Situational And Contingency Theories Of Leadership: Are They The Same?

Abstract

This paper is a positional, theoretical paper that explains comprehensively the all powerful but ambiguous concept of leadership, highlights its features and the categorization of its major theoretical approaches. It distinguishes clearly the two categorizations that neophytes and even scholars often used interchangeable as if both are the same. These broad categories are the situational and contingency theories of leadership. This distinction, it is believed, enables students to understand clearly the theories under each category but more importantly, it helps officials in Ministries of Education in developing countries to act most appropriately in a timely manner in intervening in worsening school administration with success in view.