Situational Leadership - by Paul Heresy and Ken Blanchard

OL 670 Final Project

Heather M. Linehan

Southern New Hampshire University

1. Introduction

As a manager in a large company, my mentor has tasked me with developing my own personal theory of leadership.  To develop a foundation of leadership I’ve explored leadership theories and choose leaders who exemplify these characteristics.  The leadership theories explored are Leadership Participation Inventory; Situational Leadership and The Great Man Theory.

These theories range from classic to contemporary and show how leadership views have changed over time.  They are attractive and interesting to view the similarities and differences of theories that were founded in the 19th and 20th centuries. Three exemplary leaders are Barack Obama (The Great Man Theory), Oprah Winfrey (Situational Leadership) and Grace Andrews (Leadership Participation Inventory).  These leaders are people that I am drawn to and have allowed me to learn and develop.  

1. Analysis of Established Theories

1. Theories Review

1. Major Principles:  Leadership Participation Inventory was founded in 1987 by James Kouze and Barry Posner and is considered a transformational theory. It is based off a survey in their book which asked people what characteristics the admired in leaders.  From there Kouze and Posner created five characteristics to be a successful leader.  “Model The Way; Inspire a shared vision; Challenge the process; Enable others to act and Encourage the heart.” (page #, Kouze and Posner) This theory allows leaders to recognize their own emotions as in emotional intelligence and empowers them to lead with their feelings and vision while encouraging others to do the same.

Situational Leadership was discovered by Paul Heresy and Ken Blanchard in the mid-1970’s. “Situational leadership refers to when the leader or manager of an organization must adjust his style to fit the development level of the followers he is trying to influence. With situational leadership, it is up to the leader to change his style, not the follower to adapt to the leader’s style. In situational leadership, the style may change continually to meet the needs of others in the organization based on the situation.” (Anthony, nd) A leader with the ability to lead by the situation has to believe in self-empowerment and the confidence to make decisions without approval.  Emotional Intelligence is clearly related to situational leadership as both require adapting to the situation you are in not making the situation adapt to you.

The Great Man Theory goes all the way back to the 1800’s with writer Thomas Carlyle.  “It was only in the 19th century that historians and philosophers began to consider the concept of leadership and those who displayed it, mainly in a military and political context. Indeed, it was entirely through consideration of recognized, historical heroes that the first leadership theory was conceived. 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) To me, this theory really goes back to nature vs. nurture as the theory implies that people are born with an ability to lead.  I believe that the basic levels of leadership are teachable; however, to reach the highest levels of effective leadership one must be born with certain innate abilities.

1. Power and Influence: When you are attempting to get to or are in a role of power and influence self-reflection and constant leadership education is imperative to continued success.  As a leader examining these major principles, it is very natural to relate yourself or your actions to these theories or the people who exemplify them.  I often find myself thinking about how I handled certain situations in my leadership role when examining these principles.  Learning the background of the principles allows for evaluation and planning of how things could be done differently next time. Personally, I find pulling ideas from multiple principles, not just one allows me to lead in any situation and when dealing with different personalities.

1. Theories Critique

1. Strengths: The three leadership theories we are discussing have one strength in common, being true to you.  In all three principles, a leader's true self must be visible and a key factor in the leader's behavior.  "We are what we repeatedly do" (Aristotle) So being true to one's self-allows the individual to maintain self-worth and dignity.  Further, it allows the group or organization that you are leading to having a deeper sense of trust as they know what you are saying comes from a belief within.
2. Weaknesses: In my opinion, a weakness shared by all leadership theories, not just these three, in particular, is the lack of direction on failure.  Leadership theories are complex and provide a lot of insight on how certain individuals lead in certain ways, but none show best practices for how to move forward from failure.  No matter how good of a leader you are, life happens and things don't always go as planned.  If a leader is only given the tools that work to the benefit of their leadership style and not the downside, it will affect the leader and the group/organization they are leading.  

1. Theories Application

1. Leaders who exemplify: For the Great Man Theory I chose Barack Obama and Donald Trump.  Two men with seemingly great amounts of power and they are polar opposites.  “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.” (Culter) In 2008 Barack Obama rose from Chicago to help American rise up to the challenge of the recession.  In his time he did far more than this, mystically so he had people in awe and “Fired Up, Ready to go” (Obama).  To me, he is the ultimate leader, a person I connect with so deeply I would follow him anywhere, blindly.  For a man who had a good shot at being pushed back simply because he had darker skin he rose to be the first black President of the United States, and ended his two terms with such respect he would have won a 3rd.  The power of his voice which is so natural to him can bring people peace, courage and the energy to stand up for what they believe in.  

Situational leadership makes me think of Oprah.  Oprah is an entertainment phenomenon, yet her ability to entertain doesn’t come close to matching her ability to lead.  If you look at the spectrum of what she has accomplished and the transitions she has made in her career with the amount of followers she has, it is incredible.  She has made the shift from newscaster, talk show host, magazine founder/editor, network founder, and weight loss advocate.  Oprah has discovered a way to connect with the hearts and souls of America and pull them onboard to follow her.

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