Four Situational Leadership Components

A significant event that happened today involved a child who was demonstrating stubbornness. The teacher had an activity planned for me, which dealt with number recognition. Essentially, the teacher provided instructions, directing me to present a number from 1-10, where then the child would count the number of bear figurines to match the given number. I came across one child who was being difficult and did not want to wait her turn while I was assisting the other children. She kept peeking her head through the door asking if it was her turn, as I kept telling her that I would call her when it was. Finally, when it got to her turn, I called her into the back room and told her to count six bears. Instead, she told me she did not want to and that she wanted

with the school. These meetings may not be suitable for everyone for one reason or

There have been numerous theories surrounding leadership, which attempt to explain which form is most effective in the workplace. A universalistic approach was once used to rationalize leadership and it was believed that successful leaders possessed certain common abilities and traits. However, today due to external factors such as globalization and advanced technologies, there has been an evolution towards a new paradigm of leadership. Subordinates want to feel empowered and engaged at the workplace and often the behaviors and relationships between leaders and their subordinates become important to understand in order to fully understand effective leadership. Contingency theories have been developed in which people began to look at the behavior of leaders in specific situations. Two such contingency theories are: Path-Goal and Hershey and Blanchard’s Situational Theory.

Johansen, B. P. (1990, Spring). Situational Leadership: A Review of the Research. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 1(1), 73-85.

After undergoing a dramatic and angst-ridden season, the Victorian Korfball Senior Team is in need of significant transformation if there is any hope of fostering a high performance culture in the new season. Due to their history of conflict, the players in their present state lack any indications of cohesion. Selecting the right athletes for the new team will play a significant role in the baseline level of cohesion. Each of these areas can be addressed through a method of careful analysis via the Multidimensional Model of Leadership (Chelladurai & Saleh 1978), implementation of an appropriate intervention and the structuring of a consultative leadership environment.

After researching several other leadership styles, I found that situational leadership is the leadership style most effective for myself. Situational leadership is different from most leadership styles because it is adaptable to every circumstance. While other leadership styles are very specific, situational leadership can be used to lead people that are not very knowledgable in a certain area and also people that might know more than you.

Situational Approach Theory is a leadership model that was developed by Hersey and Blanchard in 1969 based on Reddin’s (1967) management model (Northouse, 2015). The model focuses on various leadership styles based upon the situation at that time. Leadership is viewed as being composed of directive and supportive dimensions that is applied according to the situation (Northouse, 2015). The leadership styles include: Directing (high directive-low supportive), Coaching (high directive-high supportive), Supporting (high supportive-low directive), and Delegating (low supportive-low directive). Using SLII model will determine leadership styles based upon Situational Approach Case 5.2 and how these skills are applied when leading followers at various developmental levels.

The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory was created by Dr Paul Hersey, author of "The Situational Leader," and Ken Blanchard, author of "One-Minute Manager”.

Ever since 9/11 the public safety field has been looking for ways to transform themselves a more effective and efficient organization, especially when it comes down to anti- and counter-terrorism efforts. We no longer can depend on up to data from just one organization at a time, so when we were asked to implement key strategies for a new center, we accepted the job. Much to our surprise, it was not just one organization, but many organizations that will be working together in a fusion center. Now that we know what the organization is, we will have to develop key strategies, and implement situational theory to help us to stay up to speed on anti-and counter-terrorism efforts. As leaders for this fusion center it will be our

One weakness that I have identified in myself is that I struggle with communication at times, and communication is a key to a successful situational leader. (Hassan, 2015) Being a good communicator is of the utmost importance in situational leadership as a huge part of situational leadership revolves around making sure everyone is working together to achieve the same goals. In Hassan and Hussain’s article they focus on the military applications of situational leadership and how communication is a key to success. (Hassan, 2015) I struggle to make sure that everyone understands the message and hears the message as I intend it to be heard. I struggle not to assume that everyone has the same understanding that I have, the Hassan article speak

Contemporary thinking offers a variety of obstacles to the success of the Christian Church. Jesus said that the gates of hell would not prevail against the church (Matt. 16:18), and to date, they have not. However, current ministries face stiff opposition and the leadership of these ministries needs practical answers in order to move the gospel forward (McMullin, 2013). Societies around the world continue to grow more secular, casting the impression that the church is irrelevant (McMullin, 2013). With this threat, leaders may consider solutions based on contemporary culture, rather than biblical truth. Resisting this temptation is essential. Christian leaders must insure

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

1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 2 2. HERSEY’S AND BLANCHARD’S SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP MODEL ........... 3 3. SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP & HOFSTEDE’S CULTURAL DIMENSIONS ........ 4

I appreciate your brief summary of situational and contingency leadership comparisons but feel there additional similarities that can be pointed out. First, both theories are rather prescriptive in nature, meaning both have behaviors that can be categorized. In the case of the situational theory, it states that the leader adjusts their behavior based the directive need and supportive need of their subordinate, which relies on a four quadrant guide (Northouse, 2013, p. 101). Similar in the contingency theory, is the Lease Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale, where the leader’s task and relationship motivation are rated. Another similarity is that in both approaches the results of the “scale” drive a particular action.

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.