Transformational leaders help employees accept change through engagement and improving relationship or cooperation. In some situations, the situational leader may do more harm than good because they misread the situation, formulating an answer that is inappropriate. That causes the leadership traits to change, and the responses offered by the situational leader may be inappropriate for the situation. Description: This style of leadership focuses on the strengths and weaknesses of individual team members or employees. He also asked them to voice out their grouses and the possible reasons for their non-performance. Male leaders, on the other hand, adopted stronger approaches which are consistent with natural dominating and controlling characteristics of men. From Disabled and $500k in Debt to a Pro Blogger with 5 Million Monthly Visitors, 13 Situational Leadership Advantages and Disadvantages, 15 Laissez Faire Management Style Advantages and…, 14 Co Leadership Advantages and Disadvantages, 11 Autocratic Leadership Advantages and Disadvantages, "From Disabled and $500k in Debt to a Pro Blogger with 5 Million Monthly Visitors. Study for free with our range of university lectures! On the other hand, weak leaders cannot embrace new ideas and are very much ‘stuck in their ways’, unwilling to adapt to what the situations call for. The situational theory of leadership suggests that no single leadership style is best. In the essay below, situational leadership will be identified, along with the strengths and weaknesses of the situational model. Survey Reflections Leadership … The person holding this power is able to impose punishment. This type of power can weaken if the reward is no longer perceived as valuable by the receiver. In his liaison role, Terrill tried to maintain positive relationship with the engineers and not take sides with the top management by using any form of coercion on his team. Legitimate power, reward power and coercion power fall in this category. Situational leaders must always be on their toes if they are going to be successful. This approach improves the effectiveness of a team by maximizing the output of each individual member of the team. Maintain information and contacts. Situational leadership is based more on meeting an exact need, at the moment, then an approach which looks toward the long-term needs of a team. To illustrate the point, all three interpersonal roles – Figurehead, Leader and Liaison – provide information. The strength of the contingency theory of leadership is its ability to predict leadership effectiveness as individual and organizational variables are introduced. In contrast, men display more traditional leadership characteristics such as assertive, controlling, aggressive and dominating. According to Bauer and Erdogan (2010), we have Fiedler’s Contingency Theory, Situational Leadership, Path-Goal Theory of Leadership, and Vroom and Yetton’s Normative Decision Model. Besides strengths, situational leadership theory has its weaknesses, namely its over-simplified description of the relationship between leader behaviors and situational variables and lack of empirical research that … The individual usually possesses a charm, appeal, charisma or admirable qualities which others want to identify with. In this case, the engineers are able to concentrate on accomplishing their tasks and productivity of the division will improve. One of the biggest weaknesses that many transformational leaders must overcome is their lack of a transactional focus. That process can cause some leaders to become fixated on the end prize instead of looking at the details required to achieve that goal. An individual with referent power is looked upon as a role model by others. Fourth, there was no clear … During the showdown with top management in the president’s office, Terrill displayed his negotiation skills by informing top management that the main reason for Technical Services division’s low output was that the engineers were more occupied with writing daily reports than actually doing their engineering tasks. However, according to Bravo-Baumann (2000) gender relations involves how society determines the rights and responsibilities of women and men. Extends beyond leadership, making it hard to focus on developing just as a leader 2. First of all, participative leadership promotes a healthy working environment through making each member feel important and needed in the organization. Participative Leadership: Strengths and Weaknesses The simple act of making decisions is an essential task leaders must perform effectively to succeed. In the role as school principal which requires more interpersonal ability, women display greater task-orientation. These leaders can approach direct reports at any level of maturity to provide them with the counsel they may require. We generally think of companies competing by means of their products, but they probably compete more by means of their leaders than their products. Because this leadership style allows for changes to be made, leaders get to switch between the different styles that are most effective at each readiness level. Although the leader cannot force their direct reports to take these opportunities, there is still a positive response when it is communicated that development options are available. Inadvertently, it will be easier for Terrill to turn around the department because his engineers will have more respect for him and will not hesitate to help him achieve their goals. Examples: Nick Bollettieri (American Tennis coach to grand slam winners like … Process and assess information. The company is forced to stick with that type of leadership because other leadership styles only focus on the structure or process. He had proven that while the engineers were asked to turn in daily reports, actually nobody in top management would need the report daily because for three weeks, nobody in headquarters enquired about the missing daily reports. Project initiation, business identification and leads for opportunities. Traits like micromanaging, inconsistency, a lack of awareness and other similar qualities can be attributed to weaknesses in leadership skills. