Fiedlers Contingency Theory: Leadership Model & LPC

When you imagine the qualities of a leader, what comes to mind? Perhaps you think of a strong, determined individual with a blazer and a checklist. Maybe you think of a master of interpersonal relationships who empowers a team to collaborate well. According to Fiedler's Contingency Theory, both of these people can be great leaders, because a leader's effectiveness depends on the harmony between their leadership style and the situation at hand.

Fiedler argues that it's difficult to change how you lead, so understanding your leadership style is essential for serving your team. To help you better comprehend your style of leadership and make the best decisions for your company, we break down Fiedler's model, teach you how to apply it, and provide examples of the theory in action.

What is Fiedler's Contingency Theory?

Fiedler's Contingency Theory states that effective leadership depends on matching a leader's natural style to the situation, rather than adapting their approach. Developed in the 1960s by Austrian psychologist Fred Fiedler, this model was groundbreaking because it argued that leadership style is fixed and shaped by life experiences.

Unlike other leadership theories that encourage flexibility, Fiedler concluded that changing your leadership style is incredibly difficult, if not impossible. This insight shifted the focus from "How can I become a better leader?" to "Where will my leadership style be most effective?"

For this reason, Fiedler believed the right leader must be chosen for each job based on their skill set and the requirements of the situation. To put it simply, Fiedler determined that a leader's ability to succeed rests on two factors:

1. Natural leadership style

2. Situational favorableness

What are the elements of Fiedler's Contingency Model?

Fiedler's Contingency Theory is pretty simple. All it requires is a comparison of one's leadership style with the demands of the situation. Let's take a closer look at how the model breaks down these factors.

Leadership style

To help you determine your leadership style, Fiedler developed the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale. The scale asks you to describe the coworker you least prefer to work with.

The more positively you rate your least preferred coworker on a variety of different criteria, the more relationship-oriented you are. The less favorably you rate them on the same criteria, the more task-oriented you are.

Essentially:

• If you're a high LPC leader, you're a relationship-oriented leader.

• If you're a low LPC leader, you're a task-oriented leader.

Relationship-oriented leaders, including those who practice servant leadership, are great at building relationships, facilitating team synergy, and managing interpersonal conflict. Task-oriented leaders tend to be skilled at organizing projects and teams to accomplish tasks efficiently and effectively.

The rationale behind these two leadership styles is pretty straightforward:

• Rating your least preferred coworker favorably means that you see the best in people, even those whom you wouldn't necessarily choose to work with.

• Rating your least preferred coworker unfavorably suggests that you struggle to see their contributions, since you value efficiency and effectiveness over other attributes.

There isn't one "right" way to lead, as different management styles prove effective in various contexts. While task-orientation may be preferable to the organization as a whole, teammates themselves tend to prefer relationship-orientation. In fact, 79% of people who quit their jobs cite a lack of appreciation as a primary reason for leaving.

Situational favorableness

Fiedler's model requires you to assess the situation at hand. The favorability of a situation depends on how much influence and power you have as a leader.

Situational favorableness is determined by three variables:

1. Leader-member relations: The level of trust between you and your team. Higher trust means a more favorable situation.

2. Task structure: The clarity of tasks required to complete a project. Clear, well-defined tasks create higher favorability.

3. Position power: Your authority over your team, including the ability to reward, discipline, or direct. Higher authority means a more favorable situation.

How to apply Fiedler's Contingency Model for effective leadership

Now that we've established a basic understanding of Fiedler's Contingency Theory, you can determine your leadership style and begin applying the model.

The following steps will help you determine your leadership style and assess whether you're the right fit for any given situation.

Step 1: Understand your leadership style

To identify your natural leadership style, think of the person you least prefer working with. Use the LPC scale below to rate them honestly; accurate results require honest answers.

Least preferred coworker (LPC) scale

Determining your LPC score

Now that you've filled out the test, add up every number you marked to calculate your LPC score. Interpret your score as follows:

• If you scored 73 or above (a high LPC score), you are a relationship-oriented leader.

• If you scored 54 or below (a low LPC score), you are a task-oriented leader.

• If you scored between 55 and 72, you have the qualities of both a relationship-oriented and a task-oriented leader. Deciding which style fits you best will require further exploration of other leadership theories.

Step 2: Assess the situation

To assess situational favorableness and determine leadership effectiveness in a specific environment, Fiedler poses three questions.

On a scale of one to 10, with 10 representing the highest value:

• Are leader-member relations good and trustworthy (10) or poor and untrustworthy (1)?

• Are the tasks at hand clear and structured (10) or confusing and unstructured (1)?

• Is your authority and influence over your team strong (10) or weak (1)?

Don't solely rely on your own judgment of the situation. Ask group members to answer these questions anonymously and calculate the average of all answers to better understand the situation's favorableness. Seeking your team's insight is a great way to empower them and improve team morale.

Step 3: Decide whether you're the leader for the job

Now that you have a grasp of your leadership style and the situation's favorability, you can determine whether you're the right leader for the situation.

• If you're a task-oriented leader, you're the best fit to tackle highly favorable and highly unfavorable situations. The extremes are where you'll serve your team best.

• If you're a relationship-oriented leader, your style is best suited for situations with moderate favorability.

The table below breaks down the different instances in which each leadership style is the best fit.

What if your style doesn't match the situation? If you're a task-oriented leader in a moderately favorable situation, or a relationship-oriented leader in an extreme situation, you may not be the ideal fit. Don't panic, there are ways to set your team up for success.

Step 4: Consider delegating to the right leader

According to Fiedler, leadership style is fixed and cannot be changed. This means that if a leader's style isn't right for a situation, that leader may need to delegate leadership to the right person.

