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Management - Vikhanskiy OS

3. Concepts of situational leadership

Failures, comprehended by traditional concepts in defining a universal style of effective leadership, prompted scientists to develop new approaches to the study of leadership. The answer began to be sought within the framework of situational theories, which allow for more complete consideration of leadership and its consequences. The main idea of ​​the situational approach was the assumption that leadership behavior must be different in different situations. A situational approach to leadership research examines the interaction of various situational variables in order to discover a causal relationship in leadership relationships that allows one to predict the possible behavior of the leader and the consequences of this behavior.

Below we will consider the following concepts of situational leadership : the continuum of leadership behavior of Tannenbaum-Schmidt; Model of Fidler's situational leadership; Model of situational leadership of Kherses and Blanchard; The "path-goal" model of House-Mitchell; The Stinson-Johnson model; Situational decision-making model of Vroom - Yetton - Iago.

3.1. Continuum of leadership behavior Tannenbaum-Schmidt

In accordance with this model [18], the leader chooses one of the seven possible patterns of behavior, depending on the strength of the influence on the leadership relationship of the three factors: the leader himself, his followers and the situation created. In Fig. 11.10 shows the entire spectrum of elections between democratic and authoritarian alternatives, respectively associated with interest in relations or work.

Fig. 11.10. Continuum of leadership behavior

The difference between these two extreme leadership styles is based on the assumptions of the leader about the sources of his power and the nature of man. The democrat believes that he is given power by the followers he leads, and that people basically have the ability to self-government and creative work in conditions of proper motivation. Autocrat believes that power is given by his position in the group / organization and that people are internally lazy and they are difficult to rely on. In the first case, there is the opportunity to participate in management, in the second - the goals, means and policies are determined by the leader himself. According to the authors of the model, there are five intermediate leadership styles between these two extremes.

The subsequent development of this model has faced the difficulties of taking into account all possible interactions between the leader, followers and the situation in establishing causal relationships in leadership relations. Thus, the development of internationalization processes in business and the sharp increase in the number of participants in these processes broke the traditional notions of governance and made the transition to leadership relations even more difficult.