An examination of the situational leadership approach. From this perspective, this study will discuss the impact of situational leadership style on employees motivation. This is followed by an examination of the theories of leadership, principles and styles of leadership. It begins with a concise overview of the meaning and concept of leadership in terms of research, theory, and practice. Each factor will be discussed to help managers use this approach in the workplace. A study based on gender, place of birth, and generational affiliation belal a. That makes good sense, but for managers with a natural leadership style, shifting between different modes may. Instead of being locked into one general leadership style, all of them are incorporated into their approach. Nov 26, 2018 transformational leadership is one of those theories, and is considered to be a more humane theory compared to other types like a militaristic transactional leadership style. So what are the advantages and disadvantages of the three leadership styles one would want to know. Situational leadership calls for managers to consider the situation at hand and adapt their leadership style to it. List of the disadvantages of situational leadership.
Hrm the pros and cons of situational leadership situational leadership has become a generally accepted theory of leadership northouse, 2012. This academic evaluation examines recent theoretical developments in the study of educational leadership in school management. It creates disharmony because battle lines are drawn. The situational theory of leadership suggests that no single leadership style is best. The disadvantages of leadership of this kind include employee resentment, paralysis when the boss is unavailable and limited creativity since only one person provides ideas. Apr 26, 2019 situational leadership sounds like it should be free of the disadvantages of leadership styles.
The contingency approach is a management theory that helps the manager to adopt the best management style is dependent on the context of the situation. Abstract situational leadership, one of the most widely used leadership approaches in the business world today was developed by paul hersey and ken blanchard in 1969. Instead, it all depends on the situation at hand and which type of leadership and strategies are bestsuited to the task. Situational theories of leadership work on the assumption that the most effective style of leadership changes from situation to situation. Leadership, transactional leadership, transformational leadership, charismatic leadership. Advantages and disadvantages of transformational leadership. The leadership styles defining, clarifying, involving, and empowering used in this grouplevel adaptation are analogous to those described previously. Lewins study found that participative leadership, also known as democratic leadership, is generally the most effective leadership style. As with any form of leadership, there are advantages and disadvantages of transformational leadership which must be examined. In these six conversations, situational leaders use the three skills of a situational leader to align on goals, development levels, and leadership styles. The disadvantages of situational leadership are as follows every manager cannot adapt the mantle of situational leadership with ease because he is not programmed to make changes as per the needs of his workforce situational leadership puts its focus more on shortterm goals and immediate needs rather than longterm goals. The premise of this model is that there is not single most effective leadership style, rather there are different leadership styles which are appropriate for different tasks and individuals. Motivation the democratic leadership style gave the highest level motivation from children and their work continued even when the teacher left the room, in contrast, work from the children ceased altogether under the autocratic leadership style. Situational theories of leadership principles of management.
Here we look at how it works and the advantages and disadvantages. Jan 23, 2018 three leadership styles advantages and disadvantages. Situational leadership college of engineering uc santa barbara. Article pdf available january 2014 with 7,887 reads how we. Hersey and blanchards situational leadership theory hersey and blanchards situational leadership theory situational leadership theory slt a contingency theory that focuses on followers readiness. Instead, an effective leader adjusts his style to fit variables of a given situation, including employees, work environment and other situational factors. Essay on situational leadership analysis 1299 words. Pdf the importance of situational leadership in the workforce. Situational leadership comes with its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. A study of coaching leadership style practice in projects. One of the leadership styles applied by leaders and top echelons of management is transactional leadership, also referred to as managerial leadership. Consequences leadership is the dependent variable who becomes a leader.
The importance of situational leadership in the workforce. Some 2500 years ago socrates argued that leadership is always situational. Leadership theories have been evolving into various forms for decades now, with each of them having its own thought process and providing a model to manage a team effectively transformational leadership is one of those theories, and is considered to be a more humane theory compared to other types like a militaristic transactional leadership style. Situational leadership and its effectiveness in rising. Situational leadership is an approach to leadership based on the notion that there is no single best leadership style. However, despite its attractions, it is not a perfect model due to flaws which are present in the underlying assumptions. Advantages and disadvantages of different leadership styles.
