Liderazgo/ leadership

PERSONAL VIEW OF LEADERSHIP
DEVELOPING LEADERSHIP CAPABILITY

It was very interesting to know about the different types of leadership. I find some of them very innovative and fascinating. From the seven types of leadership, the ones that caught my attention were the Authentic, Quiet and Situational Leadership. I think that these types of leadership add complete new aspects to the concept ofleadership that I use to have. Even thought, I have to pick one. So, I decided to focus my paper on the situational leadership.

I choose the Situational Leadership, because I believe that, the situation in which the leader is involved determines the type of leadership that he/she will use. In my opinion, a leader can not always use the same leadership style even with the same people; thesituation may be completely different and require a new approach. Another thing that I find interesting of this approach is that unlike others types of leadership, this one focus both on the leaders and on the followers. This is important for me, because I think that leadership isn’t a natural characteristic of some people, but occurs in a context, in a situation and with the interaction with others. AsPeter G. Northouse defined in his book, “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal”[1].

I also think that it is important that this approach (just like others we reviewed in class) considers two aspects of leadership, the focus on the task (or concern for results) and focus on people. Both aspects are crucial in this approach inorder to become an effective leader. Leaders need to identify the needs of the subordinates and match their leadership style with them. At the end, leaders need to know how much direction and how much support the subordinate needs.

I think that one of the strengths of this model is that it is a practical tool to teach how to improve leadership skills. It is simple to understand, and I believe thatcould be a very powerful instrument to become an effective leader. It gives you a small guide on how to behavior in different situations.

This type of leadership is intuitively appealing; it make sense when you read about it. Also, it make sense (at least to me) when you look into an organization. I think that this type of leadership can be use in practically any situation or organization. Itis easy to find examples in the everyday life. For example, it can be applied to parent-child or student-teacher relationship, and to other cases.

In any organization it is possible to find people with different development levels (D1, D2, D3 and D4)[2]. During my past work experience, I had under my supervision a large group of people with multiple differences. First, I was in charge ofsomeone who had recently graduated from college, without any work experience and very eager to learn (That now I can identify as a D1). I was also in charge of people with many years of experience and knowledge (D4), and also of a group of people with some years of experience who were taking new projects in different areas (D2). All they needed different leadership styles and therefore the way I workedwith them should to be totally different. With the first person I should have used a directing style (S1), which implied high directive and low supportive behavior. With the second group I should have used a delegating style (S4), because I could trust more in this group and they have experience and the necessary knowledge, needing low supportive and low directive behavior. For the last group, Ithink that I should have used a coaching style (S4). They were in a new situation that was generating a lot of anxiety. Also, they were in a new department so they needed to learn new skills. In this case I should have act with high directive and high supportive behaviors.

In practice, situational leadership requires the leader to be very aware of the developing process of the subordinates....