Situational Leadership - by Paul Heresy and Ken Blanchard

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Leadership Participation immediately makes me think of one of my first bosses, Grace Andrews. Grace was the founder of a Training business that consulted with CEO’s and executives for management training. Grace was a powerful force who commanded attention in a non threatening way. Grace has Multiple Sclerosis and that never set her back, she was a role model and created a shared vision for her entire team. She always told me “I’m not about your comfort, I’m about your growth” (Andrews) This saying has stuck with me and I now pass it on to others. Part of being a leader is showing people the way to be their best self.

- Anti-Exemplary Leaders: On the flip side, you have Donald Trump a man born into wealth who bullied his way to the top. Donald Trump was not born with leadership skills, nor does he have the courage to lead, however strangely an effect on almost half of the nation has. I have spent almost two years now evaluating the trend in the country and trying to understand what the attraction is. In my opinion Donald Trump is the total opposite of Barack Obama. He leads with fear and intimidation, not from his heart or his conscious. He does not have the desire to build people up, but instead breaks them down.

Unrelated to Oprah, but related to Situational Leadership, I had a boss just a year ago who I learned a lot from in terms of policies, procedures, follow through, etc. Yet, through the 3 years that I worked for her I found her personality to be robotic. No matter the person she was dealing with she never shifted her approach to make that person comfortable enough to be open and honest. No, this person’s peer instead of her employee I was able to take a lot of what she taught me and apply it while still staying true to myself. Now when I have these conversations I am able to assess the situation and give the person I am dealing with what they need from me for us both to have a successful outcome.

My first boss in the real world was a man named Tony. I worked as an administrative assistant in a large commercial lighting firm. Tony was the anti-exemplary version of the Leadership Participation Inventory. He lead those under him with fear and intimidation so nobody could ever rise up from their role. He did not empower, inspire or generate enthusiasm. Tony could be found shouting in the hallway to belittle someone instead of leading like a role model and showing the employee a better way.

- Leadership Theories: The current organization I am in is in the learning phases of leadership. I have been with one organization for 11 years, but 3 years ago we were bought out by a new organization and a new company was created. Three years for an organization that is growing rapidly with 15,000 employees is a short time to get a mission live. We have a leadership team that is now compromised of MD’s and MBA’s and the power struggle is finally settling to show the winner is those who believe in leading with transparency, honesty and inclusion in lieu of an iron fist barking orders. Our biggest struggle is situational leadership, as changing styles does not come naturally to those in charge. Our biggest success is Leadership Participation and empowerment. This is an organization that prides itself on hiring within, especially in terms of growing talent, mentorship and promotion.

- Conclusion

As a leader on the younger side, the leadership theories that I have been educated on have definitely altered my decision making in relation to roles of power and influence. Learning the strategies of styles and finding a right fit is essential to the development of a leader.

Part II, Section I

- Personal Theory of Leadership

- Introduction: While developing my own personal theory of leadership I am exploring the following theories Leadership Participation Inventory; Situational Leadership and The Great Man Theory. The Leadership Participation Inventory was developed in the 1980’s as a checklist of what characteristics of a leader would be admired. The key take away from this theory are the five characteristics one must possess to be a successful leader, and for me especially characteristic number two, “Inspiration: The others need to feel that they should follow; they need to be inspired but with a goal. They need to see that there is a desired endpoint to their actions. Leaders may intellectualize a situation but they have to be able to stand firm in the face of adversity.” (Kouze) Often leaders forget to get out of the day-to-day requirements and remind/inspire people to remember what they are working for.

Developed by Paul Hersey in the 1960’s, Situational Leadership teaches leaders to demonstrate four core, common and critical leadership competencies including diagnose, adapt, communicate, interact and advance. My key takeaway from Situational Leadership is that the brain needs to be trained in some people to learn the skill of adapting. Every human and every situation is different, so the reaction must always be tailored.

The Great Man Theory can be viewed by some as aristocratic and sexist; I view it as how people were once viewed, although when you take sex and social status out of it you can apply the theory to anyone. The Great Man Theory “The great man theory proposes that at times of need leaders will rise, almost mystically, to control events and lead people to safety or success. Hence, history can be explained to a large extent by the emergence of these highly influential men – the great man theory does not mention women – of their times.” (Cutler) For me, this theory is my favorite take away overall as I truly feel that leaders are born not made.

- Aspects of the theories: In my personal theory of leadership I would like to include the communication piece of situational leadership, the inspiration aspect of Leadership Participation and the nature vs. nurture theory behind The Great Man. These ideas can assist with transformational change, most importantly being the communication piece. Communication is critical in every aspect of life, especially leadership. When talking to someone, you need to be aware of not only your delivery and tailoring that to the individual you are speaking with but also the personality of the person you are talking too. In addition, the scenario and any sensitivity around it, observing if they are actually listening and hearing what you are saying and finally how was it interpreted. Just because you communicate a message, it doesn’t always mean it is heard as it was meant.

- Theory and practice intersect: In my experience theory and practice do not intersect as perfectly as the text books relay. The