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.
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;
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 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
Situational leadership is useful and relevant in developing an effective leadership culture because it allows the leader to become flexible in pursuing different styles of leading employees towards achieving success. Leaders are free to adapt and make changes to the leadership style based on the situation at any given point in time. Situational
Another big problem is the organization has to provide the necessary tools for the employee to their jobs. In different states there are different laws that apply. If the employee has to continuously search for the right information and it is not provided to them by the necessary managers or even through the HR department, then it will be hard for the employee to do their job at their highest expected level. I personally have run into this issue a few times where I had to basically demand that I be provided with the most up to date material. I also had to make sure that I did so in the most professional way.
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
Situational Leadership is simple in concept when introduced by Hersey and Blanchard in 1969, through to Blanchard’s recent advanced modeling circa 2013, as part of Situational Leadership II. In its simplicity, many workers, managers, and leaders can find some basis of common understanding in leadership having both a directive (task) and supportive (people) framework (Northouse, 2015). To have an emotional and foundational connection early with an audience on such a challenging subject as leadership means early investment in the concept and trust that even short duration training on Situational Leadership will yield results. This is one of the reasons that human resource experts as well as many successful organizations have embraced Situational
The situational leadership (theory) model was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard while working on a book together. They were writing a book on another theory where they decided there are few elements missing in it, and thus the created this theory (McMahon, 2010). The theory was first introduced to the world with a different name: "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership". During the mid-1970s, "Life Cycle Theory of Leadership" was renamed "Situational Leadership theory". Till date no one knows why this happened.
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
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
As an effective leader in the situational approach, one must have the ability to connect with others and truly understand their competencies, skills, deficits, and how they interact with the situation at hand. By recognizing what employees
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
This model of leadership requires the leader to identify the demands of the situation and then choose and implement the appropriate leadership response. The theory also lays emphasis on the readiness of the followers and their reaction to a specific task.
It has been a main factor in development and training programs (Hersey et al., 2001). Situational leadership theory is based on how people respond to working and being led in groups.