Leadership Models Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Leadership Models - Essay Example Situational contingency theories have are organizational development application that are effective at applying leadership concepts that are adaptive to the situation at hand. There are three major situation contingency models. The three models are Fielder’s leadership model, House’s path – goal theory of leadership, and Hersey and Blanchard’s situational leadership model. The Hersey – Blanchard leadership model framework implies that there is no one single best way to approach a problem or situation. According to Hersey and Blanchard situational leadership requires adjusting the leader’s emphasis on task behaviors such as giving guidance and direction, relationship behaviors, and providing socio-emotional support (Schermerhorn, J., Hunt, J., Osborn, R., 2003). The leadership style application has become very popular in the 21st century due to the fact that business changes are occurring faster than ever and manager have to be adapt the busin ess strategy of the company and the vision of its human resources to meet the market demands and requirements. The Blanchard and Hersey model can be characterized in terms of the amount of direction and support that the leader gives to his or her followers (12manage, 2009). Appendix A illustrates a matrix that explains the functionality of the model. The four factors illustrated in each quadrant of the matrix are S1, S2, S3, S4. The S1 variable which is located in the bottom left quadrant represents the telling style. In this style the manager provides a high task low relationship work output. This means that manager provides specific instructions and closely supervises the performance of the subordinate. This style is most effective when the leader is dealing with employees that are unable to take responsibility for themselves. An example of an employee that needs his supervisor to apply a telling style is a new employee in a firm. This person needs more