RUNNING HEAD: BEHAVORIAL AND SITUATIONAL APPROACH 1

Behavioral and Situational Approach to Leadership

Chase Blackwood

Arizona State University

OGL: 300

June 7, 2020
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Introduction:

The two approaches to leadership studied this week are the behavioral approach and the

situational approach, to leadership. The behavioral approach assesses the behavior of leaders

towards their followers in various situations (Northouse 2016, pg. 71). The two general

behaviors leaders possess are task behaviors and relationship behaviors (Northouse 2016, pg.

71). Task behaviors focus on goal accomplishment while relationship behaviors focus on

followers feeling comfortable with themselves, with themselves, and with the situation they are

in (Northouse 2016, pg. 71). The main goal of the behavioral approach is to determine how

leaders use task and relationship behavior to influence goal accomplishment (Northouse 2016,

pg. 71). According to Davis & Luthans (1979), a leader’s behavior and encourage a

subordinate’s motivation to accomplish a task (pg. 3). Which is why it is important to understand

leadership behavior. The situational approach to leadership focuses on how a leader’s behavior

changes, to properly address various situations (Northouse 2016, pg. 93). The situational

approach infers that for one to be a good leader they must adapt his/her leadership style to meet

the demands of the situation (Northouse 2016, pg. 93). The situational approach to leaderships,

emphasizes the importance of both a direct and supportive dimension, and that a leader must

effectively use both dimensions in all situations (Northouse 2016, pg. 93). This paper will

compare and contrast the Blake and Mouton’s Managerial (Leadership) Grid to Situational

Leadership II; as well as go over two case studies, and provide my own personal experience

regarding both the behavioral and situational approach to leadership.

Blake and Mouton’s Managerial (Leadership) Grid

The Leadership Grid was created to explain how leaders help organizations reach their

goal by having concern for production and concern for people (Northouse 2016, pg. 74). The
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concern for production is a task behavior, and the concern for people is a relationship behavior

(Northouse 2016, pg. 74). The Leadership Grid joins a leader’s concern for production and

concern for leader at two intersecting axes (Northouse 2016, pg. 75). The horizontal axis is the

leader’s concern for results (production), and the vertical axis is the leader’s concern for people

(Northouse 2016, pg. 75). There is a nine-point scale; a one represents minimum concern, and a

nine represents maximum concern (Northouse 2016, pg. 75). The Leadership Grid illustrates five

leadership styles: authority-compliance (9,1), country-club (1,9), impoverished management

(1,1), middle-of-the-road management (5,5), and team management (9,9) (Northouse 2016, pg.

75).

Authority-compliance (9,1)

The authority-compliance leadership style places stresses task and job requirements

(Northouse 2016, pg. 75). Authority-compliance leadership style does not stress people except

for the fact that people being used as tools to get the job done (Northouse 2016, pg. 75). The

authority-compliance leadership style does not emphasize leaders communicating with their

subordinates, except for the purpose of giving instructions (Northouse 2016, pg. 75). Lastly, the

leaders who use this leadership style are focused on only the results, and they will use people to

achieve their desired results (Northouse 2016, pg. 75). Authority-compliance leaders are looked

at as being controlling and demanding (Northouse 2016, pg. 75).

Country-Club Management (1,9)

Unlike the authority-compliance leadership style, the country-club leadership style

emphasizes the importance of interpersonal relationships (Northouse 2016, pg. 75). The country-

club leadership style shows low regard for task accomplishment (Northouse 2016, pg. 75).
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Country-club leaders try to create a good relationship with their subordinates by being agreeable

and uncontroversial (Northouse 2016, pg. 75).

Impoverished Management (1,1)

A leader who uses the impoverished management style, is a leader that who is often

withdrawn and shows low concern for task accomplishment and their relationships with people

(Northouse 2016, pg. 75). Leaders who used the impoverished management style, are often seen

as noncommittal and apathetic (Northouse 2016, pg. 75).

Middle-of-the-Road Management (5,5)

The leaders who possess the middle-of-the-road management style have both a concern

for the task and concern for people (Northouse 2016, pg. 76). Middle-of-the-road leaders are able

to find balance between task accomplishment and people’s feelings (Northouse 2016, pg. 76).

