Business Administration 3323K Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Situational Leadership Theory

• School: Western University
• Department: Business Administration
• Course: Business Administration 3323K
• Professor: Kathy Burns

Document Summary

As the name of the approach implies, the situational approach focus on leadership in situations. The premises of the theory is that different situations demand different kinds of leadership. From this perspective, to be an effective leader requires that a person adapt his or her style to the demands of different situations. The situational approach stresses that leadership is composed of both a directive and a supportive dimension, and that each has to be applied appropriately in a given situation. To determine what is needed in a particular situation, a leader must evaluate her or his followers and asses how competent and committed they are to preform a given goal. Based on the assumption that followers" skills and motivation vary over time, situational leadership suggests that leaders should change the degree to which they are directive or supportive to meet the changing needs of followers.