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Essay on The Situational Leadership Model

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The Situational Leadership Model

Situational leadership is interplay between the amounts of direction that a leader allows in: 1) the amount of directive (task) behavior and 2) the amount of relationship behavior (supportive behavior). What this means is that when an individual first begins a new task they require a lot of direction and managerial guidance. As they learn more about the task, the amount of direction decreases until they can make many of the decisions with the manager providing little input. The situational leadership model developed and refined by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard divides the model into four …show more content…

THE FOUR LEADERSHIP STYLES

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We begin in the lower right quadrant, S1 directing leadership style. This phase is where the new employee or older employee learning a new task begins. The directing will require that the leader define the roles of the follower. The leader initiates problem solving and decision-making and directs communication towards the follower. The leader will tell the follower what to do, how to do it, where to do it, and when to do it. Close supervision is also involved at this point. The X-axis beginning point is to the extreme right (high directive) indicating that leader will be providing directions. The rectangular object showing development levels is also to the extreme right but here it signifies that the amount of learned knowledge (amount of development to perform task) is low. The beginner may become enthusiastic about wanting to learn. They will probably be highly committed but competence will be low. The Y-axis is on the bottom end showing us that supportive behavior is at a low point.

The second quadrant is located in the upper right, S2 coaching leadership style. This phase is where the leader listens to the follower, provides support and encourages the follower's efforts, and facilitates involvement with problem solving and decision-making. Communication flows between leader and follower. The X-axis beginning point is to the

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