When applying leadership to a workplace, sporting team, class room or any other situation, it is important to understand that there different leadership styles that one may chose to practice. It is also important to understand that no single leadership style will fit all situations and that different elements of each style can be incorporated into the individual’s own leadership style. Good leaders have a firm understanding of their own style and are conscious of their situation, as they understand that both factors are interdependent on one other.  The following paper will analyse contingency, situational, charismatic and transformational leadership styles and use real and generic examples of such styles being applied to suit certain situation.

The contingency approach to leadership acknowledges that a leader’s behaviour is more effective when it is contingent upon situational forces (Dubrin & Dalglish, 2003 p. 148). Both internal (work force competency, organisational culture etc.) and external (competitiveness, government regulations) factors define the environment from which the contingency leader (according to their behaviours) would be most effective in. Fielder’s contingency theory of leadership effectiveness is an excellent framework to analyse in order to realise which situations would best suit the leader. Fielder recognised that there are manager styles that are either:

• Relationship motivated - Motivated by interaction and social stimulation
• Task Motivated- Motivated by task at hand and associated goals and outcomes
• Intermediate Style- socio-independent, neutral.

Fielder’s work describes the difficulties one encounters when changing their leadership styles. Contingency leadership is therefore focused on creating or adapting situations to suit his/her leadership style. The orientation of the leader’s motivation therefore depicts the situation that would best suit them.

There are many complicated models that attempt to define contingency leadership and match certain behaviours with their ideal situation. These can be tedious, often unfounded and certainly difficult to apply to every leader and their situation. For the purpose of understanding what good leadership is one should simply look to Fielder’s methods for making the situation more favourable to the leader. A good leader should focus on this, as it is not often that they are given a choice of different situations to encounter.

Firstly, one should improve leader-member relations (Dubrin & Dalglish, 2003, p. 151). This means a leader should proactively take an interest in his/her followers, listen to them and generally be seen as ‘nice guy’ in the workplace. A supervisor of a production team may achieve this trough taking followers out to lunch, putting on drinks on a Friday night or creating an open door policy whereby all followers can speak to him at all times. This enhances the working environment (situation) as it promotes open communication, transparent leadership and a free flow of information vertically along the hierarchy.

Another method described by Fielder to make the situation more favourable is to increase task structure (Dubrin & Dalglish, 2003, p.149). A CEO of a small recruitment company may do this by communicating specific deadlines, expectations, instructions or standards with middle management. The situation is enhanced through a the creation of structured objectives that give the entire workplace a greater sense of direction.

Fielder’s final method is to exercise more position power (Dubrin & Dalglish, 2003, p.150). A HR manager may do this by emphasising his/her ability to further subordinate’s careers or promote hi/her legitimate power to reward good work. This method is focused on the leader as it promotes (to the followers) their ability and authority to lead the group.

Situational leadership is not dissimilar to contingency theories in that it analyses the situation and ascertains which leadership behaviours would be the most effective to practice. Hersey and Blanchard created a model that focuses on the readiness (ability and willingness to complete task) of the group (followers) when analysing the situation. The following model depicts the situation in respect to the behaviour of the leader, whether it is task orientated or relationship orientated.

Charisma is often found in all memorable leaders regardless of the leadership styles that they employ. It rallies the masses, motivates the dull, promotes the future, encourages the weak and showers confidence upon all whom come in contact with it. For this reason, it is seen as an incredibly powerful tool that good leaders are able to incorporate into their leadership style.

However academics chose to define leadership styles, it is important to understand that they are each unique to the individual leader. Many have created models and theories, that attempt to define behaviours, predict situations and analyse leaders/followers in order to categorise certain leadership styles. Whilst these are vital in understanding leadership it should be understood that one cannot create their leaderships style based on a single structured study. A good leader must instead assess their situation, themselves and their followers and create a leadership style that works for them.