Contingency
When reflecting on how contingency theory applies to my internship, the first thing that I thought about was LPC. Since my company is so small and there are really only three people who are working in the company, it is difficult to speculate about how Zach, my supervisor, would rate his LPC.
Overall, Zach is a very friendly and forgiving person so I would predict that he would rate his LPC as high, which suggests that he is a relationship oriented leader. Unfortunately, I think that our company is undergoing an unfavorable situation which would mean that a task oriented leader would be more favorable.
It will be interesting to see how things play out as the Summer continues based on this observation. Although, I think that Zach has a relationship oriented leadership style, he will be successful in guiding the company through the difficult times we are experiencing. The reason I say that we are experiencing an unfavorable situation is that a lot seems to be going wrong for us. The main issue we are experiencing is that one of the main components for the vending machine has been having issues and we are having trouble replacing it. There are multiple companies that have what we are looking for but with slightly different features and prices. This is causing us problems because there are difficult decisions that need to be made.
The more I reflect on Zach and his leadership style, the more I think that task and relationship orientations do not have to be mutually exclusive. I have seen Zach do many things to form strong relationships but I have also seen him become very task focused and get a lot done in a short period of time. I will keep a close eye on this issue as things unfold and more complications arise to further understand the implications of task vs. relationship oriented leadership.
I think it is true that task and leadership do not need to be mutually exclusive; that there are individuals who are able to employ both strategies. In regards to contingency theory, remember it is a leader-match theory. In addition to thinking of the LPC score, you need to also consider the leader/member relations, task structure, and position power. Those three variables need to be considered together when evaluating a situation and the preferred leadership style that would be the best match. Thinking through all elements of a theory as you observe and reflect; doing so will best equip you to complete the academic assignments this fall.