Path Goal Theory: Kristy Vigilante

Path-Goal Theory- leader uses a leadership style that matches the worker’s motivational needs in a particular situation.

§  Developed in the early 1970’s by Robert House, a professor of organizational studies and management at the University of Pennsylvania.
§  Leader behaviors depend on two situational factors: the subordinate conditions and the task characteristics.
§  House & Mitchell examined four leader behaviors that meet directive, supportive, participative, and achievement oriented needs; these behaviors help workers avoid obstacles while moving along the path toward the goal:

ü  Directive-oriented leadership: leader clearly directs, instructs, and monitors workers in the time, quality, and expectations for how the task is to be accomplished

ü  Supportive-orientated leadership: leader takes genuine interest in the workers’ well being and their working conditions.

ü  Participative-oriented leadership: leader consults and shares information with the group to obtain their input into the decision-making process as a means to implement a superior solution.

ü  Achievement-oriented leadership: leader expresses challenging goals with a high standard for excellent performance.

Path-Goal Theory in Practice

§  Purpose: increase worker effort, performance, and job satisfaction in each situation.

 

 

§  Path-Goal Theory into Practice Table 4-3 identifies a situation, the specific leadership behavior recommended according to the path-goal theory, the impact of this leadership behavior on the follower, and the outcome.

o   Directive leadership: followers prefer authoritarian leadership, task is complex and ambiguous, & the rules and regulations are unclear about how to complete the task.

o   Supportive leadership: followers lack self-confidence and need affiliation and support; task is menial, boring, and repetitive.

o   Achievement-oriented leadership: followers have high expectations and a need for task accomplishment; task is complex, ambiguous, and challenging (or it may have a lack of challenge).

o   Participative leadership: followers have a high level of competence, cooperation, and a need to excel; task may be unclear or unstructured and the reward may not be appropriate to the goal.

v  Workers with a high level of internal locus of control (those who believe their outcomes are a result of their own hard work and good decisions) tend to be more satisfied working with leaders who use participative leadership styles.

v  Workers with a high level of external locus of control (those who see outcomes as a result of external factors or luck) tend to be more satisfied working with leaders using directive leadership styles.

v  Educational leaders should be able to apply the path-goal theory by assessing the needs of the school workers and the particular situation and then apply the correct leadership style.

v  Path-goal theory allows school leaders to increase the probability of increased worker effort, performance, and job satisfaction, as well as build staff capacity to confront and solve new tasks.