According to the text, situational leadership is the idea that "appropriate leadership emerges from behavior that is responsive to varied situations (278)." This allows for leaders to emerge from the group process. This would also allow for people who want to tell others what to do to come forward to lead. I think this is often problematic because the person may not be the most capable but is someone who wants to use the opportunity to get noticed by their boss or likes to be in an authority position.
Within group environments there are positives and negatives to having situational leadership. One of the positives is that the person who want to take on leadership responsibility can. Another reason this could be positive is that other group members may have a hard time if they are forced to choose a leader rather than have one that seems to be good at it and voluntarily becomes leader. The negative side of situational leadership could include having someone who has an agenda other than that of the group's. The person also may not have the characteristics necessary to lead an effective team. Another reason the text cites as a drawback to situational leadership is that this type of leader may not have the ability to inspire a team.
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I agree with the points you have made. I believe that a good leader somehow "emerges," not out of will or want, but by being elected by others or having already a proven track record of leader ship. Yes, those a** kissers who elect themselves just to get attention and look good in front of his or her boss usually end up undermining those who actually do all the work while they delegate. Then again, there are those who don't do that at all and elect themselves because they know they are capable of doing the job more than anyone else....but hey, that's one for humanity!
ReplyDeleteInspiration and motivation seems to be a key leadership quality to omit from an effective leadership model. So, I agree with regards to the situational leadership model, not having the capability to inspire or motivate the team can create possible drawbacks such as disrespect for the leader resulting in poor performance or maybe even outright disobedience. An effective leader has the trust and loyalty of their team with mutual respect for one another. By having this mutual respect, sometimes not only does the leader inspire the troops but the troops may inspire the leader.
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