2.Strengths of situational leadership The basic strengths of this type of leadership style are that it is authoritative and flexible in nature (Srivastava, 2003). This implies that situational leadership style can indicate to the manager what to do under different circumstances and characters.
For leaders, knowing who will perform a particular task and when it will be performed is very crucial for smooth operations. Given that leadership involves changes, this type of leadership style is suitable to varying situations. Usually, external and internal forces lead individuals, teams, and objectives vary.
In this regard, effective situational leaders should be able to tackle and respond to any kind of change. This implies that unlike other leadership styles, situational leadership style is distinct, applicable, and rational. For example, a new team member might exhibit great interest towards the project; however, he may not be perfectly skilled for the project. Such a member will require appropriate guidelines during his earlier days in the project.
With time, the individual will master the project requirements hence little or no direction will be required. As time progresses, more motivation will be helpful when the individual develops some boredom towards the project as the task becomes monotonous and unchallenging. During this time, situational leaders should be able to re-evaluate task and relationship balances and implement appropriate direction and support.
Another advantage of situational leadership style is that it is prescriptive (Srivastava, 2003). However, it should be noted that it is flexible enough to allow individuals to equalize the amount of direction with the support followers require based on their abilities and enthusiasms. As such, this type of leadership style acknowledges the uniqueness that exists among team members.
In addition, situational leadership does not only values supporter’s strengths but also fosters and strives to improve on his or her weakness. Currently, diversity in our institutions and societies requires leaders to adopt the 21st century’s methods of situational leadership approaches. Equally, the diversity has augmented and reinforced the groups.
Additionally, situational leadership necessitates the leaders to be involved and understand the production and workers facets of the process for them to become accustomed to their individual behaviours. If a leader adopts situational leadership, he or she will be in touch with both the goal and the supporters seeking this goal. In this regard, it can be argued that situational leadership enhances connections.
In addition, this type of leadership style has tolerated reasonable test of time. For instance, over the last five decades the model has been applied in several sectors such as military, businesses organisations, and educational setups. In most of these contexts, the model has been accepted and is currently being utilized to address several challenges (Bass & Riggio, 2006).
The incidental nature of situational leadership style is that it mandates leaders to adapt their own conduct whenever the circumstances vary. Every time the relation between the supporters and the tasks vary, this type of leadership style enables the leaders to readjust their behaviours and acts to satisfy the new state of affairs. Therefore, if a leader applies the approach in consecutive estimates, he or she will be able to re-examine the extent of supervision and help the supporters require all through the continuum.