Situational Leadership Theory and Organizational Leadership
A good leader is an individual who should create a favorable environment within the organization and maintain the morale of each employee. Unfortunately, not all leaders have the appropriate skills to organize productive work in a team. Given that the leadership culture is ineffective within the organization, it is necessary to develop an efficient leadership plan. Thus, the situational theory of leadership seems to be the most suitable for this organization, since it contains several models, including Fielder’s theory, the Vroom-Jetton-Iago decision-making model, and the P. Hersey and K. Blanchard situational leadership model, which have a significant number of advantages when it comes to an effective leadership culture.
The situational theory of leadership is extremely useful and relevant to building an effective leadership culture because, according to this theory, no leadership style can be considered the best. The theory of situational leadership was developed by two scientists Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard (McCleskey, 2014). In the 1960s, the theory was first described by them in the book “Management of Organizational Behavior” (1960) (McCleskey, 2014). According to this theory, there are four styles of leadership and four degrees of development of a subordinate (McCleskey, 2014). Adequate choice of style depends on the specific situation: the leader needs to be able to choose the strategy that is best suited for the implementation of a particular goal. According to this theory, the most effective leaders are those who are able to adapt their leadership style to the situation in general and various factors in particular (for example, the type of task, the characteristics of the group performing it, etc.) (McCleskey, 2014). The first style is directive, in which the leader tells people what to do and how - that is, in fact, just giving out orders. The second style is mentoring or selling ideas, in which there is a mutual discussion between the leader and his/her followers. The next style is supporting, in which the leader directs the group less and allows its participants to play a more active role in the development and decision-making. The last style is delegating, which is characterized by a lesser degree of intervention of the leader in the process of solving the problem (McCleskey, 2014). Thus, members of the group usually take the majority of decisions and take on most of the responsibility for what is happening. The correct choice of style largely depends on the level of development (that is, the degree of knowledge and training) of individuals or the group as a whole. Also, this theory is extremely useful because it includes several models that have their shortcomings and advantages.
The Fielder’s contingency theory is quite effective, as it assumes that the performance of the group depends on the interaction of the leadership style and the degree of the opportunity of the situation. More precisely, the productivity of a team of employees whose work is characterized by mutual dependence is a function of the interaction between the respect of the …
