Behavioral and Situational Leadership 1

An Analysis of Behavioral and Situational Leadership

Introduction/Overview

As a leader, it is essential to understand the different approaches and styles that may be

used. With Situational and behavioral leadership, the leader needs to be concerned with not

only tasks and production, but also support and relationships with followers. However, it is up

to the leader to determine the appropriate times when each concern is needed. Northouse

(2016) describes both approaches with disadvantages and advantages, but still explains them as

helpful tools for describing and understanding the situational and behavioral approach to

leadership.

Description of Blake and Mouton’s Leadership Grid and Styles

The Leadership Grid, which was once named the Managerial Grid, is the best-known

model of managerial behavior (Northouse, 2016). The sole purpose of this grid is to explain how

concerned leaders are with production and their people. Depending on their concern for either

aspect of the organization, they will fall in different spots on the grid. There are five different

plots on the Leadership Grid that contain leadership styles according to the levels of concern for

people and production. These plots on the grid (Northouse, 2016) are (1,9) country-club

management, (9,9) team management, (5,5) middle-of-the-road management, (1,1)

impoverished management, and (9,1) Authority complacence management. The Leadership

Grid can be an excellent way to determine a preferred leadership style, but it can also become

misleading. Many might jump to the conclusion that team management is the best style of

leadership because of its great concern for production and people, but this is not always the

case. Many times, other styles of leadership are best for a particular situation. When times are
Behavioral and Situational Leadership 2

hard, and the followers need their leader to pull them through, country-club management may

produce better results because of its great concern for people.

Description of Blanchard’s Situational Leadership

Situational leadership's primary approach is that there are different styles of leadership

for every situation. The situational approach consists of both directive and supportive aspects

that may be applied in different amounts depending on the situation. The leadership styles

chart is similar to the Leadership Grid in Northouse (2016) chapter 4. There are four different

leadership styles on the chart; these include low supportive and low directive, high supportive

and low directive, high directive and high supportive, high directive, and low supportive. Like

Blake and Mouton's approach, different situational factors deem each style appropriate; this is

what makes these two approaches so similar. It is up to the leaders to recognize and determine

the needs of their followers at any given time. This approach can give leaders an understanding

when they need to be more supportive of their followers and when it is appropriate to be more

directive. If a leader cannot determine when it is appropriate to be supportive or direct, this can

make the model ineffective. It is also hard to determine if this model is even improving

performance because there are such little published research findings.

However, they also have some differences in the way they talk about what style is

appropriate. Blake and Mouton describe the behavioral approach as task and relationship

behaviors being used at different times and sometimes simultaneously. On the other hand,

Blanchard describes production and support as being used at different times, and it is up to the

leader to deem when it is appropriate timing for either concern.

Analysis of Case Study from Chapter 4

Behavioral and Situational Leadership 3

Northouse (2016) Case study 4.2 chapter 4, Susan is having a hard time after sensing

some of her employees may not like her leadership style. She works very hard and does

everything for the store, but spends little time with her employees. Susan is an Authority-

Compliance manager (9,1). This style means she spends little time considering her employee's

feelings or needs, and spend much time worrying about the store's sales and production. The

low concern for employees creates mixed emotions between her staff on this leadership style

because everyone has different preferences in a leader. However, in order to become a better

leader, Susan must learn how to be both concerned about production and her employee's

needs. Once she adapts to this style, she can determine when the appropriate times are to be

concerned with employee needs or production. Susan would be more effective if she added

more concern for her employees because then all of her employees would love working for her.

Analysis of Case Study from Chapter 5

Northouse (2016) Case study 5.2 chapter 5, Jim is running a seminar and is determined

to make it enjoyable for the middle-level managers. However, Jim notices that the manager's

attendance has started to drop off throughout the day. In this situation, Jim uses the (S3)

supporting style, which does not get him very far due to the manager's attitude. Jim should

have used an (S2) coaching style; this would give him the directing he needed to keep the

managers there instead of allowing them to have free reign. The Coaching style would have

allowed him to give the manager's support that they need to feel like the seminar was worth

attending. Jim could also make the seminars mandatory attendance, while also making them

enjoyable so that no one feels as though they do not want to be there.

Personal Experience
Behavioral and Situational Leadership 4

After experiencing many different leadership styles, some of the best leaders I have

known can balance concern with employee needs and concern with the production. One

manager I had while working at a retail store had this style down. She knew when someone was

taking advantage of her niceness, and would firmly take care of the situation. However, if an

employee was not themselves one day and was not making sales, she was more concerned

about their well-being than the sales. The way her support and direction were given at the

appropriate times is why she is considered a great leader. I feel as though I work best with the

philosophy that no "certain style" is the best style, but there is the best style at certain times,

exactly how this manager saw leadership.

Not all my experiences have been good, and I have worked for another manager whose

concern was only for production and not for employees. This style would be a mismatch with

my leadership philosophy and the way support and direction were given. There was too much

direction in times that support was needed, which ended in quitting a job I once loved.

Management is everything in a job, and it can truly ruin a great job if it's not given correctly.

Conclusion

Situational and Behavioral leadership can be applied in many different situations.

However, it can be the key to success in situations where leaders are not exactly sure what they

are doing wrong. There are certainly some disadvantages that Northouse (2016) mentions, but

the advantages of these approaches outweigh them all. Showing concern about the production

and employee well-being can set leaders up for success in leadership.

Behavioral and Situational Leadership 5

References

Northouse, Peter. Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE Publications, 2015.