Situational Leadership Theory Analysis

I would like to open by identifying leadership theories that fit me the best. Honestly I believe all three fit me and I will begin with a brief backstory to explain why. Prior to coming to the University of Toledo I spent 17.5 years working for the Lucas County Juvenile Court specifically at the Lucas County Youth Treatment Center where our charge was to save the taxpayers of Lucas money by lowering the amount of youth who were committed to the Department of Youth Services in Columbus (Juvenile Prison). Our program focused on arming offending youth with the skills to re-orient safely back into the Lucas County Community. We could house 44 youth 36 male, 12 female at maximum capacity

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.

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

The situational leadership theory proposes that the leader’s style of leadership should be flexible and contingent on the staff’s developmental level including the willingness and capability to accomplish a task (Walter, 1980). Powell in his role as Secretary of State demonstrated situational leadership by recognizing the deficits of the state office and needs of the troops as well as officials in the office. Providing support to the troops and office staff was critical to making necessary changes. Powell provided clarity on the mission for the troops by being directive about changes needed and empowered staff to move toward career advancement (Harris, 2004) .

I found the situational leadership model much different from the model in the previous model. I find this model extremely resourceful because it gives a closer look at what the leader in a group is supposed to do. In contrast with that it also allows the followers to understand their leaders techniques and everything that they are responsible for. Like in pervious DBA’s i am going to use my past job as a manger to relate how i would use the situation leadership model in a group. I could see myself using this model to train other managers as well as team leaders. I think it teaches us that using more than one technique to be a leader is a very great decision. We should be more open to using our resources. to find effective way to create a group that produces results. At work I can see myself using the model to be a leader. I would be a delegator in the morning when i walked in and am assigning everyone’s tasks for the day. I would be a coach when training a new employee. I think the coaching technique is a great one because more people respond to a encouraging leader rather than a scary and intimidating one. In the power point for this module i liked the quote “It is a delicate balance between giving direction and providing support”(situational leadership slide 43) I would use the counselor technique to help correct someone, in my example if an employee wasn't

GDD derived its leadership concept through the relational leadership theory on account of their view of leadership as a relational and ethical process of people attempting to carry out positive change within an organization (Exploring Leadership, n.d.). GDD focuses on the idea that leadership effectiveness is an ability of the leaders to create a substantive relationship within the company (Exploring Leadership, n.d.); additionally, this idea encompasses the following components: inclusiveness, empowering, purposeful, ethical, and process oriented. GDD developed an organizational structure and culture to encourage and foster a business environment that reflects this leadership theory.

Leadership is an important factor within a business environment and often plays a significant role in achievement of organisational success (Landis, Hill & Harvey 2014). However, leadership is an art, therefore there is no simple formula for effective leadership (Hughes, Ginnett & Curphy 2015, p.33) and a leader’s effectiveness can often only be understood in the context of the leader-follower-situation interaction model.

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

By the end of fall 2017, the President and Vice President-Organization will collaborate to design and facilitate a training on values congruence, integrity, and ethical decision-making. The Leadership Development Specialist must review and approve the program at least two weeks in advance. Within one week of the program, provide the Leadership Development Specialist with a list of attendees as well as an evaluation of the program’s areas of success and areas needing improvement. •

The situational leadership model was developed by two authors, Ken Blanchard, and Paul Hersey in the year 1969. These authors based this model on the concept that leadership should adapt to different management practices and approaches to fit different situations and surpass any diversity of their encounters (Lussier & Achua, 2010). In particular, this model provides guidance on how to analyze a situation, choose effaceable strategies and adopt the most appropriate leadership style. Apparently, the two developers of the model researched and found that, given some case, leadership may fail to accomplish some goals due to adopting single

I will explain these theories in detail and how they can be implemented in work environment.

Leadership is an approach for a leader to guide, motivate, supervise, manage, and influence others in different situation to reach a goal. According to the Pettinger (2007), the leadership can be explained in several situations. First, the leaders have the responsible to provide vision and direction to the followers. Second, the leaders shall energise and motivate the followers. Third, the leaders shall set and enforce absolute standards of behaviour, attitude, presentation and performance.

Leadership is a complex topic and researchers have spent a considerable amount of time trying to determine what makes them effective. While traditional research focused on the leader and their traits, contemporary research is focusing on many other variable, providing a more comprehensive understanding of what it to takes to be a leader. Individualized leadership is a concept that has gained momentum as of late. Daft (2015) describes individualized leadership as, “a leader that develops a unique relationship with each subordinate or group member, which determines how the leader behaves toward them.” (p. 52). Another emerging study is that of the Situational Leadership model which

Jim Anderson developed a 6 week training program on listening and communication skills to improve management at a large pharmaceutical company (Northouse, 2013). Jim decided to train the middle level managers from research and development first. The managers are highly skilled, but skeptical of the value of the seminar. After the third week, Jim begins to notice problems. Attendance has dropped and the attendees are frequently late or leave early. Jim is unsure how to turn the problem around.

In the case study, it is evident that Jim is applying the situational style of leadership during the training program of the managers. Situational leadership refers to the style of leadership whereby the leader or a particular director of an organization has to adjust to his or her style so as to fit in the development category of the employees or follower he is influencing ( Hersey, Blanchard, & Bank of America NT & SA., 2014). The leader has the responsibility of giving an outline of how thing should be run within an organization, and it is to the employees to ensure that it is implemented. In most cases, the leader is friendly to his or her employees or followers. In the case study, Jim is aware that the managers have been to a training of a similar situation and therefore he is trying to adjust his leadership style so as to understand exactly what they should be learning(Fiedler & Chemers,2012). To influence his followers, he decides to involve them in each and every level so as to adapt to their level. This is done objectively with the aim of getting to understand the extent of their training level and what he need to