Entrepreneurship and Startup · Leadership

Leadership Theories: Trait, Behavioural, Contingency and Situational

Updated 11 October 2026 · Fact-checked

Leadership theories explain who becomes a leader and what makes a leader effective. Trait theory looks at personal qualities. Behavioural theory looks at what leaders do. Contingency and situational theories say the best style depends on the situation. To solve questions, identify the clues in the case and match them to a theory.

Understand Leadership Theories

A leadership theory is an explanation of why some people lead well and others do not. The theories developed in stages, and each stage fixed a weakness of the one before it. If you learn them in that order, they are easy to remember.

Trait theory came first. It says leaders are born with certain qualities, such as intelligence, confidence, drive, integrity and decisiveness. The weakness: no fixed list of traits guarantees success, and it ignores the situation and the followers. It also suggests leadership cannot be taught.

Behavioural theories shifted the focus to what leaders do, so leadership can be learned. Well-known examples are the Ohio State studies (initiating structure and consideration), the Michigan studies (job-centred and employee-centred leaders), Blake and Mouton's Managerial Grid (concern for production and concern for people) and Lewin's autocratic, democratic and laissez-faire styles. The weakness: no single behaviour works in every situation.

Contingency theories say effectiveness depends on a fit between the leader and the situation. Fiedler's model holds that a leader's style is fairly fixed, measured by the Least Preferred Co-worker (LPC) scale. A high LPC score suggests a relationship-oriented leader. A low LPC score suggests a task-oriented leader. Fiedler says to change the situation, or place the right leader in it, instead of expecting the leader to change. Situation favourableness depends on leader-member relations, task structure and position power.

Situational leadership (Hersey and Blanchard) says the leader should change style according to the readiness (maturity) of followers, meaning their ability and willingness. The four styles are telling (high task, low relationship), selling (high task, high relationship), participating (low task, high relationship) and delegating (low task, low relationship). For a startup founder, this means managing a new hire and a seasoned manager differently.

Key rules to remember

Fiedler's three situational variables: Favourableness = Leader-member relations + Task structure + Position power; Task-oriented (low LPC) leaders do best in very favourable and very unfavourable situations. Relationship-oriented (high LPC) leaders do best in moderately favourable ones.
Managerial Grid axes: Concern for production (x-axis) and Concern for people (y-axis), each scored 1 to 9; 9,1 is authority-compliance; 1,9 is country-club; 1,1 is impoverished; 5,5 is middle-of-the-road; 9,9 is team management.
Hersey-Blanchard style matching: Low readiness → Telling (S1); Low to moderate → Selling (S2); Moderate to high → Participating (S3); High → Delegating (S4); Match the style to follower readiness, which combines ability and willingness.
Ohio State dimensions: Initiating structure (task focus) and Consideration (people focus); Leaders can be high or low on each, giving four combinations.

How to solve Leadership Theories questions

Use this method for any theory-based or case-based question on leadership theories.

1Read the question and note whether it asks you to explain, compare, identify or apply a theory.
2If it is a case, underline clues: the leader's qualities, actions, the team's skill level, task clarity and the leader's authority.
3Decide the family: personal qualities point to trait; observed actions point to behavioural; fit with the situation points to contingency; adapting to follower readiness points to situational.
4State the theory name and its core idea in one or two lines.
5Apply it to the case facts. For Fiedler, assess relations, task structure and position power. For Hersey-Blanchard, judge follower readiness and name the style.
6Add one limitation or contrast with another theory.
7Close with a clear conclusion or recommendation for the leader.

Quickest way: Clue-to-theory matching

When to use it: Use this for 2-mark MCQs and when you are short of time in a descriptive answer.

Born with qualities or personality list: trait theory.
Task versus people concern, or grid scores: behavioural theory.
LPC score or situation favourableness: Fiedler contingency model.
Followers' ability and willingness, or telling, selling, participating, delegating: Hersey-Blanchard.
Eliminate options that mix up the leader changing style (situational) with the situation being changed (Fiedler).