For a leader to be a middle-of-the-road leader, they must first avoid conflict and emphasize

moderate levels of production, while maintain their interpersonal relationships (Northouse 2016,

pg. 77). People often describe middle-of-the-road leaders as middle-ground and expedient

(Northouse 2016, pg. 77).

Team Management (9,9)

Team management leaders put high levels of emphasis on both task achievement and

interpersonal relationships (Northouse 2016, pg. 77). Team leaders promote a high degree of

employee participation and teamwork because it satisfies the basic needs of the employee in

order for them to be committed to their work (Northouse 2016, pg. 77). Team leaders are often

referred to as openminded and determined (Northouse 2016, pg. 77).

Strengths of Behavioral Approach

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There are several strengths to using the behavioral approach that make for better

understanding of how the leadership process works. First, before the use of the behavioral

approach to leadership, many researchers marked leadership only as a trait; now the focus is not

only on the personal characteristics of leaders, but now it is also on what leaders do and how

they act (Northouse 2016, pg. 80). Second, many studies have been conducted and validate the

credibility of the behavioral approach (Northouse 2016, pg. 80). Third, research has proved that

effective leadership is focused on how well a leader can balance the task and people behaviors

(Northouse 2016, pg. 80).

Situational Leadership II (SLII)

The situational leadership approach demands that leaders match their style of leadership

to the competence and commitment of their followers (Northouse 2016, pg. 94). There are two

major dimensions of the situational leadership approach: leadership styles and developmental

levels of followers (Northouse 2016, pg. 94). Leadership styles can be broken down into four

categories: S1, S2, S3, S4; developmental levels are also broken down into four categories: D1,

D2, D3, D4 (Northouse 2016, pg. 94-96).

High Directive, Low-Supportive (S1)

In this leadership style, the leader focuses a lot of their time and communication on goal

achievement, and less time on being supportive (Northouse 2016, pg. 94). An S1 leader, gives

their follower instructions on how to accomplish goals and carefully supervises them (Northouse

2016, pg. 94).

High Directive, High Supportive (S2)

This style of leadership is known as the “coaching approach” because the leader focuses

their communication on achieving goals and meeting followers’ emotional needs (Northouse
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2016, pg. 94). This leadership style requires that the leader must be active by giving their

followers encouragement and ask for follower feedback (Northouse 2016, pg. 94). This

leadership style still requires that the leader make decisions on what the goals are and how to

accomplish them (Northouse 2016, pg. 94).

High-Supportive, Low-Directive (S3)

In this supporting approach to leadership, the leader does not focus solely on goal

accomplishment (Northouse 2016, pg. 95). Rather, these types of leaders focus on using

supportive behaviors to bring out certain sills that help the followers accomplish goals

(Northouse 2016, pg. 95). A leader who utilizes this style of leadership allows for their followers

to be in control of their day-to-day activities but is there to help their followers solve problems

(Northouse 2016, pg. 95). This type of leader is not afraid to give recognition and support to their

followers (Northouse 2016, pg. 95).

Low-Supportive, Low-Directive (S4)

An S4 leader offers less of both goal input and social support to their followers

(Northouse 2016, pg. 95). Because of this the followers under an S4 leader are not confident in

their skills to accomplish goals (Northouse 2016, pg. 95). An S4 leaders gives task control to

their followers and does not intervene with an unnecessary social support (Northouse 2016, pg.

96).

D1 Followers

D1 followers are described as being low in competence and high in commitment (Northouse

2016, pg. 96). They may be new to a specific task and unsure of how to accomplish it, but they

are ready for the challenge (Northouse 2016, pg. 96).

D2 Followers
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D2 follower are seen as having some (but not very much) competence and low commitment

(Northouse 2016, pg. 96). D2 followers have started to learn the skills necessary to complete the

job, but they have lost some of their motivation to keep learning (Northouse 2016, pg. 96).

D3 Followers

A D3 follower, are followers who have a moderate to high level of competence but have

varying levels of commitment (Northouse 2016, pg. 96). D3 followers have developed the

essential skills to accomplish the task, but they are unsure they can accomplish the task by

themselves (Northouse 2016, pg. 96).

D4 Followers

D4 followers, have the highest level of competence and they have the highest degree of

commitment (Northouse 2016, pg. 96). D4 Followers have the skills and the motivation to

accomplish the task (Northouse 2016, pg. 96).

