Leadership Style and Situational Variables

LEADERSHIP AND SITUATIONAL VARIABLES
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Leadership and Situational Variables
While the concept of leadership has been known to humanity since time immemorial, no common definition has been established yet. Some scholars define leadership as “a process whereby individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (Northouse 2016, p.6). Others define it as the “ability to influence others, interpret situations, negotiate and debate their views, often in the face of opposition” (Gold et al. 2016, p.6). Based on these definitions, it can be deduced that leadership entails followership, influence, achievement of objectives, and deciphering of situations and the environment. The many definitions and views on leadership imply that “all forms of leadership are subjective and discursively constructed… are interpretive and tied to the social encounters of those involved” (Schedlitzki and Edwards 2014, p.7). This implies that leadership is different and varies from one group of people to another, based on their experiences. Many propositions on what makes a leader great have been put forward by scholars and theorists over the years. However, great leaders are those that can adapt and match a leadership style to the situation at hand. According to Northouse (2016, p.93), different situations have different demands, and it is the responsibility of the leader to adapt.
This paper aims to analyze how leadership is influenced by different situation and how a leader’s ability to adapt to the situation impacts his/her success and that of the followers. To clearly understand this concept, two leadership theories will be examined; the situational leadership theory and the contingency theory of leadership. The two theories will be compared and contrasted about leadership styles and situational variables. While both theories posit that different leadership styles are appropriate for different situations, they also reveal some differences, as will be explained in this paper. The path-goal theory will also be examined to determine how leadership style and the situation can be paired to increase the effectiveness of leadership and productivity of followers. Also, several cases of leaders who have successfully matched their leadership style to suit the situation will be explored and conclusions drawn from the empirical evidence.
The statement “leadership is about adapting leadership style to suit the situation” makes much sense given that in most cases, a leader has no control over the situation that organizations find themselves in. As such, it is evident that situations, rather than leaders themselves, influence the behavior and approaches that leaders have. According to DuBrin (2016, p.147) situations play a major role in leadership, thus influencing the ability of the leader to offer guidance to followers. First, the effectiveness of a leader is affected by factors beyond a leader’s control (p.147). This implies that despite the leadership style adopted by the leader, external factors can influence effectiveness. The business field is competitive and is influenced by the action...