Running head: adpating leadership Styles 1
adpating leadership Styles 8
Adapting Leadership Styles Improves Employee Performance
Carlos de la Garza
South Texas College
ORGL-3311-BV1
Issues with Organizational Leadership
Abstract
Situational Leadership Theory by Hersey and Blanchard is one of the most widely used leadership theories in organizations. There are many offers for training online and in person regarding this theory and it is being sold as a model to adapt leadership style to the subordinate to create better satisfaction and performance. The theory bases its model on task behavior and relationship behavior on the part of the leader, based on the maturity level of the subordinate. This paper brings light to the model and how it has been tested and how it has an effect on improved employee performance.
Keywords: Situational Leadership Theory, flexible leadership styles, employee performance.
Adapting Leadership Styles Improves Employee Performance
Introduction
In an organization, managers must provide the leadership that will motivate and improve the performance of employees. In order to do so, a leader must adapt their style of leadership. Considered to be one of the most popular theories that deals with flexible leadership is the Situational Leadership Theory by Paul Hershey and Kenneth Blanchard. The Situational Leadership Theory proposes that using different styles of leadership based on the task at hand is best. Through the use of this theory, there can be an assumption that there is a direct relationship between adapting leadership styles and improved employee performance in the work place.
Literature Review
Through research and practice it has been shown that leadership in an organization has two elements, the performance within the organization and the socioemotional needs of the employees (Walter et al, 1980). In Hershey and Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory it states that the leader should employ combinations of task and relationship behavior depending on the maturity level of the employee in relation to a specific assignment or task. The theory states that there are four dimensions involved. They are task behavior, relationship behavior, employee maturity level and effectiveness (Johansen, 1990).
Task behavior is the amount of direction a leader provides to his subordinates and is the process of explaining what, when where and how to accomplish a task (Walter et al, 1980). This directional style of leadership is essentially defining the way things should be done. Task behavior depending on other dimensions range from low to high. It is the extent to which leaders are likely to organize and explain how tasks are to be accomplished (Johansen, 1990).
Relationship behavior on the other hand is the extent to which the leader maintains personal relationships with their subordinates (Johansen, 1990). This relationship will allow the leader to allow the employee to participate in decision making and allow t...
