The leader–participation model relates leadership behavior to subordinate decision making. Like path–goal theory, it says that leader behavior must adjust to reflect the task structure, but it does not cover all leadership behaviors and is limited to recommending what types of decisions might be best made with subordinate participation. It lays the groundwork for the situations and leadership behaviors most likely to elicit acceptance from subordinates.

As one leadership scholar noted, “Leaders do not exist in a vacuum”; leadership is a symbiotic relationship between leaders and followers. But the theories we’ve covered to this point assume that leaders use a homogeneous style with everyone.