Contingency vs. Situational

Contingency: 

Is basically a theory that states that leaders must adapt to certain situations considering the circumstances.  With most stressful circumstances a task based leader is more appropriate because they are more apt to not worry about peoples' feelings and they tend to focus more on getting things done so they are more appropriately directive.   

Fiedler states that, "stress is a key determinant of leader effectiveness".  Which means that under pressure leaders perform better, which further proves why task based leaders will pull through more effectively.  Fiedler also says that, "intelligence is more effective and used more often in stress-free situations. Fiedler has found that experience impairs performance in low-stress conditions but contributes to performance under high-stress conditions".  Overall the theory sums up that as a leader you can change a situation but you can't change the person.  

An example of a real life experience that backs up this theory is when a deadline is pressing and other employees have not necessarily pulled their weight on a  project then it comes down to the supervisor/manager to complete the project.  They must rearrange the situation and lead well under pressure in a task based way so that they are not angered or unproductive because of their relationships with the employees who slacked off on their project.

 

Situational:

The situational theory states that, "situational leadership proponents emphasize that to be a successful leader, the manager should not only use the management style that comes naturally but also use the styles that fit the situation at the moment.  This style decision is based on the needs and maturity levels of the employees".  This basically means that a leader must be perceptive of what their team can handle so that they can lead in a way that is not too overwhelming or makes sense under the current circumstances. 

The situational leadership also includes four basic leadership behavior styles:

(1) high task-low relationship (telling); 

(2) high task-high relationship (sell

ing);

(3) low task-high relationship (participating); and

(4) low task-low relationship (delegating).

The theory states that, "The most effective leadership style depends on the readiness level of group members". Readiness, as defined in the article includes two components; ability and willingness.

An example of this would be coaching a basketball team.  If the team cares more about being a team and about bonding than you would want to be more in a participating mind set as the coach more so than the delegating, selling or telling mind set, you would need to help and be super involved.