Common mistakes in Leadership Theories

Saying Fiedler's model expects the leader to change style to suit the situation.
Students mix it up with situational leadership, which does ask for flexibility.
Fix: Remember that Fiedler treats style as fixed. You change the situation or choose a different leader. Hersey-Blanchard asks the leader to adapt.
Treating a high LPC score as task-oriented.
A high score sounds like strictness.
Fix: High LPC means the leader rates the least preferred co-worker favourably, so the leader is relationship-oriented. Low LPC means task-oriented.
Writing that Hersey-Blanchard styles depend on the leader's personality.
Students link style to the leader instead of the followers.
Fix: The deciding variable is follower readiness (ability and willingness). Always mention it.
Calling trait theory fully discredited or fully correct.
Notes often give only one side.
Fix: Say traits may help but do not guarantee success, and the theory ignores situation and followers.
Mixing up the Ohio State and Michigan terms.
Both pairs describe task versus people focus.
Fix: Ohio State: initiating structure and consideration. Michigan: job-centred and employee-centred.
Listing theories without applying them to the case.
Students rely on recall.
Fix: Use the case facts, such as team size, experience and authority, in every paragraph.

Worked examples

Example 1

A startup founder, Meera, hires fresh graduates for a customer-support team. They are keen but have no experience. Which Hersey-Blanchard style should she use? How should it change as they grow?

Show the solution

Assess readiness: the team is willing but lacks ability, so readiness is low to moderate.
A group that is keen but unskilled needs clear direction and encouragement, so a high-task, high-relationship style fits. This is selling (S2). If they were also unwilling, telling (S1) would apply.
Meera should give clear instructions, explain the reasons and keep encouraging them.
As skills build, move to participating (S3): share decisions and reduce direction.
When the team is both able and willing, move to delegating (S4): hand over responsibility with little supervision.

Answer: Meera should begin with the selling style, then move through participating to delegating as the team's ability and willingness increase.

Example 2

Distinguish between trait theory and behavioural theory of leadership, and state one limitation of each.

Show the solution

Trait theory: effectiveness comes from personal qualities such as confidence, integrity and drive. Leaders are seen as born, so it focuses on who the leader is.
Behavioural theory: effectiveness comes from what leaders do, such as task focus and people focus. Leadership can therefore be learned and trained.
Basis of study: trait theory studies the leader's characteristics; behavioural theory studies observable actions (Ohio State, Michigan, Managerial Grid).
Limitation of trait theory: no set of traits guarantees success, and it ignores the situation and followers.
Limitation of behavioural theory: it assumes one best style and does not account for situational differences, which led to contingency theories.

Answer: Trait theory asks who the leader is; behavioural theory asks what the leader does. Trait theory ignores the situation, and behavioural theory looks for one best style.

Exam tips

For MCQs, learn the key terms of each theory (LPC, readiness, initiating structure, concern for people) because options often swap them.
In case scenarios, quote facts from the case before naming the theory. Application earns the marks.
For comparison questions, use a short point-by-point layout: basis, focus, view of learning, limitation.
Be ready to explain why contingency and situational theories came after trait and behavioural theories.
Link your answer to startups where possible, such as a founder adapting style as the team grows.

Practice questions from Leadership

Leadership Theories in other exams

The same ground in other exams, if you are preparing for more than one or want another angle on it.

Leadership Theories: frequently asked questions

What is the difference between contingency and situational leadership?

Contingency theory, such as Fiedler's, says leader style is fixed and the situation must fit it. Situational leadership says the leader adapts style to follower readiness. Both agree that no single style works everywhere.

What does the LPC scale measure in Fiedler's model?

It measures a leader's basic style. The leader rates the co-worker they least liked working with. A high score indicates a relationship-oriented leader and a low score a task-oriented one.

Are trait theories still useful?

They help in selecting and recognising potential leaders, since qualities such as integrity and drive matter. However, traits alone do not guarantee effective leadership, so they are used with other theories.

What are the four styles in Hersey-Blanchard theory?

They are telling, selling, participating and delegating. Each suits a different level of follower readiness, from low to high.