Contingency Theory Of Leadership

Contingency Theory of Leadership

Description of work environment

I will describe my current real life work environment. I work for Farmers Insurance and stated out as the customer service rep. I am now writing & servicing insurance policies.

In the table below, categorize different leadership approaches that could be used in the work environment you have described. Provide different suggestions for each of the four approaches to leadership.

Directive approach Supportive approach

An example of directive leadership in my work environment would be my boss explaining everything to me in detail. On my first day of work he sat me down in his office and told me what is expected of me. We went through the employee handbook and he had me sign at the bottom of each page that I read and understood that section. The supportive leadership role is more of acting like a friend. Sometimes my boss will ask me if I want coffee. There are 4 of us in the office and when one of us has a birthday, we will take us all out to lunch to celebrate.

Every Tues night he meets friends for drinks and pool and always invites me because I am single and he is trying to get me out of the house and out having fun.

Participative approach Achievement-oriented approach

Occasionally my boss will lead in the participative approach to leadership. He will ask my opinion on things and always encourages me to come up with my own ideas… although new ideas have to be run by him before I can use them. One day I reconfigured a spreadsheet that we use for quoting auto insurance and he was not happy with me. For me it worked out really well, but for him it was too busy. So instead of saying no to my idea he allowed me to use my spreadsheet but was also have the