Strengths And Weaknesses Of Situational Leadership

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According to Northouse (2013), “Situational leadership stresses that leadership is composed of both a directive and supportive dimension, and that each has to be applied appropriately in a given situation” (p. 99). There are four different leadership styles: directing (S1), coaching approach (S2), supporting approach (S3), delegating approach (S4). The other major part of the situational leadership is the development levels of subordinates (Northouse, 2013). The levels range from D1 through D4, the lowest development to the high development. An effective leader discovers how to adapts ones leadership style to match the subordinate’s development level.
Leadership Skills
The leadership skills involve directive behaviors and supportive behaviors. Directive behaviors are specific; the leader provides the staff with …show more content…

The point of the instrument is to help all leaders identify the development level their employees are on then conform themselves to adapt accordingly. Skills and motivation from employees change all the time, therefore it is important for the leader to be able to tweak their leadership styles based on the situation.
Strengths and Weaknesses
One of the strengths of the situational approach is that is has been used to train leaders in fortune 500 companies. Another strength is the approach is practical and easy to understand. It can also be used It many different settings, such as school, home and work. The situational approach is very specific and allows a leader to identify what leadership style they should be applying to their staff.
The weaknesses identified that the situational approach lacks strong research results. There are not a lot of facts that can be found about it. The situational approach also does no identify how to utilize the style on a group of people; it only talks about dealing with an individual.
Leadership

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