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Leadership Behavior Styles:

Directive-The leader informs the employees of their expectations, tells them what to do, how and when

Supportive-The leader is approachable and shows concern for the employees

Participative-The leader consults with his/her followers before making decisions

Achievement-Sets high expectations and sets challenging goals for employees

Steps of the Path-Goal Leadership Process:

1.       Determine the employee and environment characteristic
·         Experience of the employees
·         Ability of employees
·         Locus of control
·         Work group environment
·         Formal authority system established
·         Design of the task
2.       Select a Leadership Style
·         Select one of the leadership style behaviors
3.       Focus on the motivations that will help the employees succeed
·         Define goals
·         Clarify path
·         Remove obstacles
·         Provide support

Motivation plays a significant role in the Path-Goal Leadership Model

Provide incentives

Adapt to follower needs

Promote goals

Consider work tasks (adapt)

Work towards satisfaction

Attitudes/Behaviors of Subordinates

Develop relationship behaviors

Respect

Trust

Initiate structure

Organizing

Scheduling

Following up

Meeting outcomes (Clark, 2015)

PEO theory mirrors Path-Goal theory

Person-Environment-Occupation

Creates an optimal fit within the environment

identifies performance issues

Adapts/motivates to achieve outcomes

Path-Goal Leadership

Aligns leadership style to follower/environment

Adapts to needs of the follower

Uses incentives & motivation to achieve goals

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Clark, D. (2013). Path-goal leadership theory. Retrieved January 17, 2019 from http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/lead_path_goal.html

Dunbar, S. B., & Winston, K. (2015).  An occupational perspective on leadership: Theoretical and practical dimensions (2nd Ed). Thorofare, NJ: SLACK, Inc.

House, R. J. (1971). A path goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 321-339.

Kurtz, G. (Producer), & Lucas, G. (Director). (1977). Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope [Motion picture]. United States: Twentieth Century Fox.

Malik, S. H., Aziz, S., & Hassan, H. (2014). Leadership behavior and acceptance of leaders by subordinates: Application of path goal theory in telecom sector. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 5(2), 170-175.

Nanda-Gunawardana, G. (2015). Jack Welch-A path goal leader. Retrieved January 17, 2019 from http://www.dailymirror.lk/72119/jack-welch-a-path-goal-leader

Schriesheim, C. A., & DeNisi, A. S. (1981). Task dimensions as moderators of the effects of instrumental leadership: A two-sample replicated test of path–goal leadership theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66(5), 589.

Severson, D. (2017). The 8 rules of leadership by Jack Welch. Retrieved January 19, 2019 from https://www.inc.com/dana-severson/these-8-simple-rules-of-leadership-from-jack-welch-are-more-important-now-than-ever-before.html

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The Path-Goal leadership theory, based on Vroom’s expectancy theory (Clark, 2013), was created by Martin Evans in 1970 and was developed into a leadership theory by Robert House in 1971 (Clark, 2013). Similar to the idea of matchmaking, the Path-Goal style identifies a cohort of employees within a specific environment and matches a leader's behavior and leadership style that would best fit a particular group of employees. The behaviors of the leader are suited to the employees needs so that they can guide the employee, using motivation and adaptation,  through the right path towards goal achievement. The Path-Goal theory looks at four areas of leader behavior style: directive, supportive, participative, and achievement (Dunbar & Winston, 2015). A leader selects the behavior style that will best complement the employees and their environment.

Identifying employee and environmental characteristics is a key part of the process of Path-Goal achievement. Employee characteristics involve looking at the experience level and ability of the employees. As leaders gauge follower ability and experience, they can motivate the follower towards their goals (Dunbar & Winston, 2015). Another employee characteristic is the locus of control. This is the degree to which the employees think they have control over situational outcomes (Clark, 2013). Understanding locus of control is important for follower satisfaction. It allows the leader, or OT leader, to incorporate incentives and remove barriers for the followers to reach success (Dunbar & Winston, 2015).

Tasks and Environmental characteristics focus on overcoming obstacles (Clark, 2013). Task and environmental characteristics use three areas: the design of the task, formal authority system, and workgroup (Clark, 2013). Design of the task requires direct leader support to structure a task. The formal authority system allows the leader to provide clear goals and to give the employees some or all control (Clark, 2013). The workgroup is where the leader will build cohesiveness among his/her followers. The leader's ability to understand the areas related to his/her followers' task and environmental characteristics will allow the leader to match their leadership style and focus of motivation in order to help them perform well and experience satisfaction (Dunbar & Winston, 2015).

