Fluidity of leadership
Adolf Hitler, Napoleon Hill, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Warren Buffet, Barack Obama – world has seen many leaders who lived in different times. While some of them were political leaders others had great business acumen. As per Herbert Spencer, different times produce different leaders. Leaders are not just born out of own style of living but due to situations they face in life.
Situational and contingency theories of leadership depend on this basic assumption. As per this theory, the actions of a leader are largely influenced by the situations faced. A leader can assume three leadership styles based on what fits the situation best. The style works as a contingency to a specific situation.
There are four popular theories that define leadership styles as the contingency measure or the way to cope with situations. These are path-goal theory, Fiedler contingency model, Vroom- Yetton decision model, and Hersey-Blanchard situational theory. Each of these theories identify some predominant leadership styles that a leader can use depending on situations. A true leader has a fluidity in behaviour in actions and keeps changing leadership styles based on situations. This fluidity in leadership gives them the freedom to experiment with different methods, actions, and behaviour to find out the ideal fit for complex situations that they may encounter.
As per path-goal theory, a leader must act in the favour of the environment in which subordinates operate such that his actions or behaviour is complimentary and can compensate for any deficiencies in their performance. A leader can be directive, supportive, participative or achievement-oriented.
Application Example:Students in a community college struggled with problems of hunger as they could not purchase groceries or food items. The school collaborated with a local Food Bank to get food for school pantry which students could eat at low or no cost. A committee was made for managing the food pantry project. What leadership style would be suitable for this situation?
The college administrator assumed a participative leadership to manage food application to food bank and set up the pantry. He followed directive leadership for those involved in delivering food and needed them to keep him updated with delivery schedules. After setting up of the pantry, a goal was set for serving at least 50 pounds of food to each student who would visit the pantry. To achieve this goal, the administrator used achievement oriented leadership and motivated the staff to perform.
Fiedler contingency model identifies two types of leaders including task oriented and relationship oriented. Task oriented leadership is needed in situations that are either extremely unfavourable or extremely favourable. Relationship oriented leaders flair well otherwise.
Application Example:A young man is suffering from drug addiction and his family pushed him to join a treatment program. The treatment program would have a practitioner following different style of leadership depending on the situation of the addict. If the boy had the willingness to change, a relationship oriented leadership would work but if the boy is very resistant and unwilling to listen to others, a task oriented leadership would be requirement in which the boy has to be pushed into doing things that can get him out of the problem.
Vroom- Yetton decision model, also called situational contingency theory connects leadership styles to situational variables. As per this theory, a leader can use different approaches depending on different attributes of a situation. Different decision making styles can be used including:
- Autocratic, A1 - Leader takes the decision based on the available data or own intuition
- Autocratic, A2 – Team members are consulted for opinion but the leader still takes his own decision
- Consultative C1 - Team members are consulted for opinion and the leader takes his decision about them
- Consultative C2 – The leader is open to suggestions from subordinates when taking decision but takes decision himself or herself
- Group, G2 – Leader involves team members in decision making and a solution which is agreeable to everyone is taken
Hersey-Blanchard situational theory defines not just the leadership styles but also the follower styles. It identifies four leadership styles and four levels of followership. As per this model, a leader has to match the follower level to be effective. The leadership styles include telling (S1), selling (S2), participating (S3), and delegating (S4) that are selected based on different levels of followership.
In telling style, the leader tells subordinates what to do and uses directive approach. In selling approach, the leader acts like the coach to a team. In participating style, the leader supports the team and encourages the members to perform well. The delegating leadership style involving empowering the subordinates and delegating them work. S1 is used on the first level of followership when followers have low competency but high commitment. Take a situation when you are hiring a new team of freshers from college. These students would be very enthusiastic but would carry no real competence because of inexperience.
S2 is used with second level of followership when followers have moderate competency but low commitment. The fleet of new graduates soon starts to learn and grow in the company. Now they assume a moderate level of competency but when they are exposed to the realities of corporate, their level of commitment goes down.
S3 is used with third level of followership when followers have high competency but varying levels of commitment. Some of the employees from your team are able to cope with difficult situations and stay committed to learning and growth while others struggle with it. So, you have a team which has gained competency from experience but has members varying in the commitment levels.
S4 is used at the highest level of competence and commitment. At the time of appraisals, you reward the performing employees and give them promotion. With this encouragement, the commitment level of the competent staff increases.
As a leader, you need to take critical decisions for your organization and also ensure that your followers are well managed as they are the ones who would be performing and bringing real results. Thus, it is important that you choose the right style based on the situation you are faced with. Studying the factors discussed in the models above can help you identify the right styles in right situations.
References:
https://cassandraboyd.wordpress.com/2016/02/14/applying-path-goal-theory/
https://sites.psu.edu/leadership/2013/06/03/fiedlers-contingency-model-for-the-workplace-fiedlers-contingency-model-for-addiction-treatment/
https://www.designorate.com/vroom-yetton-jagohow-to-decide/
http://www.josephchris.com/6-situational-leadership-style-examples
