Situational Leadership Issues - Research Paper Example

Running Head: Situational Leadership Situational Leadership Insert Insert Grade Insert 2 December Situational Leadership Introduction Situational leadership refers to the ability of leaders or managers to adapt, flex, switch, and styles, as conditions or situations change in the working environment (Sharlow, 2004). Situational leadership provides the manager or a leader the guidance skills they require in order to work effectively with their juniors and clients. A situational leader should be able to adjust his or her leadership styles to fit their client’s ability and willingness to perform a certain task (Lyons & Goldsmith, 2006, p.26). Early studies of leadership styles and traits identified two different leadership styles: the task-oriented autocratic style and the relationship-oriented democratic style. Latest research found that most leaders exhibited one of four combinations of task and relationship behaviors (Smith, Waller, and Warnock, 1989, p.1). Ken Blanchard and Paul Hersey developed a situational theory of leadership style. Their model of leadership shows that the practice of leading other employees requires one to be able to adopt job experience and skills of the individual employees. There are several theories that try to explain the actual perception and mentality a true leader should have, but all in all, a situational leader is required to be able to adapt their leadership skills according to the needs of the employees and perform it effectively according to situational context (Blanchard & Hersey, 2010). What It Takes To Be an Effective and Efficient Leader/Manager: Situational Leader An effective or/and efficient leader is a leader who practices a behavioral and situational leadership. This kind of leader should be able to test different compromising situation to be able to determine which style of leadership will be successful in a particular situation (Lyons & Goldsmith, 2006, p.27). Effective leaders have the potential, interests, abilities and exemplary personality behavior to lead than non-effective leaders. They have the desire and willingness to lead others in the right way because they are always empowered by full confidence all the time. Not all successful leaders are effective or situational leaders, but the most successful ones have higher intelligence and emotional maturity (Hellriegel, & Slocum, 2007, p.216). Successful leaders have the desire to achieve better results in whatever position they are holding. They keep on seeking one goal after the other without depending on employees for motivation in achieving these goals. One has always a higher sense of integrity by strictly following and practicing the laid down set of values (Hellriegel, & Slocum, 2007, p.217). An effective leader is one who is able to recognize and predict the needs of his or her juniors then face the situation by adjusting to their own style to meet and resolve those demands. In this view, a leader is supposed to adapt his or her personal style to meet these demands of variable situations, since situational leadership focuses on leadership in different situation. In every situation, a leader is required to assess and evaluate their employees each time since the skills, attitudes, and motivation of employees changes and varies over time. As a situational leader, one should always change his or her leadership styles with time to meet the changing needs of subordinates or employees (Northouse, 2010, p.89). An effective or efficient leader should act as an executive coach. An executive coach here means that he or she should be able to adjust the manner they are leading their clients or their juniors. They should consider the readiness of individual clients or employees to perform a particular task they are supposed to do. Therefore, executive coaching is a very important application principle of situational leadership because they offer guidance to the leaders (Lyons & Goldsmith, 2006, p.26) Situational theory of leadership The situational leadership theory holds that the difference between the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of the four leadership styles is the appropriateness of the leaders behavior to the particular situation in which it is used (Smith, Waller and Warnock, 1989, p.1). This is the theory behind the idea of situational leadership. Implementing the concept of situational leadership in any given organization is a matter of training managers, leaders, and supervisors to recognize the current work or employee condition, and then using the most effective leadership style given the specific challenge. Currently there are several models developed to explain the idea of situational leadership. These include Goleman’s model of situational leadership that incorporates five elements of emotional intelligence. Goleman develops six situational leadership styles, which features the reasons why a leader should change between these different styles. The styles he formulated include democratic, pacesetting, affiliate, coercive, authoritative and coaching leaders (Sharlow, 2004). Ken Blanchard’s situational leadership model is the current situational leadership theory that was developed by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. This theory only focuses on two concepts: leadership styles and development level of the employee or the followers (Sharlow, 2004). This model indicates that the style of leadership should match directly with the willingness or readiness