Leadership Collaborative leadership Collaborative leadership is my preferred leadership style. This is because I believe that if everyone contributes and equal participation is encouraged then great things can be achieved. As the cliché saying goes, two heads are better than one. However, an issue I found with collaborative leadership is that not everyone contributes and there is a risk that one person will dominate and not allow others to participate. Often the loudest and opinionated members will contribute while the quieter individuals will generally not contribute, especially if they are not with their friends. Collaborative leadership is defined by a process, rather than what leaders do. Collaborative leadership can be implemented …show more content…
This means the collaborative leadership approach can produce better ideas and more creative ideas. The team the team will feel involved in the process and like they are actually needed. As they are more involved and committed to the task, they are more likely to care about a successful end result. This ultimately produces higher productivity and increases group cohesion. Situational leadership Situational leadership is a theory which was designed in 1969 by Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard. The “contingency theories of leadership” states that a leader’s effectiveness is dependent on their behaviours in relation to different situational factors. Thus, situational leadership theory, relates to how a leader 's effectiveness is depend on their ability to adjust their leadership behaviour to the required level of the “followers” capability or if the situation is modified. According to Hersey and Blanchard, there are four different types of leadership …show more content…
The leader is required to make all decisions and fully inform others of what is happening. This is alternatively known as “micro-management” as the leader is heavily involved and carefully supervises the group members. This is a pecking order or top-down approach where the subordinates or group members must do what exactly what they are told to do. The leader sets defined roles and tasks for the group members to complete. All communication is downstream, commencing with the leader. According to Hersey, the followers have a low skill set but a high level of commitment. This is often seen in sports with young athletes who are keen to participate but have a low skill level as they are new to the game. I did not have to use this leadership style during the tournament as I was lucky enough to have a team comprised of individuals of natural sporting ability, even though most people were not basketball
Working at a large healthcare organization, it is important that managers are aware of the different management styles. This will help in becoming effective leaders. The theory I have identified in my organizations Situational Theory. Situational leadership
Situational theory tends to look at the situation in isolation from the leader and the followers. Just as the trait approach views personality traits in isolation, so too, the situational approach fails to give adequate attention to the total process that results in leadership. Once again, we need to emphasize the idea of leadership as an interaction influence system involving a leader, follower, and situational variables.
Contingency leadership theories attempt to define leadership style, the situation, and answer the if-then contingencies. Situational leadership theory is a contingency theory that focuses on followers’ readiness: the extent to which people have the ability and willingness to accomplish a specific task. Path-goal theory states that it is the leader’s job to assist followers in attaining their goals and to provide direction or support needed to ensure that their goals are compatible with the organization or group goals. Each theory was developed as a separate model for leaders to determine which leadership style to use in different contexts or situations. However, both models can be related to each other and may be even more effective when used together. Effective leaders will recognize that they must adjust their styles and behaviors according to their followers and the environment. By accurately assessing their team’s stage while minimizing redundancies in the environmental structure leaders can improve their team’s performance and satisfaction.
This model is well accepted in many companies. Leader’s behaviors monitored in this model are consideration and structuring. Situational Leadership is a popular leadership style introduced and popularized by Kenneth Blanchard and Paul Hersey that theorizes the use of different leadership styles according to the situation. The leadership model requires a person to analyze the needs according to a particular situation and adapt to the scenario by using the most appropriate leadership style. Versatility and adaptability are two primary requirements needed from a leader using the situational leadership method, as the leadership style will vary depending on the situation. Depending upon willingness and ability of the subordinates there are four different types of Situational leadership:
The situational leadership theory states that leaders use different styles and strategies depending on the situation. There are two models that support this theory. The Fiedler’s Contingency Model of Leadership Effectiveness states that an “effective leadership occurs only when there is an ideal match between the leader’s style and the group’s work situation” (pg
This leadership approach is focused upon teams and groups working together in a dynamic working environment towards shared organizational goals.
Hersey, P. & Blanchard, K. (n.d.) Situational Leadership. In Wren, J.T. (Ed.). (1995). The Leader’s Companion (pp. 207-211). New York: Simon & Schuster.
I used the collaborative principle of leadership during the freestanding paper tower building challenge. We were given minimal supplies; just paper, scissors and sellotape and we had to construct the highest tower. We were required to spend 10 minutes deciding upon the best strategy and plan before we were allowed to start building. Once the 10 minutes were up, we had to implement the plan through evenly distributed jobs. I tried to be as inclusive as possible and everyone shared an idea, then collectively, we decided upon the best idea. Once we had decided upon one plan, other people chipped in suggesting ways to alter the plan to improve it. For this scenario, collaborative leadership was the best approach. If I had tried to implement an
Hersey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory (SLT) asserts that a leader’s effectiveness is dependent upon the readiness, or ability and willingness, of the leader’s followers to complete a task. This leadership style is an amalgamation of task-oriented and relationship-oriented characteristics that are employed depending upon the situation and the followers involved. According to the SLT, as followers increase in readiness the leader’s style is to adapt accordingly (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).
This paper is intended to explain where collaborative leadership is used, what characteristics it possesses, and the benefits and disadvantages of using it. It will also summarize what types of people are collaborative leaders and the qualities they have that make them one.
Contingency theory and situational view. Contingency theory, developed by Fiedler (1967), is similar to situational theory, in that the leader applies various leadership methods; however, the similarities end there. Rather than adapting to situations, the contingency leader adapts least favored-worker concept to draw the disinterested or less skilled worker into the environment (Fiedler, 1967). Contingent reward offers a kind of acknowledgement or feedback that motivates the quality of affiliation between transactional leaders and their followers. The contingent reward style delivers optimistic support by identifying or gratifying a follower when he or she achieves targeted objectives (Bass, 1985; Hater & Bass, 1988).
York-Barr and Duke (2004) suggested there is no correlation between distributive leadership practices and student learning outcomes. Mayrowetz (2008, p.424) proposed that there is not a correlation between the practice of distributive leadership, school improvement or leadership development. However, recent research refutes the idea that distributed leadership doesn’t have positive implications for leadership practices or student learning outcomes. Day et al (2009) concluded that through a mediated relationship, distributed leadership led to positive outcomes such as improved morale of staff, which led to positive implications for students such as improved behavior and student learning outcomes. Moreover, conclusions from Leithwood et al. (2009) assert nuanced relationships between individuals may have an impact on the extent to which distributed leadership practices are
“Situational theory tends to focus more on the behaviours that the leader should adopt, given situational factors (often about follower behaviour), whereas contingency theory takes a broader view that includes contingent factors about leader capability and other variables within the situation”
The leadership challenge is all about how leaders mobilize others to make great things happen in an organization (Kouzes &Posner, 2012). It is based off the leader’s practices and how they work together as a team to innovate, challenge and reward others in any given situation. It’s about getting others to follow the leader and tag along on the leadership journey. There are five practices that Kouzes and Posner discuss in the book and they are as follows: model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encouraging the heart. These five practices are what happens when leaders engage with their team and great things happen (Kouzes & Posner, 2012). A leader is known for what they do within an organization.
The Situational Theories of leadership explain how leadership style must be tailored to the demands of the task and the qualities of subordinates.