Situation Description. The Air Force has many programs that need to be managed on a daily basis. Leading people in managing those programs was a leadership challenges I faces while I was in the United States Air Force (USAF). I was a flight chief in our Air Crew Flight Equipment. We had about thirteen programs that needed to be managed. At one time or another during my career I had personally ran each of these programs. Now as flight chief, it was my job to oversee that these programs were maintained in accordance with Headquarters’ USAF instructions and regulations. As flight chief I trained, and lead the people who were directly managing the programs. Leading the people in managing these programs was quite challenging, and is the …show more content…
If I did take very hands on approach with them they would get insulted and a little irritated at me. To enable me to effectively lead these personnel in successfully managing the programs that was assigned to them, I had to learn different leadership styles, and how to apply or match those styles to the different types of personnel. In the leadership theories we have covered in our text the three styles that were used in my leadership of these personnel were Situational Leadership, Path-Goal Leadership, and Leader-Member Exchange theory.
Leadership Theories and Models explained. In describing the three leadership approaches let me first start with Situational Leadership. Situational leadership was one of the theories covered at the United States Air Force Non-commissioned Officer Academy. There we were required to read “On Time On Target” and “The One Minute Manager,” both books were from Ken Blanchard. These books covered situational leadership through telling a story about office workers. They were very good books and help me in starting my understanding of situational leadership. Situational leadership is fitting the leadership style to the person. Leadership situations differ in circumstances and with people, which calls for different kinds of leadership.
According to Northouse (2013):
Situational leadership is a prescriptive approach to leadership that suggests how
The United States Air Force is a dedicated and effective establishment, and has been a great advantage in protecting the United States during numerous wars. It all started on August 1, 1907, General James Allen, Cheif Signal Officer or the U.S Army created and established the Aeronautical Division. He entrusted this organization with "All matters pertaining to military ballooning air machines and related subjects." (Creation) Allen then put in command, Captain Charles D. Chander who was assisted by two enlisted men. The Aeronautical Division is the very beginning of todays U.S Airforce.
The main focus of this journal is the question of American ethics, when regarding to German civilians. It is explained that the American Airforce was told to do routine bombings in areas that weren’t heavily populated; however, the locations that were bombed still had locals at risk. These individuals had nothing to do to do with the war, causing author Ronald Schaffer to raise the question of: How does the United states differ from other entities attacking innocent lives? Regardless of the other atrocities taking place during this time, the ethics of the American Airforce is put on a negative display over the course of this war. In Schaffer’s conclusion, he describes how ethical issues directly relate to the Airforce’s leaders during this
Situational leadership theory is when a leader adapt’s to the situation and the management styles to the behavioral needs of the individual or group. Trait approach leadership gives more credence to the qualities and traits that people are born with that make them natural born leaders.
Situational leadership has very little in common with the other models mentioned herein. This model revolves around the leader changing leadership behaviors to meet the needs in relationship to the follower (Kouzes, 2003, p. 111). The difference between situational leadership and charismatic, servant, and transformational leadership is the lack of an organizational vision and the empowerment of the followers. Situational leadership uses followers based on their readiness level that relate to their ability and willingness to complete the task (Wren, 1995, p. 208). This aspect coupled with the leader’s task and relationship behavior is used in relation to the
Winston Churchill once said, “Not to have an adequate Air Force in the present state of the world is to compromise the foundations of national freedom and independence” (Quotes about Everything). In this sense, the military is important to America, especially the Air Force. The Air Force provides security and safety to the people. Military lifestyles are usually not everybody’s first choice in the beginning. Particularly, the U.S. Air Force is not always is not always the first branch that comes to mind when thinking of the future. Most of the time, people come to conclusion of enlisting in any branch of the military because of an uncertainty of their future. “…I had no career or education goals, no plans; it’s just where my path took me”
All situations are different and a leadership style applied in one situation will not always work in another. A leader must use judgement to decide the most appropriate style needed for each situation. The ‘Situational Approach’ to leadership identifies four leadership styles which are;
The United States Air Force This paper deals with the contributions of the United States Air Force to the eventual victory of the Allies in Europe during World War II. The Allied powers had no idea how important a strong air force would be against the Axis powers during World War II. The fact that Hitler moved east in 1941 and had planned to do so since 1940, had important implications for the British war effort. Though still powerless to prevent German initiatives from being successful in Greece and Crete, the British government was given a long period during which to prepare adequate defenses in the mainland against the expected day when Hitler would turn west again.