The Strengths of the Situational Approach

There are several strengths regarding the situational approach to leadership. The first

strength is that is the well known and well used training leaders within organizations (Northouse

2016, pg. 98). The second strength is that the situational approach is easily understood,

intuitively sensible, and easily applied in a variety of settings (Northouse 2016, pg. 99). The third

strength of the situational approach is that it tells a leader what they should and should not do in

certain contexts (Northouse 2016, pg. 99). The fourth strength is that the situational approach to

leadership emphasizes leader flexibility (Northouse 2016, pg. 99). Lastly, the situational

approach reminds leaders to treat followers differently based on the goal, and it emphasizes that

leaders take advantage of opportunities to help followers (Northouse 2016, pg. 99).

Chapter four Case Study One

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1) Based on the behavioral approach, Mark’s leadership style started off as an authority-

compliance leader because of his need to efficiently offer paint services to the hospital.

As time went on, Mark eventually turned into a team leader.

2) When mark was running the painting department with an authority compliance

management style, he did not seek any an input from his subordinates. Mark was also

solely “task” focused. As time went on, Mark shifted his behavior from focusing solely

on task to focusing on task and relationship. As Mark changed to a team management

style, he was able to delegate tasks and responsibilities to his two crew leaders. Mark also

remained in close contact with his team, by having weekly team bonding dinners.

3) Mark is both task and relationship oriented.

4) In my opinion, currently, Mark is a team leader, so he would receive a score of 9,9

because he places high emphasis on task and interpersonal relationships.

Chapter Five Case Study

1) One of the main problems at WCBA that Ann encounters, is that the students lack

competence in the radio industry.

2) Ann needs to identify her student worker’s development level and adjust her leadership

style accordingly.

3) Ann should pair up her D1 followers with her D4 followers. Doing this will allow for her

D1 followers to get the training necessary (from D4 followers) to prevent any FCC

infractions.

Reflection of my Personal Experience with the Behavioral Approach

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I personally, have had a great experience regarding the behavioral approach. I say this

because I have had the opportunity to work under a team leader. This leader was my very first

leader, at the organization in which I currently work. Louis made sure that we as a group did not

loose our focus on the task, but he also made sure the he knew each and everyone of us on a

personal level. I asked him one day why he spends so much time focusing on the person, and his

response was a response I will never forget. He said, that in order for employees to truly respect

and listen to you, you have to take a genuine interest in them. Louis set the precedence of the

type of leader I aspire to be.

Reflection of my Personal Experience with the Situational Approach

Currently, I am trying to convince my upper management to implement and educate other

leaders of the situational approach to leadership. I am tying to incorporate this style of leadership

because I work in the oil and gas industry, which is and can be an extremely dangerous industry

at times. So, I believe the key to success is having a leader who is not only highly directive but is

also highly supportive (S2) and having followers who possess a high level of competence and

commitment (D4). I am a firm believer in mentorship program, so before any new employee

works by themselves, they should have to be paired up someone who has been in the field for an

extensive amount of time. Being a leader myself, I have experienced firsthand, how a leader

needs to adapt their leadership style in a way that is appropriate for the task and for the

follower’s competence and commitment level.

Conclusion

The behavioral approach to leadership focuses not only on a leader’s behavior but also

focuses on how a leader behaves in different contexts (Northouse 2016, pg.71). The two general
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kinds of behavior a leader possess is task and relationship (Northouse 2016, pg. 71). Task

behaviors help leaders encourage task accomplish (Northouse 2016, pg. 71). When a leader

possesses relationship behaviors, they help their followers feel comfortable and confident in their

ability to accomplish tasks (Northouse 2016, pg. 71). The situational approach to leadership

focuses on how a leader needs to adapt their behavior in a way that is appropriate for certain

circumstances (Northouse 2016, pg. 93). The situational approach to leadership stresses that

leaders must adapt their leadership style to the competence and commitment of their followers

(Northouse 2016, pg. 94). A leader can benefit so much by applying both approaches of

leadership to their leadership style.

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Refences

Davis, T. & Luthans, F. (1979). Leadership Reexamined: A Behavioral Approach. The Academy

of Management Review, 4(2), 237-248. Retrieve from www.jstor.org/stable/257777. DOI:

10.2307/257777

Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice, 7th Edition. Los Angeles: SAGE

Publications, INC.