Situational Leadership

trail is as much a function of the situation in which the participants bef each(prenominal) themselves as it is of the characteristic of a drawing card. (Discuss) The characteristics of a leader ar nigh important however, one inescapably to take into consideration that diverse situations call up for contrastive types of leadinghiphip. Previous query by Luccier & Achua (2010) states that different situations need different types of leaders. Therefore, lead, shapingal husbandry, situational leadership, personalisedity and separate traits need to be defined.Furthermore, an exploration of the impact of situations in relation to the characteristics of a leader and/or their leadership manner shall be discussed, as will argue how this impacts upon the shaping and its leadership. A discussion of what abilities should be displayed by a leader in different situations, peculiarly in education will ensue. Evidence suggests (Palmer 2011) that leadership forms its meaning, revealing different thoughts as well as different view arrests. It is the influencing process of leaders and fol pitifuling to carry out organisational objectives through change (Luccier & Achua 2010, p6. Daft (2005) racylights that at that place is a connection amid leaders and followers, and the goals they wish to attain. In other words, leadership affects power or control, and it takes place amongst people, and those people wanting critical change (Ric fractious & Andrew, (2009). to a higher place all, leadership is about motivating authorization and certification who atomic number 18 required to sort out the objectives of the organisation (Palmer 2011 Dubrin, 2004, p. 3) A number of writers have defined traits as distinguishing personal characteristics of a leader for example honesty, appearance, intelligence and self-confidence. Luccier & Achua 2010 p 33 Palmer 2011 papal bull &Draft 2003) Personality is the sort (combination) of traits in regards to specific behavio ur. In other words, personality is character, and it affects our decisions. (Palmer 2011 Luccier & Achua, 2004, p. 29)Organisation culture relates to a collection of, standards, and understandings sh atomic number 18d by members of an organisation, including new members. (Richard & Andrew 2009) In addition, it is viewed as a sh ard mental clay sculpture or social glue that brings an organisation to energizeher. (Luccier &Achua 2010 p. 70) The lag at a school, led by a whiz should possess such a copy. Situational leadership is a theory identified by Harsey & Blanchard (1969) that purports that useful leaders be those that reflect greater change in their leadership flare in respect to task orientation and directive orientation in support of individual followers abilities and requirements. Fuchs (2007 p. 15) It is also establish on the thought that leadership moves between business followers according to the needs of an individual group at a specific time. Sousa 2003) governmen t ministers of Education, Principals and Education section heads should all embrace this theory, so that they tail assembly instigate positive deliberate and/or change in their respective organisations. Leadership personal manner is the mixture or combination of personalities, abilities and behaviours leaders use as they relate with followers. (Luccier & Achua 2010) Observations of followers can suggest the favoured approach or forms of behaviour used by different leaders. (Fuchs (2007) Thus, a school leader would need to know their provide reasonably well to be up to(p) to do so.Organisational success is non only influenced by leadership, but, also by the organisations vision, ethnical mission and support from the public. However, legion(predicate) specialists argue that strong leadership is in truth important to organisational needs (Richard & Andrew 2009). Above all, stiff leaders are ethos or beliefs makers (Luccier & Achua 2010). According to Palmer (2011) leadership is the skill to encourage, impact and gibe provide to reach excellent twist, and states that motivation is mea authoritatived as a dominant shaft for employers improvement.It also helps leaders to realise the types of people in their organisation and inspire them to get involved in development and improving the organisation. A concrete example of this is illustrated in the USA study which indicated that about 77 portion of workers or employees were not satisfied at work, mainly because they felt they were not do by their leader (Luccier & Achua, 2010. ). New employees need to be motivated by their leader, which in turn leads to greater job satisfaction and a greater likelihood of organisational involvement.A Principal should make professional exploitation school wide and distinguish to the school, it scholars and educational context. Effective leaders are responsible for direction and support of every worker, and also assist with bout resolution. They also have to be ou tstanding speakers to be open to promulgate well so that they can pass on information to cater and also to people outside the organisation (Palmer 2011 Richard & Andrew 2009). In a school, the Principal/Deputy Principal would need to deal with such conflicts, making sure that they are imparcial and fair, free from bias.Leaders serve as role models for employees and are key motivators. Staff members can model honesty, integrity, commitment and other value demonstrated by their leader. (Luccier & Achua, 2010 Palmer 2011) In addition, they are strategic developers which form the organisations vision in collaboration with staff and other put on the line holders. Above all, they are policy producers and decision makers for both staff and organisations (Cited in Palmer 2011 Dubrin, 2004). Decisions can either be right or wrong, and can lead to the success or failure of an organisation, unless guided by a learned, perceptive leader.An effective leader should demonstrate values like ac count ability, transparency, professionalism, commitment, innovation and motivation. Above all, an effective leader should be versatile to be able to trade with global change and new trends in management and leadership. Principals and others in educational leadership roles need to have up-to-date knowledge and be able to utilise it appropriately. Previous query (Luccier & Achua 2010 Palmer 2011) states that leadership efficiency is learnable. Not all leaders represent leadership hat has been learned. Different leadership styles are used under certain conditions according to Dubrin & Dalglish (2001) they draw attention to Malcolm Frasers experience. He changed his leadership style due to influences on his situation. For instance, Fraser as Prime Minister of Australia, he was exercising authority, whilst also acting as chairman of business Australia, his profile was low. For this reason, one can highlight that the situation has an impact on which leadership style is some effective .The impact can be influenced by both internal and external situations. Also, it whitethorn be negative or positive depending on how favourable or unfavourable the employees or leaders perceptions are (Richard & Andrew 2009). Fiedlers (1967 as cited in Richard & Andrew 2009) point out that leaders have essential features. In the equal way of life he establishes the calamity theory as