Question

What is situational leadership? Give an example of situational leadership. Include thoughts such as: What happened in the situation? Who was the emerging leader? Was your opinion of the individual changed as a result of this situation? If so, why?

Answer 1

Situational leadership refers to the leadership approach where the leader adapts the leadership, according to the changing situation, or scenario and comes down to the level of employees and team members. It helps the leader to communicate the message more effectively and according to the demand of the situation and team members can best follow it. Hence, situational leadership is about changing the leadership approach with the changing scenarios. One example of situational leadership is in my own organization when a new technology based application came to the organization and employees did not understand it at first. In this scenario, the manager came ahead and took step by step initiatives to resolve the queries and doubts of the employees. Further, the manager well understood the training requirements of the employees, the best method to deliver training and conveyed the same to the trainer. As a result, the employees got the training in most effective ways and became better equipped to work upon the new application. It only happened due to the manager’s situational leadership that understood the need, resolved queries in a way that could be best explained to the employee. Here, the emerging leader was the manager, who was earlier known for his managerial skills. But, now he is known for his effective leadership style. Afterwards, employees follow his communication and trust upon him in different scenarios, a most important characteristics of an effective leader. So, the manager won the confidence of his employees.