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Contingent Leadership

15 January, 2016 - 09:23
Available under Creative Commons-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/469c94af-40cb-4ed1-bf02-3dcd5ac4b753@2.4

In a climate of ambiguity, traditional notions of leadership require modification. The contingent model provides an alternative approach, recognizing the diverse nature of school contexts and the advantages of adapting leadership styles to the particular situation, rather than adopting a “one size fits all” stance. Yukl (2002) claims that “the managerial job is too complex and unpredictable to rely on a set of standardised responses to events. Effective leaders are continuously reading the situation and evaluating how to adapt their behaviour to it” (p. 234). Contingent leadership depends on managers “mastering a large repertoire of leadership practices” (Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1999, p. 15).