Situational Leadership
Situational Leadership Abstract Leadership is by no means a new concept. Examples of leadership – both good and bad – can be found throughout history. ... In the past century, two ideas have come to predominate: Servant Leadership and Situational Leadership. ... The purpose of this paper is to examine these theories so that the reader might gain a better understanding of the application of these leadership concepts to his own leadership experiences. ... Then I will give personal accounts of how these theories have affected the outcome of my own leadership experiences. Servant Leadership and Situational Leadership: Facing Modern Organizational Leadership Challenges What is Servant Leadership? Simply stated, servant leadership is becoming a leader by putting being a servant first. (TDIndustries, 2003) The idea of Servant Leadership was first formalized by Robert K. ... (Greenleaf Center, 2002) Greenleaf’s concept of Servant Leadership was focused on the ethical use of power to not only meet organizatonal goals, but also to better the members of the organization. ... (TDIndustries, 2003) Columbus State University’s Servant Leadership Program (n. ... ” The idea of Servant Leadership is especially prevalent among religious organizations. ... (TDIndustries, 2003) Boone and Kurtz (2003) quoted Cleveland Browns onwer Al Lerner giving a good example of servant leadership. ... ” What is Situational Leadership? Situational Leadership is a theory that states there is no single “best” way to lead. (Hersey and Blanchard, 1982) The idea of Situational Leadership was developed in the late 1970s by Paul Hersey and Kenneth Blanchard. It was their belief that a leader could and should adapt his leadership behavior based on the willingness and ability of their followers. ... When a follower reaches the M2 stage, the leader should use the S2 type of leadership. ... The third stage of leadership, S3, is called the “supporting stage. ... ) Hersey and Blanchard (1982) feel that “the key to using Situational Leadership is to assess the maturity level of the follower(s) and to behave as the model prescribes. ... This adaptive leadership helped the Coalition win a quick and decisive victory over Iraq. (Waddell, 1994) Application Having been in many leadership positions, I have had both good and bad experiences. Retrospectively, a better knowledge of the two leadership theories – especially Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership theory – would have been a great factor in helping me to achieve my goals.