Page "Leadership" Paragraph 23

The Fiedler contingency model bases the leader's effectiveness on what Fred Fiedler called situational contingency.

This results from the interaction of leadership style and situational favorability ( later called situational control ).

The theory defined two types of leader: those who tend to accomplish the task by developing good relationships with the group ( relationship-oriented ), and those who have as their prime concern carrying out the task itself ( task-oriented ).

According to Fiedler, there is no ideal leader.

Both task-oriented and relationship-oriented leaders can be effective if their leadership orientation fits the situation.

When there is a good leader-member relation, a highly structured task, and high leader position power, the situation is considered a " favorable situation ".

Fiedler found that task-oriented leaders are more effective in extremely favorable or unfavorable situations, whereas relationship-oriented leaders perform best in situations with intermediate favorability.