While it can be challenging to admit that your skillset isn't right for a situation, there's no shame in delegating leadership to someone else. In fact, delegation is necessary for effective leadership. If you're a manager, consider promoting someone on your team with the opposite leadership style to supervise the team wherever needed.

Step 5: Try changing the situation

Another way to ensure your team is set up for success if your leadership style doesn't fit the situation is to try to change the situation. Here are a few ways to align situational favorableness with your skillset:

• Improve leader-member relations. If it would help improve the situation, try focusing on your transparency with the team or entrusting team members with new responsibilities. Many leaders recognize that how their team perceives transparency directly impacts trust and collaboration.

• Level up task clarity. Are tasks unclear simply because that's the nature of the job, or are there processes that can be cleaned up a bit? Try outlining tasks to make them easier for your team to accomplish.

• Increase your authority. If more power and influence could help you lead better, try formulating an argument to present to upper management. You may come out of it with a promotion to a more senior role.

Examples of Fiedler's Contingency Theory

Let's look at two real-world scenarios that show Fiedler's Contingency Theory in action.

Case study 1: Startup co-manager challenges

Imagine you've just been hired as a co-manager of a startup tech company. The team of 12 has been working together for a little over a year. The current manager hired you to help improve the company's strategy.

• Leader-member relations are poor. As a new manager brought into an already tight-knit team, there's bound to be some friction and distrust.

• Task structure is low. The company is still considered a startup, and you were hired to help establish some structure. At this point, everyone helps out with everything.

• Leader position power is weak. There's another manager with more authority who could veto your decisions, especially as they pertain to the team.

According to Fiedler's Contingency Theory, this scenario calls for a task-oriented leader. The situation is highly unfavorable, and a relationship-oriented leader would have a very hard time getting anything done.

Case study 2: Leading a graphic design team

Say you've recently been promoted to the new role of Head of Graphic Design at your design agency. You've been working here for five years, and your promotion was largely due to your team's praise.

• Leader-member relations are good. You've built a solid relationship with your team over the years, so solid, in fact, that they wanted you to take on a more senior role.

• Task structure is decently high. While your team has a decent amount of creative control over its product, the agency has been operating for a while, so tasks and processes are well-defined.

• Leader position power is weak. You've been promoted to a more senior role where you can better assist your team with your expertise, but you aren't in a management role with the authority to hire or fire.

According to Fiedler's Contingency Theory, this scenario calls for a relationship-oriented leader. The situation is moderately favorable, but you don't quite have the power to enact significant change.

Pros and cons of Fiedler's Contingency Theory

There is plenty of valuable insight to be gained from Fiedler's Contingency Theory, but it's important to remember that it's just one theory. It shouldn't be given supreme authority to determine leadership fit and should be supplemented with additional resources.

Advantages of Fiedler's Contingency Model

Advantages of Fiedler's Contingency Theory include:

• It provides a simple way to determine when a leader's skills are most and least impactful.

• It encourages leaders to practice self-awareness, an essential quality for making decisions for a team.

• It takes the situation into account, branching beyond many leadership theories that focus solely on the leader.

• It's straightforward. LPC and situational favorableness are both relatively easy to calculate.

Limitations and criticisms of Fiedler's theory

Criticisms of Fiedler's Contingency Theory include:

• It's far too rigid. If you can't change the situation at hand, the theory holds that the only option is to give up leadership.

• It's unclear what leaders who fall in the middle range of the LPC test should do. The theory essentially just says to "figure it out."

• Self-assessment isn't always reliable. Even when we try to be self-aware when completing the LPC test, our egos and biases have a way of interfering, even subconsciously.

• The theory may discourage leaders who are doing a fine job, especially if they perceive their leadership style and situation to be at odds when they actually aren't.

Comparing Fiedler's Contingency Model with other contingency theories

Fiedler's Contingency Theory is a theory of leadership effectiveness that explores how different leadership styles perform in different situations. While these contingency theories share the basic premise that effective leadership depends on the interplay between the individual's leadership style and the situation, they differ in their specific focus and approach.

Here's how Fiedler's Contingency Theory compares to other situational leadership models:

How to implement Fiedler's Contingency Theory

Implementing Fiedler's Contingency Theory in the workplace requires a thorough understanding of the model and its practical applications. Here are some tips to help you effectively apply the theory in your leadership practice:

1. Assess your leadership style using the LPC scale to determine whether you're task-oriented or relationship-oriented.

2. Analyze situational favorableness by evaluating leader-member relations, task structure, and position power.

3. Match your style to the situation. Task-oriented leaders thrive in highly favorable or unfavorable situations; relationship-oriented leaders excel in moderate situations.

4. Adapt when mismatched. If your style doesn't fit, consider delegating leadership or modifying the situational factors.

5. Evaluate regularly and seek team feedback to ensure your approach delivers results.

Understanding these differences and applying these tips will help you leverage Fiedler's model to become a more effective leader.

Put your team's success first with Fiedler's Contingency Theory

Fiedler's Contingency Theory of Leadership serves as a great reminder that leadership isn't uniform. If your team isn't performing as well as it should, it might not mean you aren't a good leader. Rather, your natural leadership style might not be what's best for your team's needs at the moment.

Understanding your leadership style and the situations where you thrive can help you make better decisions for your team. Whether that means stepping up to lead or knowing when to delegate, Fiedler's model gives you a practical way to approach leadership challenges. Ready to improve how your team collaborates? Get started with Asana to keep your projects organized and your team aligned, no matter your leadership style.

Frequently asked questions about Fiedler's Contingency Theory