Situational leadership as a way to manage a team

Managing an enterprise or organization is not such an easy task. It is important here not only to properly build a business plan, but also to learn effective management. At the same time, situational leadership is an important element in the leadership.

Situational Leadership in Management

Not many modern leaders know that situational leadership is a style of people management that implies the use of one of the known styles of leadership that will depend on the situation and the level of development of employees. The situation approach to leadership is accepted in several areas:

1. The first is to study leadership behavior as a dependent variable from a particular situation.
2. The second focuses on situations and deals with the influence of the leader on their change.

Conception of situational leadership

It is customary to distinguish between such situational concepts of leadership:

1. Attributive - suggests that the conclusions of the leader as well as the behavior of the researchers are due to the manager's response to the behavior of those engaged in the study.
2. Charismatic - here we consider the charisma of the leader himself. The possessor of this quality can be called a person who is able to influence others.
3. Transforming (reformatory) - the leader-reformer is able to show creativity and lead his followers from one to another result.

Situational theory of leadership

Not all future managers know what the situational theory of leadership is based on. According to them, managers try to adapt their own behavior to the extent that they require a role and situation. There are such theories:

1. The Mitchell and House approach is based on the main elements of research and speaks about the need to help the leader to employees in achieving their own goals .
2. The life cycle of Hersey and Blanchard - according to her, the success of the leader will depend on the style of leadership.
3. Decision-making Vroom-Yetton - indicates how the leader leads and his role in decision-making.
4. Fiedler - in the opinion of the well-known psychologist, the effectiveness of the group's work depends on whether the leader's style of behavior coincides with whether the situation allows him to control and influence the group.

Situational models of leadership behavior

The concept of situational leadership has such models:

1. Continuum of leadership behavior Tanennaumbaum-Schmidt - the manager can use one style of behavior.
2. Fidler - allows you to predict the effectiveness of the group under the direction of the head.
3. Hersay and Blanchard - is not in search of one correct way for successful management. Here, emphasis is placed on the situation.
4. The "path-goal" of House and Mitchell is based on the motivation of the theory of expectation.
5. Stinson-Johnson - comes from the relationship between the behavior of the manager and the structure of the work, it seems more complicated than the rest.
6. Vroom-Yettona-Iago is considered the most modern and proposes to determine the effectiveness of the style, which depends on the situation.

Situational leadership - exercises

Each manager understands that, having achieved certain heights, it is important not to stop on the spot, but to try to improve. For this reason, it is necessary to devote a lot of time to working on yourself and training. There are various exercises to analyze the style of leadership. Their objectives are:

• learn to identify different leadership situations;
• learn to use a systematic approach to the analysis of situations;
• improve understanding of decision-making .

To better know the manager and his capabilities, often perform interesting cognitive training:

1. Exercise "Blind Towers" situational leadership - participants are divided into five groups, each of which is given scotch, scissors and a newspaper. The task is to build a tower of these materials. Condition - the tower must be higher than the highest member of the group.
2. Group portrait - all members of the group build the desired composition. When everything is in place, the leader joins them and takes the necessary pose.
3. I mold from plasticine - all sit in a line, and those who wished to be a sculptor, trying to give the appropriate character of each pose and facial expression.
4. Personal luggage - you need everyone to collect luggage, which will have all of its best qualities. It is important to help each other.

Situational leadership - books

Before the creation of theories about the situational leadership of certain publications, there were no leadership styles. However, over the past fifty years, not so few qualitative and really very necessary literature have been written in which every future leader will be able to find something of value for himself:

• Blanchard Kenneth, Zigarmi Patricia and Zigarmi Drea "One-minute manager and situational leadership";
• Robert Lorber "One-minute manager at work";
• Hal Burroughs "One minute manager and Monkeys";
• Mike Okonner "Value Management";
• Donald Carew "One minute manager builds a highly efficient team."