There are careers in this world in which people may be subjected to many different religions. I have been in the United States Air Force for seven years and have experienced religious differences on a daily basis. The Air Force makes it mandatory to receive training on equal opportunity and treating people with respect no matter what faith they may practice. Some of the training consists of computer based training and also face to face training on how to adapt to religious and cultural differences when representing the United States Air Force. In this career field you encounter differences in faith with your co-workers, supervisors and customers. You also have the possibility of being deployed to numerous countries around the world.
Of these 1 individual stated that they were unsure if their education benefited the Air Force and 5 individuals stated that they did not believe their education benefited the Air Force.
In May of 1960, one botched Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) mission changed the espionage era forever, as the planet anxiously awaited if the nuclear apocalyptic was approaching. American and Soviet doctrines were oil and water, their militaries an unstoppable force and immoveable object. The tension surrounding these two powers was known as the Cold War, and one incident spiraled the bloodless war to the brink of full scale nuclear war as some thought the strained relationship was at a point of no return. This paper analyzes how the different perspectives through newspapers articles reporting the downing of the U-2 spy plane by the USSR’s domestic surface-to-air missile, and how these fluctuations serve specific geological regions.
The four leadership styles within the situational leadership model are: Directing style: Leaders at this stage increases the motivation in each team member. Whenever there comes a point when a team member thinks that they can’t get a job done the leader come through and direct them in the right direction. They are able to point the team member on the right path to accomplish their task.
Situational leadership, developed by professor Paul Hersey and author and consultant Ken Blanchard. Their approach was based off of a 1967 article by W.J. Reddin called The 3-D Management Style Theory. In his article, Reddin discusses the need to have different styles based on the demands of the leader. A leader needs to be flexible in their approach to meet the needs of the job, their superior and their subordinates (1967). Hersey and Blanchard progressed this theory by introducing the Situational Leadership II model. Their model breaks leadership into four different styles, and how a leader must alter their approach in supporting and directing their subordinates based on a given situation. These styles are directing (S1), coaching (S2), supporting (S3) and delegating (S4). The model also focuses on the development level of the subordinates by categorizing them between low (D1), moderate (D2 and D3) and
Leadership theories are attempts to answer some of the question people have about leadership. These theories range from simple “armchair philosophies” about the personal characteristics and effect relationship between leaders and followers and situations.
Situational leadership focuses on adapting your leadership style or approach based on the situation and the amount of direction and support that is needed by followers. As Jesus trained and equipped his disciples from simple fishermen to fishers of men, who carried on his ministry after he ascended to heaven, he integrated different styles and theories of leadership that best served and supported his followers (Blanchard & Hodges, 2003). Depending on the level of competency and commitment of their people, leaders will adjust their style to provide the necessary support and direction. The core competencies of situational leaders are the ability to identify the performance, competence and commitment of others, and to be flexible (Paterson, 2013). From being highly directive, telling their people exactly what to do and how, to delegating, clearly stating the objective and allowing them to complete the task with little direction and support, situational leaders adapt their approach to the needs of their people and the particular situation.
There are many theories about different aspects of leadership and the effectiveness of each in a criminal justice setting. Contemporary research brings into focus the behavioral approach and the contingency approach. The behavioral approach emphasizes the behavior of leaders while the contingency approach emphasizes situational variables that affect leadership.