So far we have gone over trait approach and the
skills approach to leadership. If you recall those approaches focused on
aspects of the leader that were either there from birth or learned. The
next two approaches to leadership do not focus on certain traits or skills of
the leader. The behavior approach and the situational approach focus on
what the leader does. These two approaches point out a different aspect
of successful leadership. Having the right skills and traits is not what
makes a person a good leader according to these two approaches. The first
approach we will focus on in this blog is the behavioral approach and then we
will go over the situational approach.
The Ohio State University and the University of Michigan both conducted studies
on how leaders acted. The Ohio State University study came up with two
behavioral approaches of leaders which are initiating structure which are task
behaviors and consideration which are relationship behaviors (Northouse, 2016).
The University of Michigan studies came up with behaviors that were very
similar to the Ohio State University study. Blake & Mouton built on
the two previous studies and came up with the Managerial Grid which
has been renamed the Leadership Grid. The Leadership grid attempts
to explain how leaders help their organizations based on two factors: concern
for production and concern for people (Northouse, 2016). The Leadership
Grid contains five different types of leadership behavior which are
authority-compliance, country-club management, impoverished management,
middle-of-the-road management, and team management.
SOURCE: The Leadership Grid© figure, Paternalism figure, and Opportunism figure from Leadership Dilemmas—Grid Solutions, by Robert R. Blake and Anne Adams McCanse. (Formerly the Managerial Grid by Robert R. Blake and Jane S. Mouton.) Houston: Gulf Publishing Company (Grid figure: p. 29, Paternalism figure: p. 30, Opportunism figure: p. 31). Copyright 1991 by Scientific Methods, Inc. Reproduced by permission of the owners.
The situational approach to leadership is one of
the more widely known and used approaches to leadership (Northouse, 2016).
The situational approach to leadership is based on changes in leadership
style depending on the situation by evaluating the competence and commitment of
the follower (Northouse, 2016). The Situational Leadership II (SLII)
model was constructed to show the different types of leadership for the
different development level of the follower. Below is the SLII and you
will see the descriptions of the different leadership styles and the
development levels of the followers.
SOURCE: From Leadership and the One Minute Manager: Increasing Effectiveness Through Situational Leadership® II, by K. Blanchard, P. Zigarmi, and D. Zigarmi, 2013, New York: William Morrow. Used with permission. This model cannot be used without the expressed, written consent of The Ken Blanchard Companies. To learn more, visit http://www.kenblanchard.com/
In this model the different leadership styles are
coordinated for development levels. An example is that the development
level D1 coincides with the leadership style of S1 which is directing.
One of the weaknesses of this approach and a main reason I do not like
using the model is that it assumes that as someone gains a little confidence
they will lose motivation (D2) (Northouse, 2016). As a person gains
competence there is no way of knowing if they will lose commitment or not. Situational
leadership is a concept that makes sense because no two situations are the same
and no two people will respond to the same leadership style, but the model is
not inclusive enough to all of the situations and some of the assumptions may
be off.
The situational approach has many strengths in that
it is widely used by Fortune 500 companies to train their employees to be
effective leaders, it is practical, and it emphasizes leader flexibility
(Northouse, 2016). The situational
approach is, in my opinion, the best approach to leadership we have covered so
far. It’s usefulness in training people
to become leaders by giving them situations and choices of action makes it a
valuable training tool. The theory
behind the model is very strong, but the model just has some weaknesses that
need to be improved.
Reference:
Northouse,
Peter G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand
Oaks, CA: Sage.
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