Situational Leadership Theories

Unit 3: 10 points. If the traits or behaviors do not consistently guarantee effective leadership in all conditions, then what is a leader supposed to do?

If leadership style can be put along a continuum from the autocratic style on the one end and democratic on the other end, with infinite number of points in between, what do leaders decide about which style of leadership they are supposed to practice?

If you are not already familiar with contingency or situational leadership, please read and understand Fiedler’s Contingency Leadership Theory and Hersey-Blanchard’s Situational Leadership Theory.

Here is your assignment (3-4 pages long):

From your knowledge, understanding, and experience, evaluate situational and contingency leadership theories in the literature and course materials. What is your understanding about how these theories are supposed to work?

If leaders are supposed to know under what conditions they should practice autocratic or democratic leadership, what are then the relevant conditions that need to be taken into consideration? Hersey and Blanchard state it is the maturity of the followers or workers. What are your views? Under what conditions would a contingent leader be most effective? What personal experience have your had with leaders under the various styles?

Always follow APA format to include appropriate in-text citations, a reference sheet (please use the APA format for references), Times New Roman 12 pt. font and a cover page. Three robust outside references is the minimum requirement to support your content. Most superior papers have six or more.