August 03). What is the contingency theory of leadership? Retrieved March 11, 2021, from https://www.explorepsychology.com/contingency-theory-leadership/
Manning, G., & Curtis, K. (2019). The art of leadership. New York: McGraw Hill Education.
