The Importance Of Situational Leadership

One of the answers given by Sandra, peaked my interest, because it dealt with sacrificing one moral standard for another. I questioned her view on making decisions that never intentionally harm others, even if only slightly. Sandra agreed that ethical decisions shouldn’t harm others, but she felt that there were exceptions; she explained that sometimes the truth hurts others. This answer specifically interested me, because Josephson explains, “An individual deserves the truth because he has the moral right to make decisions about his own life based on accurate information. This rationalization overestimates people’s desire to be “protected” from the truth, when in fact most people would rather know unpleasant information than believe soothing

This leadership style places a large amount of importance on the followers’ readiness to follow. “Leadership style in the situational model is classified according to the relative amount of task and relationship behavior the leader engages in. The differentiation is akin to structure initiation versus consideration. Task behavior is the extent to which the leader spells out the duties and responsibilities of an individual or group. It includes giving directions and setting goals. Relationship behavior is the extent to which the leader engages in two-way or multi-way communication. It includes activities such as listening, providing encouragement, and coaching.” (Babou, 2008) The model places a leader in one of four quadrants based on the amount of task compared to

“Although research consistently supported the dichotomy between task and relationship leadership behavior, little evidence suggested that these leadership behaviors were related to increased leadership effectiveness in group performance.” (Seyranian, 2009) The use of contingency theory by leaders did not seem to correctly explain how to increase a group’s performance.

Transactional leadership, or managerial leadership, is a style of leadership in which leaders promote compliance by followers through both rewards and punishments. Additionally, transactional leaders focus on supervision, organization, and performance. “The leader believes in motivating through a system of rewards and punishment. If a subordinate does what is desired, a reward will follow, and if he does not go as per the wishes of the leader, a punishment will follow.” (Teck, 2012) Transactional leadership is used widely, in many different applications, such as public school