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Leadership Styles

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Leadership Styles
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LDR/531 Organizational Leadership

Leadership Styles
Leaders have a “the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of a vision or set of goals” (Robbins & Judge, 2007, p. 402). In the past leaders have been described by certain traits or characteristics. These traits can help an organization identify potential candidates who may be strong leaders. Later behavior approaches of leaders were identified that could be taught. In short, leaders could be made. Situations have an impact on which leader behaviors will be most effect at any given time. Several contingency theories have been formulated over the years to identify how situations influence leadership behavior. Each style has strengths and weaknesses. An effective leader can identify and evaluate a situation to determine which style will produce the ideal outcome of performance and satisfaction within a given industry.
A leader’s traits and behaviors can reveal a leaders potential effectiveness in various situations. Situational moderator variables can either enhance or hinder a leader’s ability to be effective in a given situation. Contingency Theories of leadership explain “leadership effectiveness in terms of situational moderator variables” (Yuki, 2006, p. 214). The six major contingency theories include: leader substitutes theory, LPC contingency model, path-goal theory, situational leadership theory, multiple-linkage theory, and cognitive resources theory.
“LPC contingency model describes how the situation moderates the relationship between leadership and a trait measure called the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) score” (Yuki, 2006, p. 215). A leader with a high LPC score tends to be more people-oriented. Their initial goal or motivator is to establish relationships with the people he or she works with. A leader with a low LPC score is more task-oriented. Their primary objective is to complete the task objectives.
Path-goal theory of leadership explains



References: Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2007). Organizational behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Yuki, G. (2006). Leadership in organizations (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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