Jul 16, 2016 situational leadership comes with its own unique set of advantages and disadvantages. Situational leadership disadvantage and advantage free essays. Situational leaders are flexible, shifting from democracy to autocracy to laissezfaire depending on the people with whom theyre dealing. Then they choose the most appropriate type of leadership style to use for that given circumstance. Negatives of a situational leadership style your business. Leadership is the independent variable what works and when.
International journal of management and applied research, 2014, vol. The advantages and disadvantages of distributed leadership styles show us that when more people are involved in leadership, there is greater creativity, diversity, and empowerment. Situational leadership is thus very vital in challenging the ambiguous and complex nature of the modern military environment. Oct 18, 2019 the disadvantages of situational leadership are as followsevery manager cannot adapt the mantle of situational leadership with ease because he is not programmed to make changes as per the needs of his workforce. Situational leadership was created by paul hersey and ken blanshard when they merged their own individual leadership theories to create the model. The situational leadership theory, is a leadership theory developed by paul hersey, professor and author of the book situational leader, and ken blanchard, leadership guru and author of the one minute manager, while working on the first edition of management of organizational behavior now in its 9th edition.
For him, transformational leadership is a flawless, perfect and idealised form of leadership. It focuses more on immediate needs than longterm needs. Such a style has proven to be effective, as companies that have managers utilizing this type of leadership tend to be more successful than those that do not, according to a study published in the july 2001 journal of psychology. Research has failed to provide the conceptual basis of the theory and validity of the instruments. Hersey and blanchard developed their situational leadership approach in 1969. What individual characteristics skills, traits, background matters. Nov 28, 2018 the situational leadership model is based primarily on the perceived need to adapt to the immediate situation, taking into account the difficulty of the task and the workers maturity. The situational leader must be able to evaluate the maturity and competence of the followers and then apply the right strategy to enhance the follower and their personal character advantages and disadvantages of situational leadership situational leadership does.
Here are the advantages and disadvantages of situational leadership to think about and discuss. Outside of the military, this approach works best when jobs are routine and dont require much initiative. Pros and cons of situational leadership theory june 16, situational leadership theory s that situations predominantly affect what leaders do and what behaviors they must exhibit to attain their goals and objectives northouse, 20, p. There are some situations where this management style may be the most appropriate to use. Situational leadership encourages leaders to choose the style that fits their goals and circumstances. Measures and uses of situational approach to leadership. Three leadership styles advantages and disadvantages.
Introduction the term leadership is a relatively recent addition to the english language. You want to have it distributed throughout the company to give people directed responsibilities on. If you dont agree with a certain premise, then you become an enemy to the greater good. Legitimate power in the workplace leadership training. Situational leadership is a leadership style that refers to a leader that can adjust his or her style to fit the situation they are trying to influence. Debate pros and cons to situational leadership approach essay. Advantages and disadvantages of situational leadership. Pdf a study of coaching leadership style practice in projects.
In this way, situational leadership is strongly dependent on the relationship between the manager and the worker. To be most effective and successful, a leader must be able to adapt his style and approach to diverse circumstances. This strategy encourages leaders to take stock of their team members, weigh the many variables in their workplace and choose the leadership style that best fits their goals and circumstances. French and bertram raven in 1959 power in the workplace can exist in many different forms. Essay on situational leadership analysis 1299 words 6 pages hersey and blanchards situational leadership theory slt asserts that a leaders effectiveness is dependent upon the readiness, or ability and willingness, of the leaders followers to complete a task. Although this leadership style does tend to promote lower levels of overall productivity, like any other style, the laissez faire management style does have some specific advantages and disadvantages which are worth considering.
Situational leadership is a style of management developed by paul hersey and ken blanchard in 1969 and enhanced and perfected in the decades since then. Pdf situational leadership has become an important topic in many organizations and. Situational leadership is the dominant theory upon which supervisorylevel leadership training worldwide today is based. The style of choice depends upon the organizations environ ment and the competence and commitment of its followers. Basic approaches to leadership baskent universitesi. A study based on gender, place of birth, and generational affiliation. Unlike other management styles, the situational leadership style eschews a one size fits all approach. This approach basically provides employees with the inspiration for performing excellent work based on the leaders personality and example. The right leadership style depends on the situation leader, team, skills, etc.
