Introduction
In today’s world, leaders are not defined by age, race or gender. They can be a high school basketball coach, the shift supervisor at the local coffee shop, or even the President of the United States of America. In as many ways that leaders can vary by appearance and responsibility, there is also a variance in the ways that they lead. This case study aims to compare three of the more popular theories of leadership. These leadership theories are situational leadership, trait theory and transformational leadership.
Summary of Theories
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
In this paper, we will review four leadership models: charismatic, servant, situational, and transformational. A separate discussion describing
Bass acknowledges that transformational leadership is not a panacea, and in certain situations other styles of leadership are indicated (Avery, Avery, Bell, Hilb, & Witte, 2004, p. 97). A flexible organization with leaders whose style is adaptable to meet the changing needs of employees and situation may ascribe the situational leadership model. Situational leaders rely on intuition and analysis of a given situation to lead in a way that makes sense based on that particular situation. The effective manager is able to utilize multiple leadership styles as conditions change. Blanchard and Hersey (Chapman, 2012) characterized the situational leadership style in terms of the amount of the direction, and the support, that the leader provides to followers. Depending on employees’ competencies in their task areas and commitment to their tasks, the leadership style varies from one person to another. This leader might lead the same person one way sometimes, and another way at other times.
Research on leadership is a subject that has been approached in many different ways. Theories on leadership can be classified according to the type of variable that is emphasized the most. Three types of variables relevant to these theories include (1) characteristics of leaders, (2) characteristics of followers, and (3) characteristics of the situation (Yuri, G., 2010). In the textbook Leadership in Organizations, Yuri, G. classifies these theories into the following five approaches: (1) the trait approach, (2) the behavior approach, (3) the power-influence approach, (4) the situational approach, and (5) the integrative approach. This paper briefly discusses the situational approach of studying leadership.
Leadership is complex and, comprises of many definitions and qualities (Grimm 2010). One definition of leadership is ‘a multifaceted process of identifying a goal, motivating other people to act, and providing support and motivation to achieve mutually negotiated goals’ (porter-O’Grady 2003). Back in 1939 Kurt Lewin researched to identify different styles of leadership. According to his research, there are three major styles of leadership. Authoritarian or autocratic, participative or democratic and delegative or laizzes-fair. These three styles remain influential today. According to educational leaders.govt.NZ, leadership is about empowering, transforming and working together to meet schools and 21st century (www.tki).There are many leadership theories and from leadership theories comes leadership styles. the educational leadership model according to www.educational leaders.govt.nz identifies four qualities that build a leader 's capability to enhance teaching and learning outcomes for the school: manaakitangi- leading with moral purpose, pono- having self-belief, ako- being a learner, awhinatanga -guiding and supporting.
Situational and Authentic leadership are increasingly important skills to possess in today’s era of technological changes and availability and flow of information we have in this day and age. Leaders today must be able to adjust their leadership styles to the whatever situation arises as well as to the people who they are leading. Leaders are not limited to just use one style in one situation, being able to adapt appropriate styles to different situations will influence and help a leader succeed. A leader’s judgement, intelligence, cultural awareness, and self-control plays major roles in helping them choose the proper style and appropriate technique for the task at hand (Lau & Cronin, 1998).
The leadership models/theories that will be demonstrated are skills-based leadership, situational leadership, and leader-member exchange theory.
Task no.1.1:-Sum up the Leadership Theories:- Definition of leadership & leader , shows great influence and bonding with its theories. It is an ability of leader how he influence a group towards the achievement of a vision or set of goals. Leadership is also about coping with change. Leaders set a direction for future by making a vision of the future. Then guide people by easy mode of communication with this vision & inspire them to rule out the problems.
Leadership is an influential factor in the success and failure. If an organization is failing, look at the leader, not the economy; not the market; look at the leader. The movements and influence of a leader determines the fate of those under her or him. The importance of leadership cannot be underestimated. The importance of leadership has constantly been debated and a part argumentative discussion. There is no one approach to leadership, however leadership theories try to make sense of various approaches to leadership. James G. Clawson is considered an authority in leadership theories. His Level III leadership theory is about managing energy, first in leader, and then in those around the leader.
This paper will describe and provide examples surrounding various leadership theories and leadership styles that sustain the definition of a public leader. First, this paper will provide a definition of a public leader. Next, it determine two leadership theories and two leadership styles that support the definition of a public leader. Also, this paper will assess the effectiveness of the two leadership theories. Subsequently, it will assess the effectiveness of the two leadership styles. Further, this paper will utilize proper in-text citations and references, as well as integrate effective techniques of quoting, paraphrasing and summarizing. Finally, it will provide information in a clear, coherent, and consistent manner, using logic to support all ideas.
A widely recognised situational model is the model developed by Hersey and Blanchard (1969) and the revised model by Blanchard et al. (1985) (Northhouse, 2007). The theory in outline states that one's leadership style should be dictated by the type of situation and the demands of the situation at
STATEMENT 1: THEORIES OF LEADERSHIP PROVIDE PRACTICAL ADVICE ON HOW TO BE AN EFFECTIVE LEADER. EVALUATE THIS STATEMENT WITH REFERENCE TO AT LEAST TWO THEORIES OR MODELS OF LEADERSHIP.
A large amount of credit is given to Bass 's transformational leadership theory identifies four aspects of
‘Leadership’ is a term thrown around a lot in the modern world. It is said that leadership is the way to move forward and someone at all times need to appointed at this role. Sadly it is not clear to anyone what the term means and which leadership theory is the best. Theorists argue that ‘trait theory’ or ‘great man theory’ is the best for today’s world but I disagree with them. As I believe the ‘situational leadership’ is the best, not only for now but also the foreseeable future. In this essay I will analyse a leadership theory and evaluate its impact on my professional practice. I will do so by explaining what situational theory is, provide few strengths and weaknesses and evaluate how the theory informed my teaching practice. It is true that over the years theories have evolved and/or adapted themselves to fit the society. Let us all see if my chosen theory fits today’s technological world or not.
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
Different theories of leadership classify leadership in different ways. Based on the use of authority, leadership is classified into three types as autocratic, democratic and laissez faire leadership styles (Adeyemi, 2013). Having gone through my free flow journey has helped me explore my entire life as a process of learning and evolution of my own leadership. This mandatory part of my journal has given me the opportunity to reflect on my personal values as they are the primary influencer to my leadership development. Since our behaviours determines our values, this mandatory journaling is a powerful tool to identify which of the four waves of values (1st and 2nd Wave Values, 3rd and 4th Wave Values) influences my leadership practices.