SLIDE 12 Situational Leadership/Path-Goal Theory
Styles change based on environment, people, and tasks:
- Directive: Giving clear instructions
- Participative: Seeks group input and integration
- Supportive: Friendly, gives positive reinforcement
- Achievement-Oriented: Challenges, always strives
for improvement
We’ve been talking about leadership traits, what you do as leaders, and how leadership transforms you. We’d now like to introduce a framework for leadership based upon the notion that leadership styles may change depending on the setting, people involved, and tasks required. The underlying theory here is that leaders don’t behave in a certain way all the time and respond to the needs of their followers.
- Directive Leadership (task intensive activities):
– Lays out expectations, processes, schedule of tasks. – Identifies relevant policies and guidelines that may come into play. – Hands out roles and responsibilities, delegates as needed. – Provides clear objectives and identifies the outcome.
- Participative Leadership (greater council involvement in the decision-making process):
– Seeks input from members for feedback, brainstorming, etc. – Incorporates that into the team’s decisions.
- Supportive Leadership (helping members achieve goals, especially for mundane tasks):
– Considers the emotional and practical needs of followers. – Expresses concern for the welfare, dignity, and respect of followers. – Uses positive reinforcement and carefully listens to followers. – Enhances a group by facilitating communications and helping individuals work better together.
- Achievement-Oriented Leadership (competitions, recruitment, etc.):
– Establishes high performance standards. – Constantly strives to improve the group and reach new heights. – Consistently shows a high confidence in the group’s abilities and sets challenges accordingly. – Example: Jack Welch, ex-CEO General Electric This theory is more than simply a manual, stipulating how to act in a given situation, it’s a framework for considering how best to respond to the needs of your members in a variety of situations. An under- lying question is, “As a leader, what can I do to ensure my followers are well-equipped to complete their tasks, achieve our common goals, and be satisfied with the results?’ The value of situational, or adaptive leadership, is that conforming to the needs of your members, will bring about optimal results.
