Situational Leadership - Essay Example

Running head: situational leadership Situational Leadership Situational leadership, as proposed by Hershey and Blanchard, refers to matching the style of leadership according to the readiness of the followers. This means leaders need to constantly change and adopt their behavior according to their followers’ preparedness and ability to complete the given tasks. Leaders need to be aware of their followers’ abilities, skills and competencies to practice situational leadership. Moreover, situational leadership should also consider the task involved (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2007).

In the capacity of the principal of an inner city school, situational leadership would be of great use in helping the school teachers utilize their skills and achieve the best outcomes. Firstly, I need to be aware of all teachers’ skills and competencies as well as experience in the field of their respective teaching. Usually, organizational change is a complex phenomenon and has to be dealt in a systematic manner. The concept of situational leadership provides a framework for effective change leadership by identifying six stages of concern, which when addressed appropriately can help in successful implementation of any organizational change (Blanchard, 2010).

Besides these stages of concern, the developmental level in the change process of each individual staff member needs to be considered (Baca & Cervantes, 1998). Based on these developmental levels, stages of concern model proposed by Hershey and Blanchard can be used for change implementation (Olson, 2008). For instance, staff with information concerns needs to be given complete information so that they can decipher the sequence of events and be able to arrive at logical reasoning behind the tasks/events.

Secondly, people with personal concerns are usually worried about the impact of events/tasks or change upon themselves. These groups, usually the new teachers, are also concerned about their own abilities to cope with the change. Such teachers need to be explained and also involved in a participative discussion so that their valuable inputs are heard. More often, experienced teachers seek attention for their inputs. Thirdly, addressing implementation concerns requires providing clear directions, resources, tools and the process to implement the change.

Teachers with less experience or those that are new to the task have implementation concerns. The fourth stage is that of impact concerns, during which staff members will be concerned about the effectiveness of their actions. At this stage, staff members require feedback and acknowledgement of their efforts; teachers are low in confidence at this stage, and hence need feedback and reinforcement of their behavior/actions. Staff at this stage is more open to change, but with support. Next stage is that of collaboration with others to take the process further or bring in other methods.

At this stage, individuals would have developed innovative thinking and ready to take greater challenges. Lastly, the stage of refinement is identified by culmination of all change activities into new process; at this stage, staff members are more innovative and ready to challenge the status quo. In conclusion, the six stages of concern model can be effectively used to implement change process by minimizing resistance and anxiety among staff members by addressing respective concerns. This process will also help in gaining better understanding and commitment from the staff members.

Therefore, situational leadership is an effective approach to enhance employee commitment and motivation as well as address their concerns that arise because of issues with skills, confidence, and support. References Blanchard, K. (2010). Leading at a higher level: Blanchard on leadership and creating high performing organizations. New Jersey: FT Press. Hellriegel, D and Slocum, J.W. (2007). Organizational behavior. Edn 11. Ohio: Cengage Learning. Olson, M.L. (2008). Compact Risk: Controlling the perils of change.

Training & Development. Retrieved from, http://www.kenblanchard.com/img/pub/TD_Controlling_the_perils_of_Change.pdf