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That “situation” would be defined by evaluating the three contingency factors of leader-member relations, task structure, and position power.

when organized around the Big Five, has found that extraversion is the most important trait of effective leaders. 7

Fiedler assumes that an individual’s leadership style is fixed

If the behavioral approach to leadership were successful, it would have impli- cations quite different from those of the trait approach. Trait research provides a basis for selecting the “right” persons to assume formal positions in groups and organizations requiring leadership.

Situational leadership is a contingency theory that focuses on the followers. Successful leadership is achieved by selecting the right leadership style, which Hersey and Blanchard argue is contingent on the level of the followers’ readi- ness. Before we proceed, we should clarify two points: Why focus on the follow- ers? and What do they mean by the term readiness?