ABSTRACT
The approaches discussed in this chapter take as their central focus the possibility that the effectiveness of particular leadership styles is situation-ally contingent. This means that a particular style or pattern of behaviour will be effective in some circumstances (e.g. when a task is intrinsically satisfying, or when the personalities of subordinates predispose them to a particular style) but not others. The basic structure of ‘contingency approaches’ is expressed in Figure 5.1 Contingency approaches explicitly draw attention to the notion that there are no universally appropriate styles of leadership; particular styles have an impact on various outcomes in some situations but not others.