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! The managers and the leaders are the greatest assets of the organization Barclays. A leader who is able to delegate his authority in terms of job accomplishment will have time to focus on other strategic matters. The situational leader has a clear vision of where the team is going. First, he cleverly gained the engineers’ confidence by showing great concern for their welfare. For example, the engineers are given high autonomy in completing their tasks with minimal supervision by Terrill. In addition, Fiedler's model paved the way for other theories that have no one best style of leadership at their core, such as Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership. Through his research, Mintzberg (1973) also managed to conclude that all the above ten roles fall into three broad categories which are interlinked. Instead of lumping all employees into one generic category, the situational leader looks at individual situations. A shift in the other direction could make it difficult for workers to know what to do, even if they’re ready to be working on their own. The only fix to this potential disadvantage is to have frequent and transparent communication, which takes time away from the actual work that may need to be done. * Leaders help in creating learning opportunities and stimulate their followers to find solutions to their problems. Barclays is listed on the London Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. Coaching Leadership. What Are Weaknesses Of Situational Leadership Theory Leadershipis the process of interaction of the leaders to his or her team members. In solving the low productivity issue of the Technical Services division, Terrill also played the role of a negotiator. Registered office: Venture House, Cross Street, Arnold, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG5 7PJ. In conclusion, managers are involved in a myriad of activities when performing the managerial functions. Empowerment allows for a certain degree of independence which promotes accountability and creativity in individuals. When he found out that the engineers were demotivated by the amount of daily reporting that they had to do instead of focussing on their engineering tasks, Terrill asked the engineers to carry out their engineering duties like they were supposed to and increase the division’s productivity while he took care of the daily report generation problem with top management. Effective leaders should be able to adjust their leadership styles according to the situation at hand. On the other hand, transactional leadership style is more visible in traditional organizational settings where male leaders are dominant (Rosener, 1990). The engineers were also confident that Terrill will be able to prove a point to top management by keeping the daily reports in his office, and they seemed to have supported his actions. Women in leadership roles were seen to be more collaborative, less hierarchical and more cooperative, caring and promoting self-worth of others (Helgesen, 1990; Book, 2000; Rosener, 1995). Measurement of job readiness is subjective and based on several factors, mainly job ability and job confidence (Hambleton et al., 1977(. Situational leadership is based more on meeting an exact need, at the moment, then an approach which looks toward the long-term needs of a team. Registered Data Controller No: Z1821391. Situational leadership refers to a leadership style where the leader of an organization has to modify his style to fit the progression level of the followers he is trying to influence. Even though we can all find common ground with other people at some level, humans are unique individuals. All work is written to order. A situational leader must be able to determine the strengths and weaknesses of their direct reports. Below, I have provided a brief synopsis of my findings with respect to each of the leadership instruments. However, if a leader wrongly gauged the job readiness of his followers and leave it to them to accomplish certain tasks, he may not achieve the desired results at the end of the day. Perhaps this helped open up the communication channel between him and the engineers because they feel that Terrill was acting in their interests. Transformational leaders brought about changes in organizations by inspiring, motivating and sometimes acting as role models for employees to identify with (Bass, 1985). Becomes complicated when more than just leadership qualities are being discussed, makes it hard to focus on specific skills 3. * Leaders develop emotional bonds with their followers using their management and rhetorical skills and great visions. The Contingency theory has strengths and disadvantages just like the Strain theory. Researchers French and Raven (1959) had studied the sources of power and successfully listed them in five distinct forms. Ogden et al. John Terrill applied his interpersonal skills excellently when he first approached the engineers to seek information on their current problems which affected their productivity. They must also understand the scope of the project or task that must be completed. This is what allows … Terrill also exercised his authority when he issued immediate order for reports to be sent to his office instead of the headquarters as warranted by top management. Hence, women naturally develop leadership styles that are more democratic and participative. This means that, the leadership style changes according to the followers’ knowledge and skills in a given task. This style can be effective in less-hierarchical organizations such as schools or retail outlets. In a 3 to 4 page paper (excluding the title and references pages), please explain why situational leadership theory is useful and relevant in developing an effective leadership culture. If he successfully gets top management to agree with his plight, he will undoubtedly build his referent power and be admired for his charm and charisma in carrying out his task as their leader. Looking at the two-by-two matrix, the Delegating Leadership Style is described as Low Task, Low Relationship, whereby intervention from managers is kept to a minimum with the assumption that the subordinates are able, willing and confident of accomplishing the tasks at hand. Some leaders prefer to roll up their sleeves and get to work with everyone, coaching as they work to promote equality within their team. Strengths and weakness of LMX The LMX theory has some strengths in regard to the leadership process, and they include: first, the