Critical Thinking (1)

Critical Thinking: Leadership Practice

Student’s Name

Institution’s Name

Date

Situational leadership is a leadership style that is adaptive in nature. According to Thompson & Glasø (2018), it encourages leaders to take stock of the members of their teams, look at the variables at their workplace and select the style of leadership which is suitable for their circumstances and goals. As Thompson & Glasø (2015) state, situational leadership is the most appropriate for organizations which want to ensure the following:

Establish rapport and ensure they bring out the best in their employees

Develop work groups and people

Make use of a common leadership style in all their units whether it is national, local or international.

Situational leadership provides a window for flexibility. It ensures adaptation to the organizational needs and the existing work environment. It does not base on the leader’s specific skills but modifies their management styles to be in line with the needs of the organization. Adaptability is the key to situational leadership. Leaders need to move from one style of leadership to the other so as to meet the ever changing employee and organizational need (Thompson & Glasø, 2015). They thus need to have strong insight to be able to understand when they need to change their style of management and the kind of leadership strategy which fits the new paradigms.

In situational leadership, you might find that some employees function better when their leader is directive or autocratic. Others would wish that the leader leaves everything under their care and trusts them to accomplish their tasks. Similarly, not every industry works well under the same leadership style and the same skills. Some fields demand that the employees are full of innovative ideas while others need them to have relationship connection with their clients and possess personal charisma. In the issue at hand, the best approach for it will be situational leadership. There are several theories which state down the situational aspects that a leader needs to possess in such a situation. In this case the most appropriate situational leadership theory that I will make use of is the Blanchard and Harsey leadership theory. According to Sudrajat et al (2020) this leadership theory suggests that there is the need to match appropriately two key elements, the leadership style of the leader and the preparedness and maturity levels of the followers.

This theory makes use of four main approaches to leadership. These are:

Selling- the leader remains the decision maker, he however still works and communicates to encourage the employees on particular issues rather than directing them

Telling-authoritative and directive approach. The leader is the decision maker and directs the employees on what they need to do.

Participating- the leader works in close association with the members of his team and make decisions together. He encourages and supports them and is a lot more democratic.

Delegating- the leader assigns the responsibility of decision-making to the members of the team but on the other hand oversees their work.

In addition to the approaches stated above, there are some four levels of maturity that will provide guidance on the leadership approach to put in place basing on the employees’ maturity level (Sudrajat et al 2020).

Level M1: the followers have low commitment and low competence

Level M2: the followers possess low competence but as well have high commitment to their work

Level M3: the followers depict very high competence, but on the other hand they have low confidence and commitment

Level M4: the followers possess high competence and they as well have high confidence and commitment.

In the Blanchard and Hersey’s leadership approach, the key is ensuring the leadership approach matches the maturity levels of the employees (Achadi, 2020). This is as stated below:

The telling style works well for employees belonging to M1 level (low commitment and low competence)

The selling style works well for employees at M2 level (high commitment and low competence)

Participating style works well for employees at M3 level (low confidence/commitment and high competence)

Delegating style works well for the employees at M4 level (High confidence/commitment and high competence)

In the duty station that I have been bulkposted, I can group the employees in different categories. Amani has high competence as she had worked in the organization for five years hence she is experienced and is capable of carrying out tasks. On the other hand, she also has low morale hence her commitment to the job is low. She thus belongs to maturity level M3. Bassmah on the other hand has been in the company for long enough but has no skills to carry out his tasks. He thus belongs to maturity level 1 as he has also shown no commitment to his job. Hadeel and Rawan both have high competence as they have delivered their duties well in the past but they have low commitment thus depicting maturity level 3. Finally, Samah does not know what to do despite being in the company for three months. This time is enough for one to learn their assigned duties and thus Samah lacks commitment, morale and competence. Therefore, Amani, Hadeel and Rawan belong to Maturity level 3 while Bassmah and Samah belong to maturity level 1.

For Amani, Hadeel and Rawan, the leadership style that I would put in place is the participating style as it is the best leadership approach for individuals with maturity level 3. In this case, I will be able to work with them and be able to make decisions together. Since their morale at the job is low, the leadership style involves a lot of encouragement and support (Northouse, 2018) this well help boost their morale. The conflict that exists between Hadeel and Rawan will make them have a hard time making decisions on their own. Offering them support in decision making will help them make a positive step forward. Working together with them might as well help in resolving the conflict between them.

For Bassmah and Samah, I will make use of the telling approach of leadership. This is because they both do not have an idea of what they are supposed to do in regards to their duties. This form of leadership is authoritative and directive in its approach (Achadi, 2020). In this case, I would make the decisions and tell them what I would love done. In this way, they will have an idea of what is expected of them. This will enable them have morale boost and learn more of their duties and responsibilities.

As indicated in the text above, it is clear that the manager has quite a number of responsibilities. The leader thus needs to ensure that the decision on the leadership style they would wish to use matches the need at the moment and be flexible to change as need arises. Thus, the implementation of situational leadership in an organization ensures that the managers learn the ways they can recognize both the strengths and weaknesses of the different leadership styles and the way they can apply this to the different work situations (Thompson & Glasø, 2018). For a leader to be successful, they need to recognize quickly the correct style which can be applied in different situations. The selected style can be used in achieving superior business results.

References

Achadi, M. W. (2020). The Implementation of Situational Accompaniment.

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice (8th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN- 13: 9781506362311

Sudrajat, D. A., Zulfikar, F., & Lindayani, L. (2020). Situational Leadership as View by Nurses in Government and Private Hospitals. Journal Of Nursing Practice, 3(2), 286-290.

Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2018). Situational leadership theory: a test from a leader-follower congruence approach. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.

Thompson, G., & Glasø, L. (2015). Situational leadership theory: A test from three perspectives. Leadership & Organization Development Journal.