Which leadership theory is best?

My speculation is that at one time of another you have come across the following phrases; “don’t make a bad situation into a worse situation”, “choice is the period between the situation and one’s reaction”; “you don’t put a fire out by pouring a bucket of petrol over it; “it was not my decision, he/she made me do it”. Or how often have you responded to an email by immediately responding with a heated email. In principle you would type your response, wait a day to give yourself the opportunity to calm down and read the email again before sending it if you still felt that strong about it – or deleting it? Unfortunately there are situations where heated discussions take place and one does not always have the opportunity to take this pause. It is this pause that choice actually occurs and one that effective leaders have come to learn and master; because there is always an alternative. The trick is; knowing what the best alternative is to suit the situation presented.

Learning
Being an effective leader requires that one must be able to learn, adapt and change because we all know that the world does not stand still. Globalisation has made the world that much smaller than once perceived. We are also becoming more educated hence we have become more demanding of the level or service and duty of care we would like to receive. In addition rapid advancements in technology in the last decade alone have played a major part in the process of change and will continue to do so into the future. How quickly one can reflect and learn will determine how truly effective a leader can be. Change is good. Yet many see change as a threat – however threats should also be perceived as opportunities for improvement.

Leadership
The situational leadership theory stipulates that the leader’s “leadership capabilities” depend on the leader’s ability to adapt. There is no conclusive method of leadership, hence the number of different theories proposed and analysed. There are different styles of leadership. Some leaders provide direction to their followers while others provide emotional or social support. Leaders can use both of the aforementioned methods at once, however; there are those who choose not to use either method at all.

Environment
The environment is changing on a global basis hence the shift from traditional business activities. For example outsourcing of business activities or functions to third parties have become the norm as business try to cope with the vast changes.
Economies such as China and India to name a couple are forcing changes that are felt in the US and UK economies. With such obvious changes, organisations are also changing their own structures to guard against poor performance as well as cashing in the opportunities presented by these very changes. Buzz words such as hybrid, matrix and decentralised describe the various organisation structures as described by Vecchio (2006), Hughes et al (2006) and Robbins (2005). They all point to the inevitable; change will take place and does not wait for anyone. The rate of change appears to be occurring much quicker that most would like to admit.

So can leaders change?
Yes leaders can and should change; for if they do not change, they will not be able to keep up with developments within their organisations and the world as a whole. Furthermore, they will not be able to identify with those they lead. Most situations are different; hence leaders must learn to understand these situations when encountered. Some may come in handy when dealing with similar situations. People are different and how these people react to different situations depends on the environment created by the leader. We mimic the behaviour of those we look up and try to replicate the characteristics of those individuals. But we also have our own characteristics and experience our own situations; hence we are constantly learning as leaders. Therefore although the decisions we make are similar to those made by our mentors, an ever changing environment ensures that as leaders, we take a different approach to the same problem with different individuals.

Which theory then
The situational leadership theory allows a leader to “adopt different leadership styles depending on the situation” (Chimaera Consulting Ltd 1998). This theory allows the leader to match the maturity of subordinates based on the follower’s psychology or technical skills. As followers have different maturity levels on both these fronts, the opportunity to learn is always present. Therefore, how a situation actually turns out depends on the leader; the follower’s maturity and the situation at hand.

A leader who is able to determine the skill level of a follower using the normative decision model can also learn and change their approach on how to lead this particular subordinate or a group of subordinates. Once again, this presents the opportunity for the leader to learn and try different approaches to solving the same problem. The path-goal theory suggests that performance and the satisfaction of a group can be affected by the leader in numerous ways (House 1971) such as reward, clarification towards goals and by removing obstacles in the way. Again, by understanding and knowing the needs of the group, a leader can learn to change his/her personality and approach.

The Contingency Theory will also allow a leader to change as the groups performance is dependant on the leader's style. The Contingency Theory is described as task motivated or relationship motivated. Again a leader should be able to determine what motivates the individuals or groups they lead. Those who prefer responsibility should be given the opportunity to be delegated tasks. And those who prefer a relational approach should be provided with the environment to do so.

Conclusion
In conclusion, there is no right or wrong approach on how to lead followers because it depends on the follower’s needs and maturity as well as the situation. These two factors then allow the leader to determine what approach they will take. Obviously, this also depends on the nature of the leader too.

References

ChangingMinds.org (2007) Contingency Theory [Online] Available from: http://changingminds.org/disciplines/leadership/theories/contingency_the... (Accessed 27 April 2007)

Chimaera Consulting Ltd (1998) [Online] Available from: http://www.chimaeraconsulting.com/sitleader.htm (Accessed 27 April 2007)

House R. (1971) A Path Goal Theory of Leader Effectiveness. Administrative Science Quarterly, 16 (3) pp. 321-339. [Online] Available from: http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0001-8392%28197109%2916%3A3%3C321%3A APGTOL%3E2.0.CO%3B2-F (Accessed 27 September 2007)

Hughes, R.L., Ginnett, R.C., Curphy, G.J. (2006) Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. 5th ed. McGraw Hill: Singapore.

Robbins, S.P. (2005) Organisational Behavior. 11th ed. New Jersey: Pearson Education Inc

Vecchio, R. P. (2006) Organizational Behavior: Core Concepts. 6th ed. Mason, OH:Thomas South-Western