Week 4: Theories in Action

I mentioned in my last post that the Reaching Milestones leadership style is transformational. This leadership style became further evident to me when I applied Fiedler’s Contingency Theory to the organization’s structure and leadership. Fred Fiedler’s contingency model focuses on leadership in organizations. It conveys the relationship between leadership style and the favorableness of a given situation. This theory contributed to the study of leadership by showing that in order for an organization to be effective, it must be flexible and adapt to varying environmental circumstances. Essentially the Contingency Theory states that there is no one way to lead effectively because the context and environment needs to be assessed in order to choose the most effective strategy.

According to Fred Friedler’s three dimensions of situational favorableness, Reaching Milestones is high on Leader-Member relations, because the Director is very accepted and respected by her followers. The task structure is generally low, most of the time, except at the end of the month when invoices and corresponding session notes are due. Lastly, the position of power is low given the structure of the organization. As I mentioned in my last post, the therapists who work at Reaching Milestones are independent contractors, which means that they can leave the organization at any time. Therefore, given these three dimensions, the Friedler Contingency Model would predict that a relational leadership style would be the most effective, most of the time for Reaching Milestones. This prediction is in alignment with my own observations of the functioning of the organization. For example, on the first of the month when the majority of the therapists’ paper work is due, the Director gives a grace period to the fifth of the month, which exemplifies her relational style. As the Contingency model suggests, the Director’s relational style is very favorable and effective given the structure and environment of the organization. However, when the task structure shifts to become high, the Director must adapt her leadership style to embody a more task-oriented style in order to remain effective. However, I have observed that the Director has a hard time shifting her relational style to task-oriented style because she is so generous and kind-hearted to her workers. In the cases where the task structure is high like at the end of the month, I have noticed that Reaching Milestones becomes a little chaotic as a result of the Director’s inability to adapt to the circumstance.