of the people under leadership. The development level of the employees should focus on different alternative situations and the recommendations for which leadership styles are most efficient in each particular situation (Hellriegel, & Slocum, 2007, p.221). The model constitute of four different leadership styles and maturity (readiness) levels. The leadership styles levels include S1, S2, S3, while those for maturity include m1, m2, m3, and m4 or R1, R2, R3 and R4 respectively. S1 is the “Telling” leadership style where the leader is strong and leads by one-way communication. S2 is the “Selling” leadership style characterized by strong leadership but with more communication. The leaders here are trying to sell their messages to their followers to make them understand their important duties in the organization. S3 is the “Participating” leadership style that is characterized with two-way communication and sharing of decision-making process between the leader and his followers. S4 is the “Delegating” leadership style where the leader is heavily involved in decision-making process than his followers. The concept of leadership style flexibility indicates that none of these leadership styles is important than the others. Each maturity or readiness level is directly proportional to the leadership styles level, i.e. M1=S1, M2=S2 and so on (Blanchard & Hersey, 2010). The situational leadership theory provides a framework that enables success in the investigation of different situations and determining a good leadership style. It shows out the connection between the readiness of the client and choice of leadership styles. It is therefore a very important tool for successful leaders and managers to use while working with their employees or clients (Lyons & Goldsmith, 2006, p.27). Despite having several importance in development, management, training and leadership of various organization, situational theory of leadership has however been criticized in some ways. First, this theory cannot be justified because there are few research studies about its propositions and assumptions. Some of them are not even been published. The author of this theory does not also give a clear explanation of the theory behind each leadership style level of development. There is no effectiveness also in matching of subordinate development level with leadership style (Northouse, 2010, p.96). How Situational theory of leadership is reflected within NTPFES Situational theory of leadership has a particular perception within the Northern Territory Police, Fire, and Emergency Services (NTPFES) since it has it own working rules and conditions. NTPFES faces many emergency and difficult situations therefore; it has developed a particular social initiatives, policies, and management strategy programs. These frameworks are part of NTPFES shared commitment in keeping different territories safe. The organization has a strong relationship between outcomes, outputs, and output groups that examines various safety measures within the NT Governments (NTPFES 2010-2011: Annual Report, 2011, p.17). This relationship between the NT organization and the community actually reflects how the aspect of problem solving and decision-making process if portrayed by the organization. According to the NTPFES CEO statement on 2010-2011 Annual report, their agency priority is to ensure that their employees have the capabilities to produce high quality service. He said that is through coaching, guidance, and management and development opportunities with a mandatory professional development tool “Performance Plus.” This strategy aimed at attracting and retaining the right people and building a safe and healthier working environment (NTPFES 2010-2011: Annual Report, 2011, p.8). Conclusion Successful leaders in any organization are able to recognize quickly the correct style to apply in a given situation. They make use of that style to achieve superior business results. The situational leadership theory enables a leader to identify a task, set goals, determine the task maturity of the individual or group, select an appropriate leadership style, and modify the style as change occurs. NTPFES is a good example of an organization that demonstrates the model of situational leadership through its standard management and leadership style. Reference List Blanchard, K..., & Hersey, P., 2010. What is situational leadership theory? BusinessMate.Org; Great business Resources. (Online). Available from http://www.businessmate.org/Article.php?ArtikelId=191 [Accessed December 2, 2011]. Hellriegel, D. & Slocum, W. J., 2007. Organizational Behavior. OH: Cengage Learning. Lyons, L. S. & Goldsmith, M, 2006. Coaching For Leadership: The Practice of Leadership Coaching From the World Greatest Coaches. CA: Pfeifer. Northouse, P. G., 2010. Leadership: Theory and Practice. CA: SAGE Publishers. NTPFES, 2010-2011: Annual Report. 2011. (Online). Available from http://www.pfes.nt.gov.au/~/media/Files/Forms_Licences_Permits_Publications/Triservice/Annual_reports/111124-WEB_AnnualReport_2011-2011.ashx [Accessed December 2, 2011] Sharlow, B., 2004.Situational Leadership. (Online). Available from: http://www.money-zine.com/Career-Development/Leadership-Skill/Situational-Leadership/ [Accessed December 2, 2011]. Smith, S.R., Waller, D.J, and Warnock, J.T., 1989. Situational Theory of Leadership; American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. Online). Available from http://www.ajhp.org/content/46/11/2335 [Accessed December 2, 2011]. Read More