Situational Leadership Paper

By referring to Hersey’s model of situational leadership model – adapted by JE Chamberlain from Mullins (2007:302) and Hersey et al (2000) followed on from a number of previous writes to develop the model of situational leadership.

The text here identifies four distinct types of situational leadership, indicating that Directing, Coaching, Supporting and Delegating are all viable incarnations of situational leadership. In the case of Jacobs, this leadership is of a Directorial orientation, largely necessitated by the

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

This paper will address why situational leadership theory is useful and relevant in developing an effective leadership culture. In addition, it will also discuss the three theories of situational leadership and what is considered to be the strengths and weaknesses of each theory when leading staff in the organizational environment.

Discovered by Dr. James McGregor Burns, Transformational Leadership relates to engagement and connectivity. Dr. Bernard Bass expounded Burn’s work with transactional leadership in his publication Work Leadership. Burns and Bass suggest that leaders should raise consciousness to their followers by sharing the importance of the values and goals of an organization, in turn, motivating followers to address higher management level needs. In 1985, Bass released Leadership and Performance beyond expectation breaking down transformational leadership into four parts.

This is an introduction to the Situational Leadership Model by Hersey & Blanchard (1964), introduced in Chapter 5 of the textbook “Leadership: Theory and Practice” by Peter Northouse, a model that suggests that leadership should adapt to the development and commitment level of the employee (Northouse, 2016). The model suggests that at a lower level of employee development, i.e. competence & commitment, leaders should engage in a directing style of leadership, and at the other end employees with a high level of competence and commitment can be led with minimal directive and support (Northouse, 2016). The following is

Situational leadership is needed within any successful organization; do in part to varying personalities that exist, and the inevitable cultural differences that are present in most organizations. The ability to provide leadership based on the situation or cultural background of the followers is a trait that good leaders must possess. Anderson (as cited by Larsson & Vinberg, 2010) states, that an important aspect of organizations effectiveness is the maneuverability of leadership. Adapting and changing to who ones followers are and their developmental abilities or cultural differences is a large part of a successful organization, Mendenhall’s (a cited by Avlio, Walumbwa, & Weber, 2009) approach to global leadership requires the leader to have a diverse set of experiences that allows the leader to lead diverse groups, and not focus on one or two cultures that the leader may have extensive knowledge or understanding

Situational Leadership was a model originally developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard to effectively assess what each person needs from leadership on each task. (Hersey, 2004) Dr. Hersey and Blanchard parted ways and put their own spin on the same model but it still stands that it works and can be applied to any person of any age with any task. The key is that the leader has to be perceptive and fluid in leadership styles. One of the reasons

Situational Leadership Theory is a contingency theory which focuses on analysis of the follower and the situation versus the leader as the starting point for application (Meirovich & Gu, 2015; Robbins & Judge, 2016). Throughout this theory, the term readiness is used relative to the follower’s abilities and maturity to engage in a situation (Bedford & Gehlert, 2013; Robbins & Judge, 2016). Follower readiness, as determined by willingness and abilities, dictate the leader response to the situation as influenced by the amount of direction and supportive behaviors required to successfully emerge from the contingent situation (Bedford & Gehlert, 2013). Based upon the variables of readiness, behaviors, and direction required, the leader responds

From a situational leadership standpoint, I generally find myself able to adapt to the specific situation. A strength would be the ability to utilize supportive and directive when it comes to the goal at hand. A weakness that I have would be around which person I’m utilizing it with. I’m very aware of my audience and have a good handle if I should be directive in my communication or need to support that individual. Generally, this is with my immediate team. When it comes to anyone not on my immediate team I tend to always take the directive approach. I’ve always viewed the situation, and in some ways, created an in group and out group for specific tasks. There are the people that will be able to assist me and my team in getting the job done

Situational Leadership is also called as Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory. Paul Hersey the author of "Situational Leader" and Ken Blanchard the author of " The One Minute Manager" are the one who introduced this theory (Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory, 2010-2015). The principle behind this theory is that every theory is not perfect in itself and the effectiveness of the theory is determined by the situation (Kreitner, 2013, p. 472). One of the important lesson that I have learned till this day is no one can be prepared for the upcoming problems. Problems may have same nature but may be different in the way it has to be solved. For instance: A Leader may motivate an employee by increasing salary but the same tactics may not work for another employee. Another employee may be seeking challenging job which may influence him/her to

Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) asserts that a leader’s effectiveness is dependent upon the readiness, or ability and willingness, of the leader’s followers to complete a task. This leadership style is an amalgamation of task-oriented and relationship-oriented characteristics that are employed depending upon the situation and the followers involved. According to the SLT, as followers increase in readiness the leader’s style is to adapt accordingly (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).

In many instances, it was important to engage in situational leadership as well. Situational leadership was developed in the sixties by Paul Hershey and focused on being able to influence others effectively. It encompassed a framework that examines situations based on task behavior and relationship behavior. Task behavior is the level of supervision and routing that a leader has to give to the followers. Relationship behavior focuses on the level of socio emotional support that a leader has to supply to the workers. Situational leaders identify issues that they are attempting to influence, regulate their behavior in reaction to the incidents of the situations, interrelate with people on a level they can perceive and lead them on the right path.

Over the years, scholars and management theorists have cultivated several leadership styles that they have encouraged people to apply and try to implement. However, most of these theories have shown various short comings. Typically, none of these styles has proven to work best in diverse situations. In the late 1960’s, the Situational Leadership Model was developed. In this paper, I will discuss the details about the situational leadership model. In detail, the paper begins with a defined introduction of what the situational leadership model is about and an interpretation of its origination. An outline of the model will follow after which a discussion about the benefits and drawbacks of this model will shortly follow.

The most popular and extensively researched situational theory of leadership was first proposed by Fred Piedler during the 1960s. Fiedler's model claims that group performance depends on the interaction of the leader style and the favorableness of the situation. Fiedlers major contributions consist of(l) iden-tifying the leadership orientation of the leader and developing a way to measure it, and (2) identifying three situational factors influencing leadership and developing a method of measuring them