While prior studies had emphasized the qualities of a leader and their behaviors, contingency theories accounted for both leader and situational variables. Fiedler’s (1964) contingency model, House’s (1971) path goal theory of leadership, and Hershey and Blanchard’s (1977) situational leadership theory all take into account the situational factors impacting the leader and his choice of action. The contingency approach to leadership was an attempt to develop a more comprehensive picture of leadership, to take into account the intervening variables which might explain why behavioral effects on outcomes differ across situations