Summary Of Situational Leadership
Situational leadership is one of the several leadership theories that companies based their administration on ensuring success and sustainability. This leadership theory was developed in 1969 by Blanchard and Hersey Situational Leadership Theory in their classic book Management of Organizational Behavior. In its early days, this theory was referred to as the “Life Cycle Theory of Leadership.” However, in the mid-1970s, it was renamed the Situational Leadership Theory. Further, Blanchard and Hersey developed their styles of this leadership model in the late 1970s and 80s, and continue to update their Situational leadership theories.
However, in most cases, this leadership style is considered the definitive leadership because it entails giving the followers what they need when they need it. A leadership style found on is a model and process that helps leaders understand the relationship between an effective style of leadership and the level of readiness followers exhibit for a specific task. As a result, the managers can be more strategic and planned in their interactions with followers, leading to creating a culture where employees and the administration have a clear understanding and alignment on the objectives of specific tasks as they relate to the achievement of the organizational goals. According to Blanchard, situational leaders lean towards choosing between “directive behavior,” and “supportive behavior,” which entails being committed, initiative, and having positive attitudes.
Situational leadership entails four quadrants: directing, coaching, delegating, and supporting. Directing is the basic leadership style in Situational leadership. Followers are characterized by low competence and high commitment, lack of ability to comply, and a string of insecurity. Thus, as a leader, the primary purpose is to focus more on the tasks than relationships because none has been developed yet. The second phase is coaching. In this stage, the follower has developed some levels of commitment and competence, although is still working on improving their confidence in their abilities. Coaching and directing are both leader-driven stages. Supporting follows, and is more of relationship-focused and follower driven. Here, followers are now competent at their responsibilities, despite the inconsistencies in so doing and characteristically being less committed. As a leader, it is important to participate with and support the follower. Last, delegating, which is the ultimate goal of creating a follower who is competent enough to take the lead of their responsibilities under the least supervision, in other words, the follower is highly motivated, committed, competent and empowered. The leader can now delegate responsibilities and observe with the least amount of follow-up, confident that the results will be highly acceptable.
Three Example Cases Found That Demonstrate Situational Leadership
A situational leader deals with the leadership needs at the time they are needed. For instance, a leader who can identify the needs of recruits in understanding the organizational needs and take them through learning what is expected of them demonstrates situational leadership. New hires can have a difficult time getting accustomed to the basics of their working environment. The foundation upon which they base their first experiences can highly determine their future within such areas. Another case that demonstrates situational leadership is how tasks are assigned. Despite the routine allocation of tasks, situational leaders should understand which employees are competent enough to hand certain tasks and achieve exemplary results under minimal follow-up. When that is achieved, we say that situational leadership has prevailed. Another case that would demonstrate situational leadership is how managers and employees interact. In situational leadership, the employees and the administrators speak one language and have relationships that depict a partnership, rather than a leader-follower one.
Three Examples of How I Demonstrated Situational Leadership
Throughout my career development process, I have encountered countless situations that put me in leadership. In either case, I made attempts to demonstrate situational leadership as much as possible to achieve maximum outcomes. For instance, during one of my internships, the organization decided to assign all the interns similar tasks but on different groups to determine our ability to yield better results. However, the team members would be changed routinely to see how adaptive each could be. In this case, I decided to use a situational leader hip by assigning any new members to tasks that they felt motivated and empowered to undertake. The results were amazing. In another case, I had to develop a diagnostic approach that would unearth the underlying factors that resulted in high employee turnover in a particular firm. To achieve better outcomes, I had to blend in with the employees while assuming leadership roles to determine the main reasons. It was a situational approach that led to substantial outcomes. Lastly, collectiveness and feeling of togetherness is the key to leadership success. I learned this when I managed to convince my fellow team members to focus on putting aside cultural differences and focusing on uniting and discussing group homework assignments. Each person aced their tests and developed long-term sustainable bond with their peers.
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