a session of behavioral concepts based on the principle that there is no one prefer way of leading, and that a similar leadership style does not work in all circumstances.This theory is classifying a managers leadership style as task motivated and relationship motivated. Fiedler (1967) used the least(prenominal) preferred co-worker (LPC) scale to measure the degree of leadership style. Fiedlers theory highlights that situations can be placed into three categories, namely high, low and take for. Fiedler also used the leader match concept to match leaders to situations. For instance, Fiedler points out that task motivated leaders do better in situations that are high, enabling them to concentrate on building and maintaining relationships.In contrast, for moderate situations the relationship motivated is better, so is not as much of a focal point, as in low situations. Task motivated leaders may do well, but they may create a nose out of misunderstanding, while relationship motivated leaders will seek consultations and support staff emotionally. The contingency theory is the most researched and advantageous, however, it had been established that it is very voiceless to make sure that it has a good influence on most leaders. Furthermore, the total amount of control a eader exerts differs depending on the time and situation. It has been argued that from the situational characteristics, there is a negative connection between LPC score and group performance. Also, it is hard to make a summary about a leaders performance, when leaders are always adapting their leadership style ac cording to changing situations they find themselves in. to a greater extent research needs to be carried out on the contingency leadership so that it can be flexible and meet the desired outcomes of fresh globalization tests and organisational requirements.The Situational Leadership model (SLM) was developed by Hersey and Blanchard (1996) as cited in Richard & Andrew (2009). It focuses on followers as cosmos the significant component of the situation, and therefore, defines an demonstrable leaders behaviour. Hersey & Blanchard (1996) highlighted the importance of appropriate leadership training, and stress the importance of leaders being adaptive in exact situations. In the case of school Principals, many have not received adequate training to be able to do a productive and credible job.However, experience, maturity and impartiality may be evident and are the reasons for a person being elect for such a position. Hersey and Blanchard (1996) support the earlier theoretical assumpti ons from the Ohio State study which reveal that behaviour of a leader can be a combination of two points of view, such as having positions of being democratic and autocratic. (Luccier & Achua 2010) The SLM is based on four groups which are a mixture of the two dimensions delegating, participating, merchandising and telling (Dubrin & Dalglish 2001, p157. This model focuses on the readiness of group members and states that there is no one best way to influence group members and the most effective leadership style depends on the level of the group members (Dubrin & Dalglish 2001 p. 156) In addition, employees differ in readiness levels. For instance, there are those that lack enthusiasm for a task due to a lack of appropriate training. These employees lack confidence in their abilities. To improve on this, a change of leadership style may be required. Such employees are in contrast to those with high levels of task readiness.These employees, thanks to better training, are secure and c onfident employees who are able to make decisions and contributions to their organisations. Luccier & Achua, (2010) argued that leaders should develop skills and task should be understandably stated as evident in MacDonalds Corporation. The leaders in this organisation provide employees with ongoing training, thus constantly upgrading and improving their skills, so that they can be confident when performing tasks. If a teacher/staff member is not well trained in some aspect of their job, i. e. omputer based programs Principals ought to provide access to such training, without critical outcomes. The leader has the ability to guide the business to greater success and employee participation by developing better relationships within their organisation (Dubrin & Dalglish. 2001) Such a model would be a good one to be adopted by organisations, especially in Swaziland, where employees are low in their task readiness, due to many constraints. This is a situation beyond control and cannot be changed overnight, but, it is a gap in the future.Therefore, the leadership style can be changed to suit or meet different groups. For example, in a classroom situation, a student with impairment cannot change that situation, but a teacher can change teaching methods by differentiating their teaching in order to meet the individuals needs. This model has been demonstrated as being valuable as a foundation for leadership training. (Dubrin & Dalglish 2001) It has been established that before one decides on a leadership style, one has to assess the readiness level of the group members.It also provides leaders with precise guidelines, and not complicated rhetoric unlike the contingency theory. However, Vecchios (1987) research on 300 teachers and their principals, showed mixed results, advising that this model is only good for staff that are confident. More research should be carried out in different cultures and differing contexts so as to provide appropriate examples for differing settings, so as to get results that will be relevant to contemporary issues and global challenges. (Dubrin & Dalglish 2001)In conclusion, the contingency and path goal theory focus on task, authority and personality of the subordinates while the cognitive resource theory illustrates that stress is vital to how leaders intelligence is related to group performances (Fieldler & Garcia1987 Vecchio 1990 Chemers1997 cited in Dubrin & Dalglish p. 163) Principals have a stressful role, therefore, many draw on such resources to be effective leaders. The SLM focuses on the everyday tasks and the effective applications of behaviours the leader employs. Dubrin & Dalglish 2001). The SLM is a more appropriate model, and has demonstrated its impact by addressing culturally diverse organisations, leadership lastingness in the global context and by its correlating leadership styles and follower relationships. (Luccier & Achua, 2010). The writer believes that SLM is still the appropriate and releva nt style for a leader, as it can bring change to a leaders behaviour as it is connected with relationships, which is more important to subordinates for mutual understanding.On another note, culture is very important when leading people, all the situational models originated and were tested in the fall in States, which may not be appropriate or have the same impact compared to other cultures in Africa, Asia and Europe. Henson and Werner felt (1989) suggest that the culture of an organisation influences how subconscious and conscious decisions are made in it. (Lok & Crawford 2003) Finally, more research needs to be carried out, that will establish an effective leadership style chosen to be appropriate for diverse cultural organisations.