Leadership Theories Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Leadership Theories - Article Example orting leadership style for employees that are unmotivated but skilled, and observing leadership style for employees that are skilled as well as motivated. Wharton Professor Robert House developed the path-goal theory of leadership (Basu, 2014). According to this leadership theory, leadership style impacts employees’ performance and job satisfaction. Successful leaders establish goals and lay out clear path in front of employees so that they may be able to achieve their goals. Leaders also play a role in clearing obstacles and providing employees with incentives for milestone achievement. Leaders should support employees to improve their confidence, instruct them on ambiguous tasks, and demand from them when they look unmotivated. This requires constant and frequent interaction between the leader and followers so that employees may be included in the decision-making process also. The fundamental concept on which the path-goal theory is based is the way rewards are used by the leaders to motivate the workforce. It is the situation that depicts the type of rewards which would suit. The situational model of leadership is more elaborative in offering suggestions regarding the ways in which leaders should change their style as per the demands of the different situations. In order to be effective as leaders, leaders should first prioritize their tasks, then they should evaluate the motivation and skill of employees, and then the leaders should decide which style of leadership to adopt on the basis of the information collected in the first two steps. Leaders might also need to use different styles in combination to deal with the different organizational personnel. On the other hand, the path-goal theory suggests leaders to identify the skills of employees before assigning them responsibilities, and convince them that they are capable enough to perform the assigned tasks successfully. Successful employees should be rewarded for their good performance. There are