Situational Leadership Essay

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Do you believe in situational leadership? Why or why not? According to Paul Hersey, (1985), situational leadership refers to when the leader or manager must adjust his/her style to fit the development level of the followers he/she is trying to influence. With situational leadership, it is up to the leader to change his/her style, not the follower to adapt to the leader’s style. In situational leadership, the style may change continually to meet the needs of others in the organization based on the situation. I believe in situational leadership, I supervise OTs, PTs, COTAs & PTAs & department support staff. I find that I modify my leadership style according to the needs of the individual staff member. Once expectations are set, the seasoned therapists require less direction and inform me what they need and when they need it, they want to be supported and validated and I am confident the job will get done. The less experienced staff requires direction and supervision because they are still relatively inexperienced. They also need support and praise to build their self-esteem, and involvement in decision-making to restore their commitment and ongoing mentorship/coaching. The challenge with this style of leadership is learning to balance consistency and minimizing the misperceptions of not being fair & transparent. Maxwell, J.C. (2007). The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership. Follow Them and People Will Follow You (10th Anniversary Edition). Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson. Hersey, P. (1985). The Situational Leader. Center for Leadership Studies. Somerville, NJ Describe the attributes of the best leader that you know? The person that comes to my mind when I think of “best leaders” in my professional setting clearly shows passion for the position (administrator) and displays great leadership attributes and interpersonal skills and has earned the

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