ASSIGNMENTON

ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIOR

PRESENTED BY,

RESHMA T

SITUATIONAL LEADERSHIP

AND ITSEFFECTIVENESS INLEADING A TEAM

Leader can be defined as1: someone who leads

2: a party member chosen to manage party activities in a legislative body, such a party member presiding over the whole legislative body when the party constitutes a majority 3: first or principal performer of a group

LeadershipLeadership is the ability to influence a group toward the achievement of goals. The source of this influence may be formal, such as that provided by the possession of managerial rank in an organization. Since management positions come with some degree of formally designated authority a person may assume a leadership role simply because of the position he or she holds in the organization. But not all leaders are not managers; nor for that matter, are all managers leaders. Just because an organization provides its managers with certain formal rights is no assurance that they will be able to lead effectively. We find that non-sanctioned leadership- that is, the ability to influence that arises outside the formal structure of the organization- is often as important or more important than formal influence. In other words, leaders can emerge from within a group as well as by formal appointment to lead a group.

Organizations need strong leadership and strong management for optimal effectiveness. In today’s dynamic world, we need the leaders to challenge the status- quo, to create visions of the future, and to inspire organizational members to want to achieve the visions.

Leadership has been described as the “process of social influence in which one person can to enlist the aid and support of others in the accomplishment of a common task” .Alan Keith of Genentech said "Leadership is ultimately about creating a way for people to contribute to making something extraordinary happen." Students of leadership have produced theories involving traits , situational interaction, function, behavior, power, vision and values , charisma, and intelligence among others.

Trait theory

Thomas Carlyle was a precursor of the trait theory

Trait theory tries to describe the types of behavior and personality tendencies associated with effective leadership. This is probably the first academic theory of leadership. Thomas Carlyle (1841) can be considered one of the pioneers of the trait theory, using such approach to identify the talents, skills and physical characteristics of men who arose to power.Ronald Heifetz (1994) traces the trait theory approach back to the nineteenth-century tradition of associating the history of society to the history of great men.

Proponents of the trait approach usually list leadership qualities, assuming certain traits or characteristics will tend to lead to effective leadership. Shelley Kirkpatrick and Edwin A. Locke (1991) exemplify the trait theory. They argue that "key leader traits include: drive (a broad term which includes achievement, motivation, ambition, energy, tenacity, and initiative), leadership

motivation (the desire to lead but not to seek power as an end in itself), honesty, integrity, self-confidence (which is associated with emotional stability), cognitive ability, and knowledge of the business. According to their research, "there is less clear evidence for traits such as charisma, creativity and flexibility"

Criticism to trait theory

Although trait theory has an intuitive appeal, difficulties may arise in proving its tenets, and opponents frequently challenge this approach. The "strongest" versions of trait theory see these "leadership characteristics" as innate, and accordingly labels some people as "born leaders" due to their psychological makeup. On this reading of the theory, leadership development involves identifying and measuring leadership qualities, screening potential leaders from non-leaders, then training those with potential.

Three dimensions of Leadership Behaviour

There are three types of leadership behavior, they are:-

1. Employee-oriented leader- Here leaders emphasize on interpersonal skills and relations, taking a personal interest in the needs of employees and accepting individual differences among members.

2. Production-oriented leader- Here leaders emphasizes on technical and task aspects of job.3. Development- oriented leader- Here leaders value on experimentation, seek new ideas,

and generate and implement change.

EXPLANATION OF LEADERSHIP STYLESThe leadership styles shown the in Figure is derived from work on the Leadership Style Inventory (LSI) developed by Rowe, Reardon, and Bennis (1995). The inventory identifies differences in style used by leaders that are based on the following two questions:

How adaptive are leaders when dealing with the issues they face? How do leaders communicate with, persuade, and energize employees in the process of

change?

The LSI identifies four basic styles: commanding, logical, inspirational, and supportive. One of its major strengths is that it also describes combinations of the basic styles called “patterns.” These patterns help to describe the complexity behind leader behavior and competence for radical change. The commanding style focuses on performance and has a short-term goal orientation. Commanders are highly productive and results oriented. They can be very effective when goal achievement is the primary focus. They learn better by their own successes and failures than by input from others.

The logical style pertains to leaders who insist on covering all alternatives. They have long-term goals, use analysis and questioning, and learn by reasoning things through. They are particularly effective when the goal is strategy development. The inspirational style is characteristic of those who are able to develop meaningful visions of the future by focusing on radically new ideas; they learn by experimentation. They show a high level of concern for assuring cohesiveness of members of the organization and encouraging others to follow the vision. They are inquisitive, curious, and satisfied by finding radically new solutions.Those leaders who are more concerned with consensus score high in the supportive dimension. They emphasize openness and operate more as facilitators than directors. They learn by observing outcomesand how others react to their decisions. Most leaders do not possess a single style, but a combination. These combinations indicate which styles leaders are predisposed to use. Inventory scores indicate leader style predispositions. Style patterns, however, are not necessarily static. It is possible, even preferable, for leaders to develop the capacity to adapt their styles to the demands of situations, especially when their organizations are undergoing radical change.

Leadership Style

Focuses on

Persuades by Make Changes

Learns by

Commanding Results Directing Rapidly Doing

Logical Innovation Explaining Carefully Studying

Inspirational Opportunities CreatingTrust

Radically Questioning

Supportive Facilitating work Involvement Slowly Listening

Leadership QualitiesLeadership can be defined as one's ability to get others to willingly follow. Every organization needs leaders at every level. Leaders can be found and nurtured if you look for the following character traits.

There are 10 most important qualities which every leader should possess. They are:-

1. Vision

A leader with vision has a clear, vivid picture of where to go, as well as a firm grasp on what success looks like and how to achieve it. But it’s not enough to have a vision; leaders must also share it and act upon it. Jack Welch, former chairman and CEO of General Electric Co., said, "Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision and relentlessly drive it to completion."

A leader must be able to communicate his or her vision in terms that cause followers to buy into it. He or she must communicate clearly and passionately, as passion is contagious.

A good leader must have the discipline to work toward his or her vision single-mindedly, as well as to direct his or her actions and those of the team toward the goal. Action is the mark of a leader. A leader does not suffer “analysis paralysis” but is always doing something in pursuit of the vision, inspiring others to do the same.

2. Integrity

Integrity is the integration of outward actions and inner values. A person of integrity is the same on the outside and on the inside. Such an individual can be trusted because he or she never veers from inner values, even when it might be expeditious to do so. A leader must have the trust of followers and therefore must display integrity.

Honest dealings, predictable reactions, well-controlled emotions, and an absence of tantrums and harsh outbursts are all signs of integrity. A leader who is centered in integrity will be more approachable by followers.

3. Dedication

Dedication means spending whatever time or energy is necessary to accomplish the task at hand. A leader inspires dedication by example, doing whatever it takes to complete the next step toward the vision. By setting an excellent example, leaders can show followers that there are no nine-to-five jobs on the team, only opportunities to achieve something great.

4. Magnanimity

Magnanimity means giving credit where it is due. A magnanimous leader ensures that credit for successes is spread as widely as possible throughout the company. Conversely, a good leader takes personal responsibility for failures. This sort of reverse magnanimity helps other people feel good about themselves and draws the team closer together. To spread the fame and take the blame is a hallmark of effective leadership.

5. Humility

Leaders with humility recognize that they are no better or worse than other members of the team. A humble leader is not self-effacing but rather tries to elevate everyone. Leaders with humility also understand that their status does not make them a god. Mahatma Gandhi is a role model for Indian leaders, and he pursued a “follower-centric” leadership role.

6. Openness

Openness means being able to listen to new ideas, even if they do not conform to the usual way of thinking. Good leaders are able to suspend judgment while listening to others’ ideas, as well as accept new ways of doing things that someone else thought of. Openness builds mutual respect and trust between leaders and followers, and it also keeps the team well supplied with new ideas that can further its vision.

7. Creativity

Creativity is the ability to think differently, to get outside of the box that constrains solutions. Creativity gives leaders the ability to see things that others have not seen and thus lead followers in new directions. The most important question that a leader can ask is, “What if … ?” Possibly the worst thing a leader can say is, “I know this is a dumb question ... ”

8. Fairness

Fairness means dealing with others consistently and justly. A leader must check all the facts and hear everyone out before passing judgment. He or she must avoid leaping to conclusions based on incomplete evidence. When people feel they that are being treated fairly, they reward a leader with loyalty and dedication.

9. Assertiveness

Assertiveness is not the same as aggressiveness. Rather, it is the ability to clearly state what one expects so that there will be no misunderstandings. A leader must be assertive to get the desired results. Along with assertiveness comes the responsibility to clearly understand what followers expect from their leader.

Many leaders have difficulty striking the right amount of assertiveness, according to a study in the February 2007 issue of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, published by the APA (American Psychological Association). It seems that being underassertive or overassertive

may be the most common weakness among aspiring leaders.

10. Sense of humor

A sense of humor is vital to relieve tension and boredom, as well as to defuse hostility. Effective leaders know how to use humor to energize followers. Humor is a form of power that provides some control over the work environment. And simply put, humor fosters good camaraderie.

Intrinsic traits such as intelligence, good looks, height and so on are not necessary to become a leader. Anyone can cultivate the proper leadership traits.

Motivation and Leadership StylesLeadership style influence level of motivation. However, throughout a lifetime, man’s motivation is influenced by changing ambitions and/or leadership style he works under or socializes with. Command-and-control leadership drains off ambition while worker responsibility increases ambition.

Leadership Style versus Motivation

Leadership Style Motivation TypeMotivation is Based on:

Personality Type Efficiency

Limited supervision

Worker with decision making responsibility

Self motivated

Creativity

Leader of ideas or people.

Independent

Achiever

Thrives on change

HighTeam motivated

Mixed styles

Goal motivated Opportunity

Personality type and efficiency depends on leader's skill and/or the work environment he's created.

Reward motivated Materialism

Recognition motivated

Social status

High level of Peer motivated To be like others Status quo Low

supervision

Command-and-control

Dependency

Resist change

Authority motivated

Follows policy

Threat, fear motivated

Reacts to force

 

Types Of LeaderYou are the Chairman of the Board of Directors. Your Board must select a new CEO. To succeed, all you have to do is figure out what makes a good leader, a debate that has been ongoing for centuries. You prefer not to wait centuries to make this decision. You have six reasonable candidates, and your organization needs leadership now!

You learn that there is new study that may help, in two ways. First, it shows how leadership affects profitability. The equation goes like this: leadership directly affects the organization’s climate. The quality of the climate accounts for about one third of profitability. Thus, the decision you make about the new leader has the potential to have a huge impact on your bottom line.

Climate is not an amorphous, feel-good word. It is used with precision as a comprehensive term to describe six important elements among workers: how flexible employees are in solving problems; the sense of responsibility employees feel to the organization; the kinds of standards employees have; the effectiveness of rewards the organization uses; the clarity workers have about the organization’s mission and values; and how committed employees feel to the common objectives.

Second, the study assesses how each of six leadership styles affects climate. As good luck sometimes has it, each of the leadership styles fits with one of your candidates.

The different types of leadership are:

1. The Coercive Leader: This person rules by fear. “My way or the highway!” The leader takes charge and invites no contrary opinions. This style had the most detrimental impact on climate in this study. The correlation between coercive leadership and climate was -.26, i.e., as coercion increased, quality of climate declined. But don’t rule out your coercive candidate. This is the leadership style of choice when a company is in crisis. If your organization is in serious trouble, you may want to hire this person. Remember, though, that once the crisis resolves, coercion can create its own crises unless your leader can shift to another style.

2. The Authoritative Leader: This leader has a powerful ability to articulate a mission and win people to it with enthusiasm. He makes a clear path for followers, cutting away the confusion that exists in most organizations. Followers do not work at cross purposes because a commitment to a common vision is created. This leadership style had a +.54 correlation with climate, the highest correlation of any leadership style. As authoritative behaviors increased, so did the quality of the climate. This style will be particularly effective if your organization needs a new vision. Before making a final determination, however, give yourself the chance to look at the other styles, their impact, and when they work best.

3. The Affiliative Leader: This leader is a master at establishing positive relationships. Because the followers really like their leader, they are loyal, share information, and have high trust, all of which helps climate. The Affiliative leader gives frequent positive feedback, helping to keep everyone on course. The correlation of this leadership style with climate is +.46. Consider your Affiliative candidate if your organization primarily needs team harmony, improved morale, or if previous events have created an atmosphere of mistrust. The downside of this style is that poor performance of followers sometimes is tolerated out of loyalty.

4. The Democratic Leader: This leader focuses on decision making by winning consensus. With consensus comes intense commitment to goals, strategies and tactics. Trust is a major feature of this leadership style as well. The correlation with climate is a healthy +.43.This style works particularly well when the leader is genuinely not sure what to do and has talented employees who can and will make excellent input. In assessing your democratic candidate, consider the talent level of direct reports. If they have had time to grow into their jobs and work well as a team, the democratic candidate might be a good choice. Drawbacks of this style include the fact that it works poorly during crises that need rapid action.

5. The Pacesetter: This leader sets high performance standards for everyone, including himself. He walks the talk. This sounds admirable and has been widely believed to be effective. The data, however, indicate otherwise, with a -.25 correlation with climate. Why? Pacesetters tend to have trouble trusting their followers. Their self esteem rests on being smarter, faster and more thorough than everyone else. They unintentionally undermine the efforts and morale of those around them. Before

dismissing your pacesetting candidate, however, look at the followers. If they are already highly motivated, with strong technical skills, a pacesetter can be effective because the followers’ styles and competence already fit with the pacesetter’s expectations.

6. Mentor Leadership- Personal development is the main thing for this type of leadership.  Employees' individual strengths and weaknesses are what matters.  You help them identify these in order for them for growth and career advancement.  This can only work for those employees open to change.

7. Situational Leadership: This leader works according to the situations. In this world, anything can happen. We need a leader who will guide us instantly by giving instant decisions. So we need leader who takes decision and changes his strategy according to the situation.

8. Autocratic Leader: The leader who has absolute power and listens to no one

else. He never asks suggestions to anybody and he takes all the decisions himself. is

given the power to make decisions alone, having total authority. This leadership style is

good for employees that need close supervision to perform certain tasks. Creative

employees and team players resent this type of leadership, since they are unable to

enhance processes or decision making, resulting in job dissatisfaction.

9. Bureaucratic Leader: The leader does everything by the book insuring the

staff follow all procedures exactly. is very structured and follows the procedures as they

have been established. This type of leadership has no space to explore new ways to solve

problems and is usually slow paced to ensure adherence to the ladders stated by the

company. Leaders ensure that all the steps have been followed prior to sending it to the

next level of authority. Universities, hospitals, banks and government usually require this

type of leader in their organizations to ensure quality, increase security and decrease

corruption. Leaders that try to speed up the process will experience frustration and

anxiety.

10. Transformational Leader: Is a true leader and leads to inspire their

employees and team. The transformation leader (Burns, 1978) motivates its team to be

effective and efficient. Communication is the base for goal achievement focusing the

group in the final desired outcome or goal attainment. This leader is highly visible and

uses chain of command to get the job done. Transformational leaders focus on the big

picture, needing to be surrounded by people who take care of the details. The leader is

always looking for ideas that move the organization to reach the company’s vision.

11. Laissez-faire Leader: leaves their employees alone to decide for themselves, they are usually surrounded by a skillful team of employees. The laissez-faire ("let do") leader (Lewin, Lippitt, & White, 1939) gives no continuous feedback or supervision because the employees are highly experienced and need little supervision to obtain the expected outcome. On the other hand, this type of style is also associated with leaders that don’t lead at all, failing in supervising team members, resulting in lack of control and higher costs, bad service or failure to meet deadlines

Situational leadership theoryContingency leadership theory in organizational studies is a type of leadership theory, leadership style, and leadership model that presumes that different leadership styles are contingent to different situations. It is also referred as situational leadership theory although, as originally convened, the situational theory term is much more restrictive. The original situational theory argues that the best type of leadership is totally determined by the situational variables.Currently there are many styles of leadership. The first Transactional or authorative leadership focuses on Power and status. A second leadership style, transformal or charismatic leadership focuses on “unique qualities surrounding charisma(Aldoory, Tooth). A third leadership style pluralistic leadership revolves around group decision making, this style values the opinions of others. The situational leadership theory argues that no one style of leadership pertains to all given workplace situations. Rather, “scholars have asserted that effective leaders change their leadership styles to fit the situation” (Aldorry,Tooth). Thus, a leader’s style changes with both the situations they are faced with and the environment that they are in. The theory suggests that not only can leaders alter their leadership styles but that they should depending on the situation at hand. . According to a recent study, successful use of situation leadership “relies on effectiveness in four communication components; communicating expectations, listening, delegating, and providing feedback (Baker,Brown). There are many ways in which a situation effects the method of leadership a supervisor would employee. In their study The Role of the Situation in Leadership, Doctors Victor H Vroom, and Arthur G Jago have identified three distinct roles in which the situation affects leadership. The first role the situation plays in affecting leadership is that situations outside a leaders control may affect the effectiveness of the overall organization.

Often when the organization is in trouble the blame is placed on leaders. Many times these leaders have little to no control over the state of the organization. However, when measuring a leader’s effectiveness in such situations one must look at how they respond to what they can control such as their subordinates. A second finding of Vroom and Jago is that Situations shape how leaders behave. According to Vroom and Jago, “Their research, showing that situation accounts for about three times as much variance as do individual differences.” A third and final finding of Vroom and Jago is that Situations influence the consequences of a leaders behavior. According to Vroom and Jago “a leadership style that is effective in one situation may prove completely ineffective in a different situation”(Vroom and Jago). Thus, the choice of leadership style one uses may bring about both positive or negative consequences depending on the given situation. The situational leadership theory allows leaders to make a choice which ultimately predicts their effectiveness. Although this style of leadership is new, it is views as highly successful, and thus, leaders whom follow the situational model are considered successful leaders. Job satisfaction, willingness to work and performance were all rated highest with situational leadership.

The style of leadership as contingent to the situation, sometimes is classified as contingency leadership theory. Four situational/contingency leadership theories appear more prominently, and they are:

1. Fiedler contingency model2. Path-goal theory3. Hersey-Blanchard situational theory4. Leader-member and Leader Participation theory

Fiedler Contigency model

The Fiedler contingency model is a leadership theory of industrial and organizational psychology developed by Fred Fiedler (born 1922), one of the leading scientists who helped his field move from the research of traits and personal characteristics of leaders to leadership styles and behaviours.

Two Factors

Many scholars assumed[citation needed] that there was one best style of leadership. Fiedler’s contingency model postulates that the leader’s effectimblveness is based on ‘situational contingency’ which is a result of interaction of two factors: leadership style and situational favourableness (later called situational control). More than 400 studies have since investigated this relationship.

Least preferred co-worker (LPC)

The leadership style of the leader, thus, fixed and measured by what he calls the least preferred co-worker (LPC) scale, an instrument for measuring an individual’s leadership orientation. The LPC scale asks a leader to think of all the people with whom they have ever worked and then describe the person with whom they have worked least well, using a series of bipolar scales of 1 to 8, such as the following:

Unfriendly 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Friendly

Uncooperative 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Cooperative

Hostile 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Supportive

.... 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 ....

Guarded 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Open

The responses to these scales (usually 18-25 in total) are summed and averaged: a high LPC score suggests that the leader has a human relations orientation, while a low LPC score indicates a task orientation. Fiedler assumes that everybody's least preferred coworker in fact is on average about equally unpleasant. But people who are indeed relationship motivated, tend to describe their least preferred coworkers in a more positive manner, e.g., more pleasant and more efficient. Therefore, they receive higher LPC scores. People who are task motivated, on the other hand, tend to rate their least preferred coworkers in a more negative manner. Therefore, they receive lower LPC scores. So, the Least Preferred Coworker (LPC) scale is actually not about the least preferred worker at all, instead, it is about the person who takes the test; it is about that person's motivation type. This is so, because, individuals who rate their least preferred coworker in relatively favorable light on these scales derive satisfaction out of interpersonal relationship, and those who rate the coworker in a relatively unfavorable light get satisfaction out of successful task performance. This method reveals an individual's emotional reaction to people with whom he or she cannot work. Critics point out that this is not always an accurate measurement of leadership effectiveness.

Situational favourableness

According to Fiedler, there is no ideal leader. Both low-LPC (task-oriented) and high-LPC (relationship-oriented) leaders can be effective if their leadership orientation fits the situation. The contingency theory allows for predicting the characteristics of the appropriate situations for effectiveness. Three situational components determine the favourableness or situational control:

1. Leader-Member Relations, referring to the degree of mutual trust, respect and confidence between the leader and the subordinates.

2. Task Structure, referring to the extent to which group tasks are clear and structured.

3. Leader Position Power, referring to the power inherent in the leader's position itself.

When there is a good leader-member relation, a highly structured task, and high leader position power, the situation is considered a "favorable situation." Fiedler found that low-LPC leaders are more effective in extremely favourable or unfavourable situations, whereas high-LPC leaders perform best in situations with intermediate favourability.

Leader-Situation Match and MismatchSince personality is relatively stable, the contingency model suggests that improving effectiveness requires changing the situation to fit the leader. This is called "job engineering." The organization or the leader may increase or decrease task structure and position power, also training and group development may improve leader-member relations. In his 1976 book Improving Leadership Effectiveness: The Leader Match Concept Fiedler (with Martin Chemers and Linda Mahar) offers a self paced leadership training programme designed to help leaders alter the favourableness of the situation, or situational control.

Examples

Task-oriented leadership would be advisable in natural disaster, like a flood or fire. In an uncertain situation the leader-member relations are usually poor, the task is unstructured, and the position power is weak. The one who emerges as a leader to direct the group's activity usually does not know any of his or her subordinates personally. The task-oriented leader who gets things accomplished proves to be the most successful. If the leader is considerate (relationship-oriented), he or she may waste so much time in the disaster, which may lead things to get out of control and lives might get lost.

Blue-collar workers generally want to know exactly what they are supposed to do. Therefore, their work environment is usually highly structured. The leader's position power is strong if management backs his or her decision. Finally, even though the leader may not be relationship-oriented, leader-member relations may be extremely strong if he or she is able to gain promotions and salary increases for subordinates. Under these situations the task-oriented style of leadership is preferred over the (considerate) relationship-oriented style.

Path-goal theoryThe path-goal theory, also known as the path-goal theory of leader effectiveness or the path-goal model, is a leadership theory in the field of organizational studies developed by Robert House in 1971 and revised in 1996. The theory that a leader's behavior is contingent to the satisfaction, motivation and performance of subordinates. The revised version also argues that the leader engage in behaviors that complement subordinate's abilities and compensate for deficiencies. The path-goal model can be classified both as a contingency or as a transactional leadership theory.

According to the original theory, the manager’s job is viewed as guiding workers to choose the best paths to reach their goals, as well as the organizational goals. The theory argues that leaders will have to engage in different types of leadership behavior depending on the nature and the demands of a particular situation. It is the leader’s job to assist followers in attaining goals and to provide the direction and support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the organization’s goals.

A leader’s behavior is acceptable to subordinates when viewed as a source of satisfaction, and motivational when need satisfaction is contingent on performance, and the leader facilitates, coaches, and rewards effective performance. The original path-goal theory identifies achievement-oriented, directive, participative, and supportive leader behaviors:

The directive path-goal clarifying leader behavior refers to situations where the leader lets followers know what is expected of them and tells them how to perform their tasks. The theory argues that this behavior has the most positive effect when the subordinates' role and task demands are ambiguous and intrinsically satisfying.

The achievement-oriented leader behavior refers to situations where the leader sets challenging goals for followers, expects them to perform at their highest level, and shows confidence in their ability to meet this expectation.Occupation in which the achievement motive were most predominant were technical jobs, sales persons, scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs.

The participative leader behavior involves leaders consulting with followers and asking for their suggestions before making a decision. This behavior is predominant when subordinates are highly personally involved in their work.

The supportive leader behavior is directed towards the satisfaction of subordinates needs and preferences. The leader shows concern for the followers’ psychological well being. This behavior is especially needed in situations in which tasks or relationships are psychologically or physically distressing.

Path-goal theory assumes that leaders are flexible and that they can change their style, as situations require. The theory proposes two contingency variables, such as environment and follower characteristics, that moderate the leader behavior-outcome relationship. Environment is outside the control of the follower-task structure, authority system, and work group. Environmental factors determine the type of leader behavior required if the follower outcomes are to be maximized. Follower characteristics are the locus of control, experience, and perceived ability. Personal characteristics of subordinates determine how the environment and leader are interpreted. Effective leaders clarify the path to help their followers achieve goals and make the journey easier by reducing roadblocks and pitfalls. Research demonstrates that employee performance and satisfaction are positively influenced when the leader compensates for the shortcomings in either the employee or the work setting.

In contrast to the Fiedler contingency model, the path-goal model states that the four leadership styles are fluid, and that leaders can adopt any of the four depending on what the situation demands.

Hersey-Blanchard Situational TheoryThe Hersey-Blanchard situational theory, is a situational leadership theory developed by Paul Hersey, a professor who wrote a well known book "Situational Leader" and Ken Blanchard, the management guru who later became famous for his "One Minute Manager" series. They created a model of situational leadership in the late 1960s in their work Management of Organizational Behavior (now in its 9th edition) that allows one to analyze the needs of the situation, then adopt the most appropriate leadership style. It has been proven popular with managers over the years because it is simple to understand, and it works in most environments for most people.

The model rests on two fundamental concepts; leadership style, and development level.

Leadership styles

Hersey and Blanchard characterized leadership style in terms of the amount of direction and support that the leader provides to their followers. They categorized all leadership styles into four behavior types, which they named S1 to S4:

S1: Directing/Telling Leaders define the roles and tasks of the 'follower', and supervise them closely. Decisions are made by the leader and announced, so communication is largely one-way.

S2: Coaching/Selling Leaders still define roles and tasks, but seek ideas and suggestions from the follower. Decisions remain the leader's prerogative, but communication is much more two-way.

S3: Supporting/Participating Leaders pass day-to-day decisions, such as task allocation and processes, to the follower. The leader facilitates and takes part in decisions, but control is with the follower.

S4: Delegating Leaders are still involved in decisions and problem-solving, but control is with the follower. The follower decides when and how the leader will be involved.

Of these, no one style is considered optimal or desired for all leaders to possess. Effective leaders need to be flexible, and must adapt themselves according to the situation. However, each leader tends to have a natural style, and in applying situational leadership he must know his intrinsic style.

Development levels

The right leadership style will depend on the person being led - the follower. Blanchard and Hersey extended their model to include the Development Level of the follower. They stated that the leader's chosen style should be based on the competence and commitment of his followers. They categorized the possible development of followers into four levels, which they named D1 to D4:

D1: Low Competence, High Commitment - They generally lack the specific skills required for the job in hand. However, they are eager to learn and willing to take direction.

D2: Some Competence, Low Commitment - They may have some relevant skills, but won't be able to do the job without help. The task or the situation may be new to them.

D3: High Competence, Variable Commitment - They are experienced and capable, but may lack the confidence to go it alone, or the motivation to do it well or quickly.

D4: High Competence, High Commitment - They are experienced at the job, and comfortable with their own ability to do it well. They may even be more skilled than the leader.

Development Levels are also situational. A person might be generally skilled, confident and motivated in their job, but would still drop into Level D1 when faced, say, with a task requiring skills they don't possess. For example, many managers are D4 when dealing with the day-to-day running of their department, but move to D1 or D2 when dealing with a sensitive employee "issue"

The development level is now called the performance readiness level (Hersey, Blanchard, & Johnson, 2008). It is based on the Development levels and adapted from Hersey's Situational Selling. Ron Campbell of the Center for Leadership Studies has expanded the continuum of follower performance to include behavioral indicators of each readiness level.

R1: Unable and Insecure or Unwilling - Follower is unable and insecure and lacks confidence or the follower lacks commitment and motivation to complete tasks.

R2: Unable but Confident or Willing - Follower is unable to complete tasks but has the confidence as long as the leader provides guidance, or the follower lacks the ability but is motivated and making an effort.

R3: Able but Insecure or Unwilling - Follower has the ability to complete tasks but is apprehensive about doing it alone or the follower is not willing to use that ability.

R4: Able and Confident and Willing - Follower has the ability to perform and is confident about doing so and is committed.

Leadership and development matching

Hersey and Blanchard said that the leadership style (S1 - S4) of the leader must correspond to the development level (D1 - D4) of the follower. Furthermore it is the leader who must adapt, not the follower. To get the most of situational leadership, a leader should be trained in how to operate effectively in various leadership styles, and how to determine the development level of others.

For an example of a mismatch, imagine the following scenario. A new person joins your team and you're asked to help him through the first few days. You sit him in front of a PC, show him a pile of invoices that need to be processed today and then excuse yourself to a meeting. He is at level D1, and you've adopted S4, an obvious mismatch. Everyone loses because the new person feels helpless and demotivated and you don't get the invoices processed.

For another example of a mismatch, imagine you're handing over your duties to an experienced colleague before you leave for a holiday. You've listed all the tasks that need to be done and

given him a detailed set of instructions on how to carry out each one. He is at level D4, and you've adopted S1. The work will probably get done, but your colleague will despise you for treating him like an idiot.

But leave detailed instructions and a checklist for the new person, and they'll thank you for it. Give your colleague a quick chat and a few notes before you go on holiday, and everything will be fine. By adopting the right style to suit the follower's development level, work gets done, relationships are built, and most importantly, the follower's development level will rise, to everyone's benefit.

Becoming an Effective Leader Through Situational LeadershipEvery business needs leadership. Leadership is one of the ways that managers affect thebehavior of people in the business. Most successful managers are also successful leaders. Theyget people to work to accomplish the organization's goals.

Being autocratic or democratic is the usual way of thinking about leadership. Autocraticleaders depend on their authority and their power that comes from being an owner of the business or occupying a high position. Democratic leaders depend on personal power, participative problem solving and decision-making. Being only autocratic or democratic usually limits one's effectiveness as a leader.

An alternative to being an autocratic or democratic leader is to be a situational leader.Situational leaders are able to adapt their leadership style to fit their followers and situations inwhich they are working. This says, for example, that the same employer of three people may usevery different actions in leading each of them.

Managers using situational leadership will make conscious choices between their use ofdirective behavior and supportive behavior. In directive behavior, they are relying on providingstructure, control and close supervision for the people with whom they are working. Insupportive behavior, they are relying on praise, two-way communication, and facilitating thework of their employees and co-workers.

Ken Blanchard1 sees four leadership styles growing out of combinations of supportiveand directive behavior: directing style, coaching style, supporting style and delegating style. Inthe leading style, the emphasis is on control and close supervision of the worker. In the coachingstyle, the leader provides more explanation of what the job entails and solicits suggestions whilestill staying in control of the situation. With the supporting style, there is a team approachbetween the leader and follower with the leader emphasizing support of the follower rather thancontrol. Finally, in the delegating style, the leader turns over responsibility to the worker.The key for the successful situational leader is to know which of the four styles to use in aparticular situation with a particular person. The situational leader bases the choice of a

leadership style on the competence and commitment of the person being led rather than on theleader's usual or preferred style.

Success in leadership comes when the leadership style is matched with the characteristicsof the follower. Problems with leadership come when the leadership style does not fit thefollower. To illustrate, an experienced and dedicated 40-year-old son or employee of a managerdoes not want to be closely supervised and controlled. On the other hand, a new employee withno experience does not want to be given a job to do without training and support from themanager. Delegation of responsibility to a person not prepared to handle the responsibilityfrustrates the worker and disappoints the employer. What appears superficially to be anemployee attitude problem is in fact a leadership problem caused by the leader’s inappropriateleadership style.

Situational Leader can lead the team if he can:

Provide the right direction towards goal attainment. The leader who is ambitious, has high energy, a desire to lead, self- confident and

intelligent, is trustworthy and flexible.

Proper knowledge in the task structure of the job

Can patiently maintain situational stress

Has group support and experience which is followed by personality, ability and motivation.

Can mould himself according to the situations

Should be employee oriented leader

Last but the least, should have positive attitude with good motivational skills

ConclusionFinally, I would conclude that the aspects of situational leadership can greatly benefit an organization and its leaders. The overall benefit will be seen in performance, reduced turn-over and generally improved morale. Furthermore, you can expect a heightened level of accountability not only in the management realms but throughout the entire organization.

With that said it must be understood that the concepts must be embraced by everyone in thecompany and, more importantly, the company must be structured to support the situational leadership theory.