Two Strengths and Two Limitations of Situational Approaches to Leadership - Research Paper

Introduction

Situational leadership refers to a leadership style that is characterized by a leader's or a manager's ability to adjust his style of leadership to fit the development level of the subordinates he or she is trying to influence. This leadership approach was first developed by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey. Using this leadership style, the leader or the manager can alter his or her style, not the follower to adopt the leader's style. The manager's change of style is meant to meet the needs of followers in the organization depending on the situation. Situational approaches to leadership incorporate two types of leadership styles relations-oriented leadership and task-oriented leadership (Scott, 2018).

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In relations-oriented leadership, the leader shows concerns for the welfare of his or her followers and willingness to develop or nurture good interpersonal relations among all members of the organization (Forsyth, 2018). One of the strengths of relations-oriented behavior is that it fosters harmony in the workplace and leads to the development of an emotionally supportive work environment that is associated with high employee motivation as well as job satisfaction, the primary factors that have been found to positively related to performance (Champoux, 2016; Fernandez, Cho, & Perry, 2010; Sirgy, 2014).

Additionally, relations-oriented leadership has been reported to lead to enhanced employee performance because of its capacity to enhance communication between leaders and subordinates and through its capacity to enhance followers' commitment to the organization and the leader (Bratton, 2015). Another strength of Hersey and Blanchard's situational leadership theory is that it enables the leader to be effective in his role or work because it has been established that one style of leadership may not work in all situations hence the need to adopt different leadership approaches based on the situations (Holroyd, 2015).

Despite its strengths, the situational leadership approach has been reported to have some limitations too. One of these limitations is that this leadership style is that very few studies have empirically reported that the theory works (Holroyd, 2015). Additionally, it has been reported that no solid empirical basis is associated with the original situational leadership theory and its subsequent modifications or adaptations over the years (Holroyd, 2015). The second limitation of situational leadership model is its failure to leadership styles vary based on the diverse levels of leadership as well as lack of specificity on how leaders can change their styles (Holroyd, 2015).

Then, Briefly Describe the Leader and Situation You Selected

The basic principle of situational leadership is that certain leadership traits and behaviors show more effectiveness than others based on the contexts and circumstances in which they occur (Scott, 2018). Accordingly, this theory asserts that effective leaders are those who can align their leadership strategies and behavior to match a specific situation (Scott, 2018). One of the leaders who has manifested situational leadership is Barack Obama.

Barack Obama's manifestation of situational leadership is shown in different contexts. For instance, Obama's tough talk on terrorism on the 6th of December, 2015, signaled the need for the United States citizens and the Congress to support the fight against Islamic State. Specifically, while addressing this issue, Barack issued a strong statement and a timely challenge to Congress to ensure approval of novel legal authorization for the military campaign against ISIS. The authorization was meant to strengthen the fight against ISIS and ensure that it is defeated promptly. He also cautioned US citizens against alienating the Muslims (The Editorial Board, 2015).

Because of his military strategy against ISIS, Obama's administration eliminated thousands of fighters as well as senior ISIL commanders. This was achieved because of Obama's close working relationship with the national security team and generals who led the military campaign against ISIL (The White House, 2015)

Evaluate the Leader's Response and Leadership Effectiveness Based on The Hersey And Blanchard Model

Obama's tough talk against ISIS and his act of challenging the Congress to ensure approval of new legal authorization for the military campaign against ISIS shows task-oriented leadership approach. Based on the Hersey and Blanchard model of situational leadership, task-oriented leadership is characterized by the leaders' constant outline of structure and goals, sticking to rigid schedules, ability to prioritize achievement of critical outcomes, and a requirement that subordinates set goals and develop plans aimed at achieving these goals (St. Thomas University Online, 2019).

Obama's use of task-oriented leadership while addressing the Islamic State issue is depicted through his outline of the goals that were to be achieved (defeating ISIS) and his prioritization of the fight against ISIS as a key American and global challenge that he aimed to end. However, his use of task-oriented leadership had one weakness that threatened to scuttle his goal of eliminating ISIS. For instance, Obama's effectiveness. An example is the lack of a clear timeline for achieving the goals. Lastly, Obama effectively demonstrated relations-oriented leadership in his military campaign against ISIL through his close working relationship with the national security team and generals who led the military campaign against ISIL.

References

Bratton, J. (2015). Introduction to work and organizational behavior. New York, NY: Macmillan International Higher Education.

Champoux, J. E. (2016). Organizational behavior: integrating individuals, groups, and organizations. Abingdon, UK: Routledge Publishing.

Fernandez, S., Cho, Y. J., & Perry, J. L. (2010). Exploring the link between integrated leadership and public sector performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 21(2), 308-323.

Forsyth, D. R. (2018). Group dynamics. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Holroyd, J. (2015). Self-leadership and personal resilience in health and social care. Exeter, UK: Learning Matters.

Scott, D. (2018). Contemporary leadership in sport organizations. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics.

Sirgy, M. J. (2014). Real estate marketing: strategy, personal selling, negotiation, management, and ethics. Abingdon, UK: Routledge.

St. Thomas University Online. (2019). What is task-oriented leadership? Retrieved from St. Thomas University Online website: https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-task-oriented-leadership.aspx

The Editorial Board. (2015). Opinion | president obama's tough, calming talk on terrorism. The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/07/opinion/president-obamas-tough-calming-talk-on-terrorism.html

The White House. (2015). Remarks by the president on progress in the fight against isil. Retrieved from whitehouse.gov website: https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2015/07/06/remarks-president-progress-fight-against-isil