Path-Goal Theory Presentation

Path-Goal Theory is a leadership model created by House, which defends that “the leaders’ motivational function consists in increasing personal rewards of the subordinates according to the work goals range, and make easier to travel the path to access those rewards through its clarification, reduce obstacles and unforeseen and the increase of en route personal satisfaction opportunities”. It’s also to refer that the leaders’ behavior will influence the subordinates satisfaction and motivation, but not directly.

A leaders’ decision to invest effort on a job depends from three variables which are expectancy (understood probability that the effort leads to performance), instrumentality (understood probability that the performance leads to the reward) and valence (associated to rewards). So, the leaders’ behavior can modify the understood probabilities, expectative and instrumentality, still being able to be in the origin of good rewards.

The relations effort/performance and performance/reward are influenced by situational aspects, therefore the leaders have to correct or overcome situations’ inaccuracies, in order to increase its subordinates expectations and instrumentalities.

In this model there are four behavioral styles:

- Supportive leadership: is comparable to the consideration direction in the Ohio approach.

- Directive leadership: the leader transmits specific guidance lines, insists on the following of rules and procedures.

- Participative leadership: takes into account suggestions given by the subordinates.

- Accomplishment guided leadership: seeks to enhance the achievement of goals, define ambitious performance goals, and suggest ways of performance improvement and monitoring of that same performance.

 

 

Translated from Portuguese by Susana Saraiva, Portuguese-English and English-Portuguese translation specialist. Contact: spams@sapo.pt.