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Path-Goal Theory

Discovering the Best Leadership Style

Lead your team to their objectives effectively.

Imagine that your boss has just assigned a major project to your new team. There are some very talented people within the team, but you've worked with them in the past, and it wasn't a very pleasant experience.

You've always felt that the best way to manage a fast-paced, expert team is to set objectives, and then let team members work out for themselves how they'll deliver. You don't want to interfere with what they're doing, so you rarely have meetings with individuals or with the group.

The problem is that the team hasn't responded well to this approach. So what else should you do? Would daily meetings waste your people's time? And would they be annoyed if you involved yourself more in decision-making, or gave them more guidance on the project?

When identifying the best style to use when leading a team, we have to consider several different factors, and it's easy choose the wrong approach. When this happens, morale, effectiveness, and productivity can suffer.

Path-Goal Theory is a model that can help you think about your leadership style, based on your team's motivations and expectations, and your current situation. In this article, we'll look at Path-Goal Theory, and show you how you can apply it to your own situation.

About Path-Goal Theory

Path-Goal Theory was first developed by psychologist Robert House in 1971. The model was redefined and updated in 1996.

It's often linked with (and partly based on) Victor Vroom's Expectancy Theory, but with one major difference: Vroom's Expectancy Theory focuses on team members, while Path-Goal Theory focuses on leaders.

Let's look at some of the elements of Path-Goal Theory: