MBA401 People, Culture and Contemporary Leadership Workshop Week 11 Contingency and Situational Leadership COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Copyright Regulations 1969 WARNING This material has been reproduced and communicated to you by or on behalf of Kaplan Business School pursuant to Part VB of the Copyright Act 1968 (the Act). The material in this communication may be subject to copyright under the Act. Any further reproduction or communication of this material by you may be the subject of copyright protection under the Act. Do not remove this notice. 2 • To understand the situational perspective on leadership. • To understand and be able to differentiate between the different situational leadership styles and be able to apply these in different circumstances. • To develop self awareness of your own situational style preference. • To understand the normative decision making model. • LO3 - Describe contemporary approaches to leadership. • LO4 - Analyse the characteristics and psychology of different leaders. • LO5 - Apply leadership skills across a variety of domains. Workshop Objectives • Situations can influence the leadership behaviour or style a leader emphasises. • This contingency approach to leadership implies leaders are most effective when they make their behaviour contingent on situational forces, including group member characteristics and the internal and external environment surrounding the leadership situation. 4 Situational Influences on Leadership • Organisational leadership is affected by situational factors not always under control of the leader. • Situations shape how leaders behave. • Situations influence the consequences of how leaders behave. • Organisational structure and design influence which approach to leadership is likely to be most effective. 5 Situational Influences on Leadership • Complete the “Measuring your situational perspective” assessment. 6 Activity - Questionnaire • Fiedler’s Contingency Theory • House’s Path-Goal Theory • Hersey & Blanchard’s Situational LeadershipR (SL II) • Vroom & Jago’s Normative Decision Model • Leader-Member Exchange (LMX) 7 Situational Leadership Models • “Effective leaders need to be flexible and must adapt themselves according to the situation” (Hersey and Blanchard, 2008). 8 Situational LeadershipR (SLII) • Developed by Kenneth Blanchard and colleagues. • Primary focus is on the characteristics of group members – and matching leadership style to those characteristics. • SLII is designed to increase the frequency and quality of conversations about performance and professional development between leaders and group members so that: – Competence is developed. – Commitment takes place. – Turnover among talented group members is reduced. • SLII is particularly applicable to front-line leaders, such as supervisors and team leaders. 9 Situational LeadershipR (SLII) • http://www.kenblanchard.com/ProductsServices/Leadership-Fundamentals/Situational-LeadershipII 10 Video - Situational Leadership • The basis for effective leadership is managing the relationship between a leader and a group member on a given task. 11 Basics of SLII Source: Dubrin, 2013. • Effective leadership depends on two independent behaviours: – Supporting Behaviours • Listening • Giving recognition • Communicating • Encouraging • Coaching – Directing Behaviours • Giving explicit directions • Controlling • Supervising • Ruling • Regulating 12 Basics of SLII 13 Situational Leadership Styles Source: www.kenblanchard.com • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-YXqlTq7IE • Watch the video and answer the following questions: • What type of situational leadership is being demonstrated? • How do you know? 14 Activity - Video • Represents a consensus of thinking about leadership behaviour in relation to group members. • No one style is best. • An effective leader uses all styles, depending on the situation and the individual group member. • Is challenging to apply SLII consistently because leaders must “stay tuned” and tasks shift rapidly. • However, the model has become a basis for leadership training as the model builds on other explanations of leadership that emphasise the role of task and relationship behaviours. 15 Evaluating SLII • In groups of 4 or 5 answer the 4 scenario questions. 16 Activity - Scenarios • Leaders must choose a style that elicits the correct degree of group participation when making decisions. • Views leadership as a decision-making process where the leader examines the elements involved in the situation in order to determine the most effective decision-making style. • Model includes: – Five decision-making styles – Seven situational factors 17 Normative Decision Model • Decide – Leader makes decision alone and announces it • Consult (Individually) – Leader works with each group member individually to gather their suggestions – and makes decision alone • Consult (Group) – Leader works with group members as a group in a meeting, gathers suggestions – and makes decision alone • Facilitate – Leader presents problem to group, facilitates discussion, gathers input, ensures they don’t favour their individual decision • Delegate – Leader permits group members to make the decision, works behind the scenes, does set limits but allows group members to work autonomously 18 Decision Making Styles • Decision Significance to the success of a project or the organisation. • Importance of Commitment of the team to the decision. • Leader Expertise and knowledge in relation to the problem. • Likelihood of Commitment of the team to a decision if the leader makes the decision on his/her own. • Group Support of the team in relation to the organisation’s objectives at stake in the problem. • Group Expertise of the team members in relation to the problem. • Team Competence of the team members’ ability to work together in solving problems. 19 Contingency/Situational Factors • Form groups of 3 or 4 and pick one of the factors from the last slide. • Your task is to come up with five methods through which your factor can be determined. • For example, how can we determine decision significance? How can we determine the importance of commitment? • You have 15 minutes. 20 Activity - Contingency/Situational Factors • Has been shown to lead to increased decisionmaking effectiveness. • Leaders who consistently use the model are typically seen to be more effective leaders in that they have increased the effectiveness of their decision making. • Assessing the situational factors can be challenging – and typically relies on intuition and distorted thinking. • Using the model requires much time. • Model does not deal with charismatic or transformational leadership. 21 Evaluating the Normative Decision Model • Before taking action, a leader asks, “What does the research literature tell me is most likely to work in this situation?” • Leaders translate principles based on best evidence into organisational practices. • While evidence-based leadership and management is not yet widely practiced, taking the study of leadership and management seriously will move managers and organisations toward basing their practices and decisions on valid evidence. 22 Evidence Based Leadership • There is no one best or most effective leadership style. • Leaders who get the best results do not rely on one style. • Effective leaders need to focus on BOTH structuring the work (task behaviours) AND supporting and developing good interpersonal relationships with and among group members (relationship behaviours). 23 The Best Leadership Style • Situational leadership is adaptive. • The 4 key styles are: delegating, supporting, coaching, directing. • There is no one ideal style but good leaders will match their style to the situation at hand. Summary Any Questions? • From today’s workshop: – What have you learned about leadership? – What has surprised you? – What have you learned about yourself? – How could you apply these learnings in the workplace? – How could these learnings be reflected in Assessment 2? Activity – Journal Reflection • Refer to subject outline. Assessment 3 - Overview Any Questions?