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Situational Leadership

As we have seen, many theories and techniques exist for determining the

right leadership styles for individuals in an organization. It can be argued
that the best type of leadership is determined by the specific situation, and
that no one style of leadership is appropriate for all given workplace
situations. Effective leaders should be aware of where they are with a
specific follower, and where that follower is in his/her own stage of

leadership development. For example, giving staff too much or too little
direction can have a negative impact on their performance and their
development as leaders.

Therefore, identifying the leadership style for an organization should
ideally take into careful consideration the specific task, the complexity of

the organization, and qualifications of the employees. A variety of
leadership styles may be needed to lead different groups, such as the
employees, the Board of Directors, volunteer groups associated with the
organization, etc. Furthermore, the use of a particular leadership style with
a particular person can depend on the situation of that person at a
particular time. This leads us to the concept/theory of situational

leadership that was briefly discussed in Chapter 3. In Figure 6, the term
“situational leadership” is copyrighted by Hersey, Blanchard, and Johnson.

David Kolzow 51