The major premise of Path-Goal is motivation. In this area, the leader must provide incentives and adapt to the needs of the followers so that they can define goals, clarify the path, remove obstacles, and provide support (Clark, 2013). Because motivation is key in Path-Goal theory, it is a similar process to the transactional relationship within the PEO model (Dunbar & Winston, 2015).

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The Path-Goal leadership theory is a theory based on the premise that employees, also known as followers, need to be motivated to perform well and experience job satisfaction (Dunbar & Winston, 2015). In a similar way that occupational therapists approach the therapeutic process, the Path-Goal leadership style is rooted in adapting leader behaviors to the needs of his/her followers to so that they are motivated to achieve their goals. Occupational Therapists understand the transaction between the Person-Environment-Occupation (PEO) (Dunbar & Winston, 2015). Knowing the PEO model helps the OT relate to aspects of the Path-Goal leadership model.

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Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric for 20 years, was considered one of the best business leaders of all time (Nanda-Gunawardana, 2015). In his tenure, General Electric was one of the largest and most profitable businesses in the world (Nanda-Gunawardana, 2015). Jack Welch used performance and learning goals with an emphasis on motivating his followers through a learning process to achieve goals. He believed that leaders set the example and encourage team members to experiment without being afraid of making mistakes (Severson, 2017). He focused on employee ability and experience and used these to differentiate staff. In one particular facility, Welch developed a method of differentiating employees into tiered groups using motivational incentives (Nanda-Gunawardana, 2015). Welch put in place an assessment based on a “vitality curve,” and requested his managers to rank all their staff into the “top 20,” “the Vital 70” and the “bottom 10,” (Nanda-Gunawardana, 2015). He used compensatory performance incentives to motivate employees to achieve performance goals based on the vitality curve. Welch stated that "Good leaders cast the vision of the future and motivate people to buy into it" (Severson, 2017).

In an interview with Severson (2017), Jack Welch revealed eight rules to his motivational leadership:

Leaders relentlessly upgrade their team, using every encounter as an opportunity to evaluate, coach, and build self-confidence.

Leaders make sure people not only see the vision, but they also live and breathe it.

Leaders get into everyone's skin, exuding positive energy and optimism.

Leaders establish trust with candor, transparency, and credit.

Leaders have the courage to make unpopular decisions and gut calls.

Leaders probe and push with a curiosity that borders on skepticism, answering questions with action.

Leaders inspire risk taking and learning by setting an example.

Leaders celebrate.

Jack Welch's leadership style patterns many attributes of the Path-Goal Theory of Leadership. Welch uses motivation, follower experience, and learning goals to work toward achieving outcomes. Although Welch is a businessman, his style incorporates aspects of both Path-Goal and the occupational therapy PEO model. Both models look at client performance ability, adapting the environment and motivation of the follower/client within the environment to achieve his/her goals.

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In the film Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (Kurtz & Lucas, 1977), Luke Skywalker demonstrates many elements of Path-Goal Leadership within this short one-minute clip.  At the beginning of the clip, Han Solo has no interest in helping rescue Princess Leia. Luke tries several different angles to find what will motivate Han to participate.  Luke ultimately spurs Han to action with mention of Leia's wealth and power and promises monetary rewards. Luke then presents a plan using a directive path-goal approach (not fully expressed in this clip) but also switches to supportive leader behavior when Chewbacca displays distress with Luke's attempt to put handcuffs on him. Luke quickly directs Han to put the cuffs on, demonstrating emotional concern for his followers. Luke exemplifies Path-Goal Leadership by motivating followers to work towards common goals, by adapting to meet the needs of followers, by removing obstacles, and providing support.

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House, R. J. (1971). A path goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 321-339. 

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House, R. J. (1971). A path goal theory of leader effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 321-339. 

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This article is the origin paper for the path-goal theory. It explains how a leader's behavior affects the subordinates' motivation, satisfaction, and performance of working towards achieving a common goal. House discusses the role of a leader in articulating the goals, clarifying the plan to accomplish the goals, removing any obstacles towards task completion while increasing the personal satisfaction for subordinates while on the path to goal completion. House concludes that the theory shows promise and states a need for further research on the matter.

