C. Situational Leadership
Date: 2015-10-07; view: 474.
The situation in which leaders and their teams function will influence the approaches that leaders adopt. There is no such thing as an ideal leadership style. It all depends. The factors affecting the degree to which a style is appropriate will be the type of orgaanization, the nature of the task, the characteristics of the group and, importantly, the personality of the leader.
A task-orientated approach (autocratic, controlling, transactional) may be best in emergency or crisis situations or when the leader has power, formal backing and a relatively well-structured task. In these circumstances the group is more ready to be directed and told what to do. In less well-structured or ambiguous situations, where results depend on the group working well together with a common sense of purpose, leaders who are more concerned with maintaining good relationships (democratic, enablers, transformational) are more likely to obtain good results.
However, commentators such as Charles Handy (2) are concerned that intelligent organizations have to be run by persuasion and consent. He suggests that the heroic leader of the past 'knew all, could do all and could solve every problem'. Now, the post-heroic leader who 'asks how every problem can be solved in a way that develops other people's capacity to handle it' has come to the fore.
From: Armstrong M., Stephens T. A Handbook of Management and Leadership: a Guide to Managing for Results. Bell&Bain, 2005. P.13-15.