SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP
Situational Leadership is a theory expounded by both Paul Hersey, an author and professor, and Ken Blanchard, an author and leadership counselor. This type of leadership was previously termed “Life Cycle Theory of Leadership”.
According to the theory, no single method of leadership can be touted as the ‘best’. Effective leadership applies itself to the task at hand, and effective leaders are leaders who adjust their style of leadership according to the task and the people involved. This means that set goals are soaring but attainable with members having adequate experience and education to perform the task. Above all, the leader takes on the responsibility willingly and ably.
The two basic concepts of situational leadership, according to Hersey and Blanchard, are leadership style and maturity level of the group or individual. There are four types of behavior in the leadership style. These are telling, selling, participating, and delegating.
Telling style is exemplified when the leader specifically defines the what, why, where, how, and when of the task. It is a one-way communication. Selling style is a two-way communication wherein the group or the individual is being swayed or persuaded to agree to the idea or process.
The Participating style is a shared decision making between the leader and the members. This type of leadership fosters high relationship factor. In Delegating style, tasks are passed on to members of the group. The leader’s job is to monitor the progress of the group or individual.
The concept of Maturity Level exclusively depends on the classification of the group or individual being influenced and it is task-specific. In every task, there is a corresponding maturity level.
The members, according to the situational leadership theory, are categorized as follows: members or followers who lack skills to efficiently do the job and/or not willing to take on the job and its corresponding responsibilities; members or followers who are not willing to shoulder the responsibility but are willing to do the job; members or followers who have the necessary skills and experience to perform the job but lacks self-confidence to shoulder responsibility; and members or followers who possess the required skills and experience to do the job, possess the right amount of self-confidence about their ability to do it and do it well, willing to do the job and to shoulder the responsibility for the job.
According to Hersey, a leader who has a realistically high expectation or aim brings about high productivity and performance from followers. A leader develops and improves on the ability and dedication of their members to promote self-motivation rather than making their members dependent on the leader for instructions and advice.
A leadership approach used on one follower is unique and varies from follower to another follower. There are even times when different leadership approaches are applied to only one follower but for different tasks or situations.
The leader also has to deal with other aspects as resource acquisition, external interactions, managing and controlling requirements, and managing the fundamental make up and background of the group.
Other factors might also have an effect on a particular situation. One of these is how the leader and the followers relate to each other. How the leader perceives the follower/s and the particular situation will have an effect on how follower/s will respond. How the leader also perceives himself with the additional factors of mood and stress may also alter the behavior or style utilized by the leader.
According to Tannenbaum and Schmidt, there are three factors that dictate on how a leader takes action: the situation, the follower, and the leader. This acknowledges the fact that leadership style is extremely variable. Events not related to the work at hand as marital spats might influence how the leader will respond to a situation. He might take on a more forceful and uncompromising stance than usual. Likewise, if the external events are positive like children graduating with honors, he might take on a more lenient and agreeable behavior.
In critical situations, based on Maer’s studies, leaders’ tendencies are to take on a directive style of leadership expecting members to follow the directions. The stress is on doing the job well and on-time. Directive style of leadership is oftentimes used to secure success and prevent failure.
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