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Schriesheim, C. A., & DeNisi, A. S. (1981). Task dimensions as moderators of the effects of instrumental leadership: A two-sample replicated test of path–goal leadership theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66(5), 589.

# data[].attributes.subject
Schriesheim, C. A., & DeNisi, A. S. (1981). Task dimensions as moderators of the effects of instrumental leadership: A two-sample replicated test of path–goal leadership theory. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66(5), 589.

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This article addressed two criticisms lodged against the path-goal theory - that it does not create meaningful outcome predictions and it lacks empirical support. The authors proposed that the hyper-focus on two specific hypotheses (related to correlation between the structure of tasks, leader behavior, and subordinate satisfaction) as well as inappropriate measures and deficient statistical designs were adversely affecting the research on the validity of the theory. The authors concluded that the path-goal theory was able to produce meaningful predictions beyond the two common hypotheses, which thereby demonstrated the need for new tests of the path-goal theory with proper measures and statistical designs.

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Malik, S. H., Aziz, S., & Hassan, H. (2014). Leadership behavior and acceptance of leaders by subordinates: Application of path goal theory in telecom sector. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 5(2), 170-175.

# data[].attributes.subject
Malik, S. H., Aziz, S., & Hassan, H. (2014). Leadership behavior and acceptance of leaders by subordinates: Application of path goal theory in telecom sector. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, 5(2), 170-175.

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Malik, Aziz, and Hassan (2014) explored the relationship between leadership behavior, situational factors, and subordinates' acceptance of a leader as defined and posited by the path-goal theories. The study found significant relationships between leadership behaviors (directive, supportive, participative, achievement-oriented) and the acceptance of leaders by subordinates (defined as complying with leaders' directives and accepting leader decisions), with directive behaviors leading to the greatest acceptance. The study also found that leadership behaviors can predict the acceptance of a leader. The study also confirmed that situational factors could affect the acceptance of a leader. These are essential confirmations of foundational path-goal theories as well as the value of the theories to predict leadership outcomes.

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According to the path-goal theory of leadership, a leader guides followers to the best path to reach the goal. Leaders consider the task demands, how structured or fluid the task demands are, the followers' motivation to complete the task, and situational factors such environmental factors and follower characteristics (Malik, Aziz, & Hassan, 2014).  An effective leader will shift between behaviors to motivate followers to accomplish the defined goal (Dunbar & Winston, 2015).  Followers find a leader acceptable (worth following) when the leadership behavior is motivational, whether leader behaviors lead to satisfaction with task performance, and if the leader rewards effective performance (House, 1971).

Dunbar and Winston (2015) discussed the compatibility of the path-goal theory of leadership with the person-environment-occupation (PEO) model. Path-goal leadership is a good fit with leadership in occupational therapy as both consider the transactional relationship of person, environment, and task factors to create goals, remove barriers, provide clarity, and support followers/clients in achieving the goals (Clark, 2013). Both path-goal leadership theory and the PEO model have the construct of the "optimal fit" between the person-environment-occupation to support occupational performance and well-being.

Path-goal theory defines four types of leader behaviors - directive behaviors (tell followers what needs to be done), participative behaviors (followers participate in key decisions), supportive behaviors (focus on satisfaction of followers' needs and wants), and achievement-oriented behaviors (high challenge, high expectations) (Dunbar & Winston, 2015). Occupational therapists (OTs) frequently shift between these leader behaviors. Consider an OT working with a client who experienced a stroke. The OT will use directive behaviors as he or she directs a client through a compensatory technique for one-handed dressing. Participative leader behaviors are evident as the OT works with the client to develop a discharge plan and create related goals. An OT will utilize supportive behaviors to develop client-centered interventions using meaningful occupations. Finally, achievement-oriented leader behaviors are evident when an OT works with a client to accomplish the client-specific goals necessary to be discharged from the in-patient setting. A competent OT can meld the concepts of path-goal leadership and the PEO model to create the best path to help a client reach his or her goals. The two theories can guide clinical reasoning to identify the optimal combination of PEO factors and leader behaviors to motivate the client and create a satisfying therapeutic relationship.