Read full version of my thesis Situational Leadership
Abstract
Many theories describe different leadership styles; there are numerous research reports and articles in the field. Recently, situational leadership has been widely reported, and the concept is the subject of this study. Situational leadership can be explained as leader adapts style of management to employees depending on the conditions and situation.
Situational leadership is a flexible way to lead and is usually described in a very positive way. Tests have shown leaders who correctly apply situational leadership to their employees, performs better than leaders who do not follow this concept in an organization.
For students who want to be leaders in the future, it is good to have an idea of how leadership looks like in practical work. This study gives an idea of how the Swedish industrial companies work with situational leadership. Although theories of situational leadership have existed for a long time, it is interesting to see how leaders really use leadership styles in their operations.
To get an idea of how the concept works in the industry, six leaders from various companies in southern Sweden were interviewed in this study. Issues discussed are whether and how situational leadership is used, how leaders choose leadership style in different situations, and what´s their experience.
Do situational leadership work the same way in the industry as described in theory and literature? The knowledge of the theories that form the base of situational leadership varied in the interviewed group. The study showed leaders frequently use parts of the concept, but no one is using it fully. The leaders explained they try to listen and coach the individuals. They emphasize, it is important to know the employees and their knowledge regarding the tasks.
The willingness and motivation of employees are important factors when leaders want change from steering into a supporting leadership style. To what extent these factors are managed in the organizations is not apparent from answers of the interviewees.
The study shows clear differences between leadership styles in all six companies. The pattern of situational leadership concept is not clear from the answer in the interviews, but all leaders have more or less elements of situational leadership in their management style.
Read full version Situational Leadership