Obstacle Destroyed, Path-Goal Theory in Leadership
Leadership Model Rapid Intro
Always a fan of a theory with a good name. Path-Goal Theory is one.
Right away the name somewhat lays out what the approach is. There is a path that leads to a goal. As a leadership approach, the set up is clear: keep the path clear.
Also a fan of simple illustrations for ideas, I think this image does well to paint the idea.
Pulling from the book Leadership: Theory and Practice, by Peter Northouse, p.139-140, there are four recommended behaviors for a leader within this approach:
Directive, adding structure
Supportive, adding nurturance
Participative, adding involvement
Achievement orientated, adding challenges (the positive kind)
Similar to Situational Leadership, it is important for a leader to realize they need to pick a behavior that best fits the needs of the team and the work at hand.
With that in mind, this model predicts the following match between the leader style and task characteristics:
Task is ambiguous, complex
Task is repetitive, unchallenging
Task is ambiguous, unstructured
Task is challenging, complex
One element that I am leaving out is the component of the team member’s characteristics because what I find interesting about this Path-Goal Theory is that it seems to assume a core element in a given team member: competence.
A team member is on a path to a goal but hits an obstacle (the work is overwhelming, unclear, etc.). A leader should then have a sense of how to best assist, at least on the premise that this person is able to do the work but for the unique nature of the work.
I find it to be a worthwhile reframing of the question: why isn’t the work being done? There are times when the team member is the issue, of course, but it is also true that the work itself can be the issue. A leader’s role, then, is clear: make it so that talent can work.
Northouse, P. (2022). Leadership: Theory & practice (9th ed.), Los Angeles, CA: SAGE
More soon,
Trevor
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