When leaders effectively adapt their leadership style to their followers needs, work gets done, relationships are built up, and basically, the followers developmental level rises, to everyones benefit. Factors influenced on transformational leadership approach there are four factors to transformational leadership, also known as the four is. Contingency approach helps to understand that management activity such as planning, controlling, leadership, or organization are completely dependent on the circumstances. It is a leadership approach that focuses on leadership in different situations and is based on the premise that different situations demand different kinds of leadership. Transformational and transactional leadership theories are the most well known leadership theories. Nov 25, 2014 situational leadership is an adaptive leadership style. The disadvantages of situational leadership are as followsevery manager cannot adapt the mantle of situational leadership with ease because he is not programmed to make changes as per the needs of his workforce. Groundbreaking in its suggestion that managers should adapt their style to fit the demands of the environment, situational leadership remains the undisputed leadership training model, although research has not proven its effectiveness. Legitimate power is one of the 5 types of power identified by psychologists john r. This is because leadership is a major factor which contributes immensely to the general wellbeing of organisations and nations. Utilizing genders strengths and improving weaknesses in situational. It has been in use only for about two hundred years, although the term leader, from which it was derived, appeared as early as a. It adapts to the existing work environment and the needs of the organization.
Critics of situational leadership point to the difficulty in defining and quantifying maturity, who should rate it, and the tendency to assume that job maturity matches emotional maturity. Pros and cons of situational leadership theory essay. Burns published his seminal work in 1978, where he establishes the idea of transactional and transformational leadership, and. At this point, this paper is made to clarify how situational leadership affects the productivity of employees inside an. The situational leadership model is a training model that is intended to enhance leaderfollower communications. Analysis of situational leadership theory uk essays. Leadership approach jason remington ldr531 october 26, 2012 mike kraynik situational leadership situational leadership is an adaptive form of management introduced by kenneth blanchard and paul hershey in 1969 schlosser, 2012. The situational leadership model is based primarily on the perceived need to adapt to the immediate situation, taking into account the difficulty of the task and the workers maturity. The person must be able to adapt to their situation. List of the disadvantages of situational leadership 1. Strengths and weaknesses of situational leadership model. The model allows you to analyze the needs of the situation youre in, and then use the most appropriate leadership style. Situational leadership is based more on meeting an exact need, at the moment, then an approach which looks toward the longterm needs of a team. Situational leadership is where leaders change their approach based on the situation.
Situational leadership has advantages in terms of its ease of use. Advantages of situational leadership one of the major benefits of the situational leadership approach is the core message of the theory. Authoritarian leadership is best applied to situations where there is little time for group decisionmaking or where the leader is the most knowledgeable member of the group. Pdf the importance of situational leadership in the. Kaifi college of business administration, trident university international, 5757 plaza drive, suite. Essay on situational leadership analysis 1299 words bartleby. Pdf situational leadership is one the main of leadership styles and most companies nowadays use this. Basss writing highlights a strong heroic bias in transformational leadership. Leadership style is a highly discussed and studied topic in the field of management due to its contribution in influencing employees productivity. The main advantage of situational leadership is that the model is easy to understand and use. Advantages and disadvantages of contingency approach to.
Situational leadership theory purports that there is no single best style of leadership. Situational leadership is an adaptive leadership style. Situational leadership can divert leaders focus away from longterm strategies, symbols, structure or politics. Differences between situational leadership and other leadership styles the difference between situational leadership and other leadership styles is that situational leadership incorporates many different tech niques. Its fundamental principal is that the most effective leaders adapt their style of leadership based on the current climate of their company and on the development of their employees. Situational leadership puts its focus more on shortterm goals and immediate needs rather than longterm goals. But like other theories, it has attracted its share of critics. Situational leadership theory is mainly based on task behavior, follower maturity, relationship and effective leadership behavior. Leadership, management, and personal development training. The situational leadership method from kenneth blanchard and paul hersey holds that managers must use different leadership styles depending on the situation. Its an adjustable model that helps ensure that employees get enough support and encouragement, but dont get suffocated or. The herseyblanchard situational leadership model is built on the concept using follower maturity as the key issue which affects adjustment in leadership styles.
150 1190 22 913 1119 525 289 819 1600 156 384 127 1551 1521 1456 935 1506 509 282 978 338 44 1503 932 1172 38 460 1199 1083 1393 905 909 114