theory validates the structuring of outgroup and in-group from the relationship between the leader and the members. The only way to get to know someone is to step into their shoes. Consistency, predictability and emotional stability are desired qualities in leaders. Instead of being locked into one general leadership style, all of them are incorporated into their approach. Informational roles – Monitor, Disseminator and Spokesperson – process the information and act as a link to all the managerial roles. Situational leaders have a skill set, just like any other worker. Because of this, many corporations believe it is an effective model to help ensure that … This style of leadership empowers followers to be responsible for their own actions and decisions. Leadership weaknesses are traits that a leader may have that can result in negative actions and relationships in the workplace. Leadership Theories There are quite a few different leadership theories available for people to take information from and use in business settings and even personal settings. Source : http://leadershipchamps.wordpress.com. Lastly, the appro… With the four strengths of the situational approach, some weaknesses were also identified by Northouse. This allows the leader to motivate individual employees in a way that matches their needs, giving everyone a better chance to reach a positive outcome. When he decided to adopt the delegating style, he must have based his decision on solid grounds – highest paid and best educated group of engineers must have possess. Management will not be willing to pay them highly if they do not possess high level of job maturity, which refers to their job capabilities and confidence in accomplishing their tasks as engineers. What Are Weaknesses Of Situational Leadership Theory. Although the theory behind this form of leadership attempts to bring equality into the workplace, there is no substitute for real experience. * Leaders are conscious of the relationship between reward and effort. Since it was stated that all 20 of his subordinates are engineers who are highly paid and best educated, it can be deduced that this group of employees are high performers in their area of expertise within the organization. Based on Mintzberg’s theory, in the DGI International’s case, John Terrill played the roles of Liaison and Negotiator. In 1947, Max Weber described a number of different leadership styles that could be viewed within the confines of corporate management. VAT Registration No: 842417633. To illustrate, while the company management requires that the engineers turned in daily reports to headquarters, Terrill ordered them to turn in the reports to his office instead. These five sources of power can be broadly categorised into positional power and personal power. 1. When the situational leader cannot be flexible, then their strengths are taken away from them. We all have different experiences and perspectives that create diversity. Hence, leaders are most successful and effective when they can evaluate a situation accurately and act according to the requirements of the situation instead of generally applying the same form of leadership across all circumstances (Fiedler, 1951). A leader is able to delegate the tasks to his followers but accountability of the job still lies with the leader. 1. The following table highlights the differences in the two types of leadership: [3]. Four leadership styles which emerge from this two-by-two matrix model (see Table 1) are Participating, Selling, Telling and Delegating. These individuals may struggle to remain flexible and adapt to situations that could benefit from more listening and less “telling.” Rigidly insisting on a specific set of rules and procedures can be demoralizing to a workforce, and can dissuade employees from coming forward with important information about … The social learning theory is one of many approaches that child development and educational scholars use to explain how children learn. It gives each team member an advantage because their leader is adapting their personal approaches to meet specific needs. He did not reprimand the engineers for the poor performance of the Technical Services division without first finding out the cause of their low contribution to productivity; instead, he offered to resolve the conflict by trying to get to the root of the problem and find a lasting solution that will help them to increase their output in the organisation. The maturity of a team is always reflected in their leadership. They do not focus on the developmental aspect of leader/worker relationships. Let’s have a look at the eight major theories, along with their strengths, weaknesses, and examples. As of the leadership journal (2009) ‘the theory of situational leadership asserts that no one style of leadership pertains to all given workplace situations’. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. There are also leaders who take more of a hands-off approach, delegating work to others or observing their development from afar, then stepping in to provide advice only when it becomes necessary. To illustrate the point that gender differences in leadership styles do exist (Kanter, 1991), we will take a closer look at Transformational (largely associated with women leaders) and Transactional (dominant in male leaders). Terrill seemed to have gained support from his engineers because they cheered him when he was about to meet top management to fight for their cause. In this example, Terrill obviously used the division’s expert power to negotiate with top management to stay out of their way so that they can carry out their engineering work as expected, and hopefully increase productivity as expected of them. Responsible for allocation and sets priority for organisational resources via budgets, etc. It is the universal bank which provides services such as investment banking, credit card facility and wealth management etc. When using situational leadership, … This type of power is normally acquired by experts in certain fields. The managers and the leaders are the greatest assets of the organization Barclays. In contrast, due to the masculine nature of men as perceived by societies, male leaderships tend to be more assertive, aggressive, controlling and confident (Eagley et al., 2000). 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